Nice to see you again … ❤ Beautiful pictures as usual. Hopefully, we’ll get rid of our 10-15 feet of snow and cold weather and get on with clear skies and pictures that are worth something… Luv ya ❤
I was looking for astro review of this lens from a long time. Thanks for posting. I need a wide angle zoom lens for landscapes and nightscapes(one lens would save me lot of money and Travelling weight). Other wise a 20mm 1.8 z lens is what you made me fall in love for. Also I can go for a star tracker later in future. I has tagged you at Instagram, in one of my latest milyway image shot using the techniques taught by you. Thanks for this good work Sir.
Thank you so much for watching Vimal. I do love the 20mm f1.8 but as you can see from the images in this video, this 17-28 f2.8 is very good also for nightscape photography.
Thanks for taking us with you on the 'journey' as you call it :-). Very atmospheric on location video. Love it! Also brilliant you got to shoot the aurora!
Some incredible images you were able to capture early in the morning Richard, glad you were able to put the 17-28 to good use. Those images of the Aurora are incredible. I know what you mean about fog early in the morning after a hot day, I had the pleasure recently of being out and a cool change came in, the fog wiped out the foreground.
I want the Tamron 28-75 G2 version and Sigma 20mm Art F1.4 DG DN... Currently I use two Rokinon lenses a 18mm tiny and 14mm series ii both F2.8 for Sony E
Hi Richard , i really like the image at 19.58 with the fact that you manage to capture the breeze on the dam . As far as the all the other images are all really really pretty cool as well , MR Aurora. The 17/28 lens is up to par with a lot of other lenses in the canon world , and lets face it by the time you star minimize and reduce the stars you can't tell anyway. Cheers .
Great video, Richard. That lens does indeed look good, but I think you'd get great images using a milk bottle for a lens! As an aside, I'm always fascinated by how your video clips of you setting up all seem to capture the detail in the Milky Way core. It's amazing!!
Thanks so much Simon. Yes I use the Sony A7s3 for my live video shooting. And I also use the Sony 24mm f1.4 GM lens. It takes quite a lot of work to light the scene sometimes for those shots though.
From what I understand, this Tamron / Nikon 2.8 trilogy (17-28, 28-75, and the 70-180 coming out soon) isn't just a simple re-badge, the internals are all Nikon (glass, weather sealing etc). It's basically Nikon using Tamron's base design to efficiently produce an affordable, non-S class zoom trilogy. From what I hear they're quite good! Watching your vid now 🙂
@@nightscapeimages.richard Tamron's involvement is a great complement to Nikon's lens lineup, it actually helps Nikon in selling their cameras just like what Tamron and Sigma did in popularizing the Sony camera. But Nikon also has some great lenses like their 85mm F1.2
Brilliant video, looks like a great lens for anyone starting in photography in general and who may also want to shoot the night sky. Probably a better investment to pay a little extra over a Samyang. You may not get Aurora's in your area very often but I loved your windmill image and all the rest, I have watched them twice. Thank you as always for your professionalism and brilliant reviews/tutorials Richard.
Thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement Les. Yes I loved seeing the aurora. . .I'll be in Tasmania in May so hoping for a decent look then.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Anytime mate. Your videos are very inspiring, just annoying that every time I go out to shoot the star trails or the milky way the clouds roll in. Now I’m living in Fiji and it rains 252 days a year. I’ll get it one day
Excellent review and images as always. I prefer to use primes. I have my eye on the new Z 26mm 2.8 lens and would love to see a review of it if you can get your hands on it for Milky Way shots.
Loved this lens. I’ve got my nightscape review hopefully coming out next week. But I had the lens from November-January so no Milky Way test shots for me 😢
First those images you shared with us are phenomenal my friend! That lens is $1200.00 here in the states. More expensive than the 20 mm f/1.8 S lens, which I am really looking at getting for nightscapes. I have the 24-70 f/4 S which works great for me. I like the new 26mm pancake also. I started long ago with a 28mm for astrophotography on film and was happy. I could try the 7Artisans 12mm APS-C f2.8 II in dx mode on the Z6II giving me a 18mm equivalent as a experiment. Well my friend you have a truly wonderful weekend.
Thanks as always for watching John. I'm not too sure I'd use DX mode on a Z6 .. that's a serious drop is resolution. Yes the 20mm f1.8 is an excellent lens for shooting milky way.
