Great video as always, Hudson! One thing I've noticed with the Z 24-70 f4 and the 14-30 f4 sun stars (and now your test with the new 20mm 1.8) Is that the sun star 'spikes' start small and get bigger as the go out the way (more so on the f4's) Whereas the old 20 1.8 start bigger and go to really fine points. Just something I find more pleasing to look at with the finer spikes of the old 20mm.
Went to Yosemite this week to practice some of the new panoramic techniques from your videos and your online class, so cool. Heavy smoke rolled in before I got anything amazing. I was also shooting sunrise and tried for a good sun star with my 24mm S, got a decent one using your recommendations. Thank you for the easy to follow videos, though I've made a few new purchases after watching...mostly tripod upgrades.
In case of even number of aperture blades, sun star points don’t double up as rays generating from opposite blade overlap on each other. Therefore, if it had 8 aperture blades, sunstar would be 8 pointed only & not 16. What you mentioned towards the end is correct that S lens has 9 aperture blades & 18 pointed star. It doubles in case of odd numbered aperture blades
Wow! A lot of content this week. And you answered my question for "office hours' this week. :-) Take the UV filter off. Thanks for the 90 weeks of info. You have upped my game immensely because of all your spot on advice over the years. You da best man!
Finally someone who has the same sunstar obsession as I do. I loved the 20mm on my D850 for sunrises. Now I'm kinda waiting for something equal on the Z mount 9 instead of seven blades still makes for a busier sunstar.
I am SERIOUSLY considering getting a Zeiss Loxia 21mm f/2.8 (manual focus) lens for my Sony A7iii. It has some of the best sunstars of any lens for the Sony FF cameras. It is also a lens that is highly regarded for astrophotography. On top of that, it has Zeiss optics! The catch is that I already own the Tokina 20mm f/2.0 FiRIN lens that I use for astro so I would be getting the Zeiss for better optics and spectacular 10 ray sunstars.
Hey Hudson, you are very lucky to get a hold of the 20 mm f1.8s. I was planning to purchase one a couple weeks after release waiting for reviews from experts like you. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 disaster is going to make it a challenge for Nikon to put these on shelves. Employment uncertainties are going to affect spending on new gear as well. Would be great to have this lens with my Z6 for my summer trip to Lake O’Hara. That is, if this pandemic is behind us by late June. Stay safe and healthy! And keep making contents.
Thanks! You stay safe too. I'm worried this may take the summer too. :( I had one of the first NPS orders. Glad I did, I'm sure supply will be low for a lot of gear.
That new 20mm S lens is crazy sharp - (like all the new S glass). Must say I like the appearance of the sunstars on the F lens better and the performance is still pretty damn good.
Yeah, I don't know... I do love the old 20s Sunstars too. The new one is good and they are clean, but the old one's are fabulously shaped. That said, the image as a whole at F16 is way sharper with the new one. I'm going to run with it for a bit and see how happy I am. :-)
Another FoCal question. I have the Nikon 180-400 lense with the built-in TC 1.4. Will Focal allow me to set up an adjustment for the lens with and without the TC?
I just upgraded from d7100 to z6 , I still have my tokina 11-20 . Is it still a good option to continue using with my z6 while a get some money to upgrade the lens? A follower from Costa Rica...
Hello from France! First of all, thanks for your videos! I have been a Nikon user since I have started photography, and having you giving great piece of advices with some focus on this particular brand has been quite helpful. Sorry for the following long ass question/monologue but I'm facing some existential doubts... about gears. I'm considering switching from DSLR to mirrorless in a year or so. I almost considered not going for Nikon again but some of your video got me the answers I needed. I was concerned about the AF but it seems that it is all good with the new firmware as you demonstrated. However, I really trusted the Nikon over Sony for instance for weather proofing and you have also demonstrated that Nikon does an excellent job at it. So again thanks for that insights. Only pain point for me is the choice of lenses. I would like to take this opportunity to start a fresh lens park. I had to buy some not so good lenses when I started and the only lens I have that I would consider as a keeper is my Sigma 105 Macro so I'm ok starting from scratch. I like mostly nature and travel photography but I really would like to not get to loaded. First it seems that the 24-70 f4 is good and that I don't need to go for the f2.8 so I think this one will be in the bag My thoughts are to go for a prime lens wide angle on one side and a telephoto on the other. For the prime the Nikon 20mm f1.8 seems to be a really nice lens as shown in your video but it is not really small and rather expensive. Just for the sake of discussion, if I assume that, by the time that I want to buy that lens, the other lens maker will have adapted their lens to the Z mount what do you think of the Tamron 20mm f2.8? I really don't know if I will be missing something by not having a faster lens. After I was thinking of getting the holly 70-200 f2.8, but of course it is massive. For that Canon made exactly what I was looking for with a really compact version and I don't see Nikon making another version :(. The other thing, and still in the hope that Tamron would have the Z mount, I saw the 70-180 f2.8 and it looks maybe like what I need. But mainly I would like your thoughts on two add-ons to solve some of my problems. First, to avoid always having a dedicated macro lens what do you think about close up filters to do a bit of macro during travels? Also, as I like to take picture of wildlife but I won't be able to buy/carry dedicated lenses, is a teleconverter a good choice. My understanding is that on mirrorless, AF works up to f11 so no worries to have on that side. I again apologize for the length of the questions and the really personal focus point they have but I would really appreciate your advice.
There are 80-400 and 200-600 zooms on nikons mirrorless roadmap. On a budget, an older 70-200 2.8 (say the VRII) on the FTZ would work too and if you got the 1.4 TC it would yield fine results at 320. Another option is the 80-400 f mount lens. For wide, I do love the 14-30 stopped down a bit and laowa has a new manual focus 15mm F2 that is affordable and interesting for Z mount. The Z lenses are really fabulous. I can't wait for them to make a lightweight 70-200 F4 S. But it's a ways down the roadmap.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thanks a lot for the feedback, the laowa looks fantastic. I will be studying all that and keep looking at your videos for some months and I might bother you a last time before jumping in on new lenses. Thanks again.
Ha yeah, it's a darkened studio back behind there and I'm just demoing. Normally sunstars have a lot more ambient. I like to keep the Z7 at or below 3200 if I can. The Z6 I'm fine bouncing up to 20,000 belive it or not. It's so good.
You mentioned an upcoming ATS on filters. Please address which filters will work with a lens hood for the mirrorless lens. Many of the Hoya and B&W filters warn there may be issues with bayonet mounted lens hoods.
I've never had an issue with round filters and items hoods. I use them in conjunction constantly. If you adapt up to bigger filters, it's a pain and it's a pain to adjust your polarizer, but I just loose the hood when doing either of those things.
fantastic video once again. I'm currently using the panasonic g80 m4/3rds for photography and youtube but really want to up my game and feel after watching your channel I'm going to go for the nikon z6 and as I do a lot of outdoors/hiking and camping videos I would ideally like a nice wide lens and wondered what you would recommend, would the 20mm f1.8 work as a landscape and astro lens? Also I don't have unlimited funds and have seen a deal on the z6 with 24-70 f4 kit lens , would you recommend this lens to start with? I do apologise for all the questions I just need to ensure I'm buying the right camera and lenses as the sony A7iii is also a potential camera. Thanks and look forward to future vids, Steve
The 24-70 F4 is fabulous. I really think it's a must. I use it so much more than I dreamed I would. The 20 1.8 is fabulous too. I haven't gotten a chance to do night work with it yet to test coma and CA, but I think it's going to be a winner. stay tuned on that one. :-) The Sony A7iii is a great performer, but I find it far less fun to use because the viewfinder is so inferior and I don't personally like Sony's control or menu layouts. I think it's a real shame Sony didn't give the A7iii the great viewfinder they put in the A7Riii. That was a bummer of a cost cut that really undermines the A7iii. I'm really glad Nikon put such epic viewfinders in all the mirrorless bodies. Even the Z50.
Yep, when I'm handholding shooting in different directions and lighting conditions I let the camera float the ISO (within the upper and lower limits I set) to maintain a well exposed frame while I focus on compositon, shutter speed and aperture. I keep a constant eye on ISO and adjust shutter and aperture accordingly as needed. When i lock down on a tripod and craft a landscape, I turn auto ISO off. Most pros I know and work with use this constantly too. Our cameras are capable of incredible image quality at High ISO. It lets me work much more quickly to use that capability.