Nice to see this review, I own the Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4 and was curious as what the Nikon lens was like. Obviously the fixed 2.8 aperture is much nicer but I have been impressed with the 17-35 and based on your review would say the Nikon 17-28 would be worthy of adding to the Z lens kit.
Greetings Richard, that lens does look exactly like the Tamron 17-28. I got one as part of my upgrade to the full frame Sony, it is a pretty good lens. I'm looking forward to shooting some Milky Way shots with it later this month.
So Richard if you had a choice between the fixed 20mm 1.8 and this lens. Which one would you buy? Was going to buy the 20mm and now I see this. As you said this is a couple of 100 more here in Oz. Understand the different focal length makes it more versatile but……..I do hike with my camera and this is smaller and lighter.
That's a good question Andrew. The 20mm f1.8 is a better lens for low light and milky way but for standard daytime shooting the zoom is hard to beat. I didn't do much testing in daylight but from what I did see it was fast and responsive.
Hi Richard, Great images and informative video as per usual. It looks like from the metadata and the colours of the sky and foreground you have used 2 different cameras to compose the final images? I like that idea, as the foregrounds look too warm when shot with the Ha modified camera.
Thanks for watching Keith. Yes I used the h-alpha camera for the sky shots and the standard camera for the foreground. Sometimes it's just easier to do it that way. You are right about the colours of the modified cameras . .I prefer my foregrounds with a standard camera usually.
Amazing images! Is your Nikon Z6 astro modified (Visible+Ha). Looking at a Z7ii and this looks like a great option down the road as I will start with my old Nikkor glass.
Incredible images and a very interesting lens indeed. Torn between it and the 20mm 1.8 z prime. Both running about the same, cost wise, in my area. I currently using the 13mm 1.4 (19.5mm) on my FF Z cameras.
Thanks for the review Richard, I always enjoy your photos. I'm curious if you adjust the tint a little different on either side of the sky, the left being reddish and the right side green. Either way, I think the colors are amazing.
Thanks for watching Brian. I tend to keep the colour adjustments the same across the image, but with the astro modified camera it does sometimes look different. In this case there was a bit of light pollution on the right side which looks a lot more blue/green..
It’s priced just about the same as the 20mm f1.8 here in the US. If I didn’t already have the 20 I’d definitely pick this up, but already having the fantastic 20 it’s hard to justify the cost of the 17-28.
Definitely intrigued by this lens...I don't have a tracker though (don't shoot enough astro to justify it), would have been nice to see a couple "untracked" stacked photos to compare.
Hi Richard really enjoy your videos and find them really useful and interesting. Your large prints are awesome. In the editing process do you do anything special like upscaling so can print the larger prints? Thanks
Thanks so much for your encouraging words Fred. I never upscale my images for print. Even though I shoot with a 24 mpx camera I don't have issues with quality. I guess it's because I'm generally blending more than one image together which helps increase the quality with less noise etc.
Thanks for the video and review of this lens which I am interested in. I am also very interested in which camera/ Lens you used to do the filming in the dark as seems very nice quality and you can also see the milky way clearly - please let me know. Thanks
A very interesting video and as expected some terrific shots. Your Milky Way looks great just now, we aren't there just yet. The lens would be interesting if I didn't already have other ones in this range. I would certainly favour it over the 14-24 f2.8, this is just too expensive. I have the 14-30 f4 which is great in daytime and at a push can be used atnight, particularly at higher isos and usnig stacking. For nightscapes the 20mm is still my favourite, it is fast, compact, light and affordable. I had a quick look at prices here ( in Austria, typical of europe ). The 17-28 is 1200€, the 20mm is 1000€ and the 14-24 is 2400€. If I didn't already have the 14-30 and 20mm I might consider this lens.
Yes I think your comments are spot on David. The 20mm lens is the best I use and the 14-24 is just too expensive for most people. This is a good option indeed.
I wish this had been out when I bought my Nikon 14-30mm f/4. I bought the Nikon mostly for landscape but I came into a situation last spring when I needed the wider aperture. I have the 20 mm but I couldn't for everything into the frame. I think I should have done a panorama and just took one shot at blue hour of the foreground and then moved it up towards the sky and got one of the sky. I didn't think about it at the time. I ended up using the 14-30 at f/4 and used ISO 10,000. It came out ok but I lost some dynamic range and color. I think this lens may have been better. But I also heard that the 14-30 was sharper than the 17-28. There's always a compromise somewhere. There's no such thing as a prefect lens.