Watched the video with interest, and am hoping you can help......if the answer is can't be done I will understand. I have a Nikon D7200, an old Nikkor 28 & 50 mm lenses, a Nikon 105mm Micro lens, a Rokinon 14mm lens, and both a Nikon DX 18-200 & 18-300 zooms. I have tried all kinds of settings from the widest angle and f16 to f32 but never seem to be able to get a good Sun star. Is it possible with any of these combinations, or is just that I need to practice more? Thanks............
If you used my vid, then DOF should be function 1 and bracketing function 2. You definitely want DOF on one of those. :) fct 1 is the traditional spot.
I have found that in general (not always, but most of the time) if the aperture is designed to give "buttery smooth bokeh" then the sunstars will be horrible or non existent. If the lens gives great sunstars, then the bokeh suffers. The two qualities seem to be mutually exclusive.
Great video as always, Hudson!
One thing I've noticed with the Z 24-70 f4 and the 14-30 f4 sun stars (and now your test with the new 20mm 1.8) Is that the sun star 'spikes' start small and get bigger as the go out the way (more so on the f4's) Whereas the old 20 1.8 start bigger and go to really fine points. Just something I find more pleasing to look at with the finer spikes of the old 20mm.
Amen brother.
Went to Yosemite this week to practice some of the new panoramic techniques from your videos and your online class, so cool. Heavy smoke rolled in before I got anything amazing. I was also shooting sunrise and tried for a good sun star with my 24mm S, got a decent one using your recommendations. Thank you for the easy to follow videos, though I've made a few new purchases after watching...mostly tripod upgrades.
In case of even number of aperture blades, sun star points don’t double up as rays generating from opposite blade overlap on each other. Therefore, if it had 8 aperture blades, sunstar would be 8 pointed only & not 16. What you mentioned towards the end is correct that S lens has 9 aperture blades & 18 pointed star. It doubles in case of odd numbered aperture blades
Fascinating. I think I've only worked with odd bladed lenses. Nice catch. Thanks.
Looking forward to your analysis of this new lens for Milky Way photography.
Me too
Wow! A lot of content this week. And you answered my question for "office hours' this week. :-) Take the UV filter off. Thanks for the 90 weeks of info. You have upped my game immensely because of all your spot on advice over the years. You da best man!
You're so welcome my friend. Thanks for that feedback. Stay safe.
Finally someone who has the same sunstar obsession as I do. I loved the 20mm on my D850 for sunrises. Now I'm kinda waiting for something equal on the Z mount 9 instead of seven blades still makes for a busier sunstar.
I dig the 24-120 / 4's star. it's quite nice.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto Yeah, its good but it's not wide enough sadly. I would to see the same aperture blades on an UWA.
I am SERIOUSLY considering getting a Zeiss Loxia 21mm f/2.8 (manual focus) lens for my Sony A7iii. It has some of the best sunstars of any lens for the Sony FF cameras. It is also a lens that is highly regarded for astrophotography. On top of that, it has Zeiss optics! The catch is that I already own the Tokina 20mm f/2.0 FiRIN lens that I use for astro so I would be getting the Zeiss for better optics and spectacular 10 ray sunstars.
You are correct, the Loxia 21mm offers the best sunstars of any lens available.
Hey Hudson, you are very lucky to get a hold of the 20 mm f1.8s. I was planning to purchase one a couple weeks after release waiting for reviews from experts like you. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 disaster is going to make it a challenge for Nikon to put these on shelves. Employment uncertainties are going to affect spending on new gear as well. Would be great to have this lens with my Z6 for my summer trip to Lake O’Hara. That is, if this pandemic is behind us by late June. Stay safe and healthy! And keep making contents.
Thanks! You stay safe too. I'm worried this may take the summer too. :( I had one of the first NPS orders. Glad I did, I'm sure supply will be low for a lot of gear.
That new 20mm S lens is crazy sharp - (like all the new S glass). Must say I like the appearance of the sunstars on the F lens better and the performance is still pretty damn good.
Yeah, I don't know... I do love the old 20s Sunstars too. The new one is good and they are clean, but the old one's are fabulously shaped. That said, the image as a whole at F16 is way sharper with the new one. I'm going to run with it for a bit and see how happy I am. :-)
Another FoCal question. I have the Nikon 180-400 lense with the built-in TC 1.4. Will Focal allow me to set up an adjustment for the lens with and without the TC?
That's a great question to email them. They're quite responsive in normal times. :)
I just upgraded from d7100 to z6 , I still have my tokina 11-20 . Is it still a good option to continue using with my z6 while a get some money to upgrade the lens? A follower from Costa Rica...
Hi i am looking for an astro lens, question focus by wire or manual focus just for astro?
Hello from France!
First of all, thanks for your videos! I have been a Nikon user since I have started photography, and having you giving great piece of advices with some focus on this particular brand has been quite helpful.
Sorry for the following long ass question/monologue but I'm facing some existential doubts... about gears.
I'm considering switching from DSLR to mirrorless in a year or so. I almost considered not going for Nikon again but some of your video got me the answers I needed. I was concerned about the AF but it seems that it is all good with the new firmware as you demonstrated. However, I really trusted the Nikon over Sony for instance for weather proofing and you have also demonstrated that Nikon does an excellent job at it. So again thanks for that insights.
Only pain point for me is the choice of lenses.
I would like to take this opportunity to start a fresh lens park. I had to buy some not so good lenses when I started and the only lens I have that I would consider as a keeper is my Sigma 105 Macro so I'm ok starting from scratch. I like mostly nature and travel photography but I really would like to not get to loaded.
First it seems that the 24-70 f4 is good and that I don't need to go for the f2.8 so I think this one will be in the bag
My thoughts are to go for a prime lens wide angle on one side and a telephoto on the other.
For the prime the Nikon 20mm f1.8 seems to be a really nice lens as shown in your video but it is not really small and rather expensive. Just for the sake of discussion, if I assume that, by the time that I want to buy that lens, the other lens maker will have adapted their lens to the Z mount what do you think of the Tamron 20mm f2.8? I really don't know if I will be missing something by not having a faster lens.
After I was thinking of getting the holly 70-200 f2.8, but of course it is massive. For that Canon made exactly what I was looking for with a really compact version and I don't see Nikon making another version :(. The other thing, and still in the hope that Tamron would have the Z mount, I saw the 70-180 f2.8 and it looks maybe like what I need. But mainly I would like your thoughts on two add-ons to solve some of my problems. First, to avoid always having a dedicated macro lens what do you think about close up filters to do a bit of macro during travels? Also, as I like to take picture of wildlife but I won't be able to buy/carry dedicated lenses, is a teleconverter a good choice. My understanding is that on mirrorless, AF works up to f11 so no worries to have on that side.
I again apologize for the length of the questions and the really personal focus point they have but I would really appreciate your advice.
All the best and take care!
There are 80-400 and 200-600 zooms on nikons mirrorless roadmap. On a budget, an older 70-200 2.8 (say the VRII) on the FTZ would work too and if you got the 1.4 TC it would yield fine results at 320. Another option is the 80-400 f mount lens. For wide, I do love the 14-30 stopped down a bit and laowa has a new manual focus 15mm F2 that is affordable and interesting for Z mount. The Z lenses are really fabulous. I can't wait for them to make a lightweight 70-200 F4 S. But it's a ways down the roadmap.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thanks a lot for the feedback, the laowa looks fantastic. I will be studying all that and keep looking at your videos for some months and I might bother you a last time before jumping in on new lenses. Thanks again.
Great content in this vid. I thought I seen an ISO of 12,800 with the z7 for the sun star pic. What are the acceptable ISO's for the z6 & z7 for you?
Ha yeah, it's a darkened studio back behind there and I'm just demoing. Normally sunstars have a lot more ambient. I like to keep the Z7 at or below 3200 if I can. The Z6 I'm fine bouncing up to 20,000 belive it or not. It's so good.
That’s really interesting Hudson. I didn’t know that there was software to fine tune autofocus.