Yes it's always a good question to ask Carl. I think this lens performed pretty well . .as you can see in the images. They were all shot wide open at f2.8.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I meant to ask you about the aurora and the color. I noticed that some of the ones you have in Australia are red. Is that the real color or was that taken with your modified camera and that's the color it sees?
Thanks for the look around the lens Richard. Looks like a pretty good lens for astro and travel, but yes that price tag, mmmm. Would you prefer this lens over the beloved Z 20mm F1.8S lens? Cheers mate.
Hi Richard, You've got the Milky Way season off to a great start. Too bad Nikon didn't stretch this lens to 35mm (it could be a 17-35mm f/2.8). I have an old Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D lens that I really like, but whose autofocus motor has stopped working (common problem with this lens). Thus, the range would be ideal from 17 to 35 mm. Hug.
Thanks for watching Phil. Yes I've seen plenty of people using the Tokina 11-16 and 11-20 lenses. It's pretty good but only suited for crop sensor cameras.
Hey Richard, thank you so much for this video. I’ve been watching several of your videos as my wife and I would like to get into landscape and night sky photography and we are trying to decide which lens to pick up. We are torn between this one and the Nikon Z 20mm 1.8 S. How do you think these two compare? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks so much for your support of my work. The Nikon Z20mm f1.8 is my favourite lens and so I'd always go for that one. The thing for night landscape photography is that it's always good to have that extra amount of light gathering power of the f1.8 lens for those times when you need it. These days I favour the Nikon 20mm f1.8 and the Viltrox 16mm f1.8 for the Z cameras. There's nothing wrong with these zoom lenses as you can see from this video .. I just prefer the others.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks so much for the quick response and your insight. The extra light gathering of the 1.8 makes a lot of lens and get guess we could crop or step up if the need should ever arise while photographing a subject in the foreground. Thanks again and hope to keep watching your videos and learning more. Cheers!
I’m new to this. I bought this lens last month as a compromise given the focal length range but given how not very dark most of the UK is, I’m now wondering if I’d be better off with the 20mm 1.8 Z 🤦🏼♂️
Well I think the Nikon 20mm f1.8Z is a better lens, but this 17-28 version performed really well for me and it's more suitable for daytime work as well with the zoom.
u may not look at cmments on ze oldeee clogs. Iöike to ask on tips on your use of flash (?), to ight foregrounds, which u ppear to do. also star tracker choices u recommend. am in northern hemisphere, southern Switzerland. use SonyA8II, w/ 24-85 Contax N Carl Ziess Vario Sonnar + Fringer adapter. a highly correected lens, early results look promising. light polluttion low where I am, the bettershortzooms are worth consiering, imo. any tips from shooters up here would be welcome.
Thanks for watching Allan. I really like the Sky Watcher Star Adventurers .. both the 2i and Mini models. I also have the ioptron Sky Guider Pro which is nice. Have you seen these videos regarding flash. th-cam.com/video/-pI2E_6AMYU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/CNOHxtoUyJE/w-d-xo.html
Great video, exactly what I was looking for before planning for 17-28. By the way, what camera did you use to make the video, where you could see the stars in the background so clearly, also what were the ISO value if you can share that?
Thanks so much for watching. I use the Sony A7s3 with the Sony 24mm f1.4GM to make the night videos. It's a great combination for that. I regularly shoot at 64,000 iso at night.
Isn't some of the lack of distortion due to using the Z6 instead of the Z7/Z9? How many images did you light with the panels? (My error ~ I forgot that the Z6 was an FX sensor) 🤜
That's the lens. That's what you get when buying an expensive cheaper lens 😂. I would never buy this, save more money, and buy the 14-30, even used, for the same price.
Excellent review Richard (as usual). Question: How would you rate this lens compared the to Nikon 20mm f1.8 Z in terms of star quality / coma? Best Regards from Northern Norway - Hendrik
Thanks for watching Hendrik. I think the Z20mm f1.8 is better all round performance wise. . but the copy of the 17-28 f2.8 I had was really good. More coma in the corners but certainly acceptable.