Check out last week's ATS. :-)
Hudson Henry Photography just watched it too.
You mentioned an upcoming ATS on filters. Please address which filters will work with a lens hood for the mirrorless lens. Many of the Hoya and B&W filters warn there may be issues with bayonet mounted lens hoods.
I've never had an issue with round filters and items hoods. I use them in conjunction constantly. If you adapt up to bigger filters, it's a pain and it's a pain to adjust your polarizer, but I just loose the hood when doing either of those things.
Thankˋs for this video. Please stay healthy. Greeting to you and your family. Frank Berlin
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ADVICE ANDN VIDEOS. MY GOODNESS... THANK YOU
fantastic video once again. I'm currently using the panasonic g80 m4/3rds for photography and youtube but really want to up my game and feel after watching your channel I'm going to go for the nikon z6 and as I do a lot of outdoors/hiking and camping videos I would ideally like a nice wide lens and wondered what you would recommend, would the 20mm f1.8 work as a landscape and astro lens? Also I don't have unlimited funds and have seen a deal on the z6 with 24-70 f4 kit lens , would you recommend this lens to start with? I do apologise for all the questions I just need to ensure I'm buying the right camera and lenses as the sony A7iii is also a potential camera. Thanks and look forward to future vids, Steve
The 24-70 F4 is fabulous. I really think it's a must. I use it so much more than I dreamed I would. The 20 1.8 is fabulous too. I haven't gotten a chance to do night work with it yet to test coma and CA, but I think it's going to be a winner. stay tuned on that one. :-) The Sony A7iii is a great performer, but I find it far less fun to use because the viewfinder is so inferior and I don't personally like Sony's control or menu layouts. I think it's a real shame Sony didn't give the A7iii the great viewfinder they put in the A7Riii. That was a bummer of a cost cut that really undermines the A7iii. I'm really glad Nikon put such epic viewfinders in all the mirrorless bodies. Even the Z50.
Can you Explain why you shoot ISO Auto mode?
Yep, when I'm handholding shooting in different directions and lighting conditions I let the camera float the ISO (within the upper and lower limits I set) to maintain a well exposed frame while I focus on compositon, shutter speed and aperture. I keep a constant eye on ISO and adjust shutter and aperture accordingly as needed. When i lock down on a tripod and craft a landscape, I turn auto ISO off. Most pros I know and work with use this constantly too. Our cameras are capable of incredible image quality at High ISO. It lets me work much more quickly to use that capability.
Watched the video with interest, and am hoping you can help......if the answer is can't be done I will understand. I have a Nikon D7200, an old Nikkor 28 & 50 mm lenses, a Nikon 105mm Micro lens, a Rokinon 14mm lens, and both a Nikon DX 18-200 & 18-300 zooms. I have tried all kinds of settings from the widest angle and f16 to f32 but never seem to be able to get a good Sun star. Is it possible with any of these combinations, or is just that I need to practice more? Thanks............
Use the technique I show here and try the 14 and 28s.:)
Thanks for the response.......if we ever get sun around here agin I will do just that and let you know how it goes. Keep the good stuff coming!
Great tutorial!
rad clip my friend ,keep up the good content :D
I’m keen to see the coma on this one for stars.
Me too!
Check out this video where he shows test shots of astro with the new 20mm - th-cam.com/video/Eex-oOxSB70/w-d-xo.html
Always learn from you. If I remember right I changed my function buttons, so I do not have DOF viewing. Should I change it back?
If you used my vid, then DOF should be function 1 and bracketing function 2. You definitely want DOF on one of those. :) fct 1 is the traditional spot.
Hudson Henry Photography Will do, I thought we mapped focus peaking to one of the functions button
I have found that in general (not always, but most of the time) if the aperture is designed to give "buttery smooth bokeh" then the sunstars will be horrible or non existent. If the lens gives great sunstars, then the bokeh suffers. The two qualities seem to be mutually exclusive.
I like the new 20s bokeh. :)
Is shooting into the sun with your camera a threat to your camera sensor?
Not in the least. Don't put a long lens on and leave it trained there for a minute or two, but this work is fine
cool content dude you should have more views
Thanks man! I always appreciate that sort of feedback and shares.