Interesting lens, but still expensive. In my country it sells for 1250€. For sure it is less cheaper than the 14-24 but kind of out of my reach. I am planning at some point in the future to move to mirrorless but since everything is so new the lenses are so expensive. Maybe Tamron will come out with some nice alternatives for us the non pros.
@@nightscapeimages.richard is there any chance you could make a video with alternative recommendations for not of the line but good lenses? Something that can be reached by people that do not want to pay too much for lenses but produce decent results?
@@marieta.s Well I'd have to think about that. There are lots of good lenses around but everyone has a different opinion of what they consider cheap. Generally newer lenses will be more expensive .. usually they drop in price after a while though.
What tracker did you use for those excellent shots? Many Sony owners use that Tamron 17-28 for landscape and Milky Way. Pretty sure it’s made by Tamron. Is it branded Nikon?
Thanks for taking a look David. This lens is branded Nikon but it looks like a Tamron. I used the Star Adventurer Mini to shoot all the tracked skies in these shots. See this video on how I use it. th-cam.com/video/qeYrxtaKd3Q/w-d-xo.html
Sony owners do have more options with ultra wide zooms and primes. There is also a Sigma 16-28mm and 14-24mm, Sony's own 12-24mm, new Tamron 20-40mm F2.8.
Well I have all of those focal lengths already covered . .so I have no need for it. But it's a good lens for anyone who hasn't already got those lenses for night shooting.
Yes I always attempt to make contact with land owners. This particular barn is right on the fence line and you don't need to enter the property to shoot it.
Love this video! I think this will be my astrophotography lens for next year!
Thanks heaps for watching Tristin. I found this lens really good for nightscape photography.
Oh that Aurora panorama with the windmill is top shelf. Great work!
Thanks heaps for watching. It's funny because that windmill shot started out as a test shot ... !!!
Nice to see you again … ❤
Beautiful pictures as usual. Hopefully, we’ll get rid of our 10-15 feet of snow and cold weather and get on with clear skies and pictures that are worth something…
Luv ya ❤
Thanks as always Carole. Yes it's a balmy 33 degrees C today.
Richard, loved your video, having lived in Victoria , can’t helped but noticed the “Australian salute”…
Haha, thanks for watching Carl. Not 100% sure what that is though ...!!!
Very nice shots Richard that is a good looking lens.
Might have to get your coordinates for that barn when we come over.
Thanks as always for watching jeff. It's a great spot for sure.
Beutiful pictures Richard... EPIC and AMAZING as always... 73s from the u.k
Thanks so much for watching Keith, really appreciated.
Thanks for recommending
Thank you for looking Santosh
About time you are back Richard
I've been pretty busy but not so much time for making videos.
Fantastic video! You're photography is amazing and this provided a lot of helpful information about the z mount 17-28. Thanks for sharing!
You're very welcome Joseph. Thanks for watching.
Great great video, thank you. Wish we had better skies around where i am without hours of travel.
Thanks for watching. Yes we are blessed here with dark skies.
Great review and images, Richard. A very practical lens.
Thanks a lot for watching Victor. Yes I agree it is very practical.
Superb images, Richard.
Thanks so much for watching Eugene
Great results Richard on the images. I really like the nightscapes with the dam in the foreground. You got lucky with the aurora again! 👌😎😁
Thanks a lot Geoff. Yes it was good to see the aurora again. I'm hoping it shows up in May when I visit Tassie ...!!!
Again a nice review Richard, i do own the Z 20mm also because of your positive comments about it. Keep up the good work mate!
Yes the Nikon 20Z is still my favourite lens.
Great lens,very nice photos
Thanks so much Phillip. Yes I enjoyed using the lens.
Beautiful as allways Richard. Really enjoy your videos ;o)
Thank you so much for watching Michael
beautiful images. thanks. for the first time I now understand the pull of sky photography.
looks ike new lens id a hood value
Thanks so much for watching Allan
I was looking for astro review of this lens from a long time. Thanks for posting. I need a wide angle zoom lens for landscapes and nightscapes(one lens would save me lot of money and Travelling weight). Other wise a 20mm 1.8 z lens is what you made me fall in love for. Also I can go for a star tracker later in future.
I has tagged you at Instagram, in one of my latest milyway image shot using the techniques taught by you. Thanks for this good work Sir.
Thank you so much for watching Vimal. I do love the 20mm f1.8 but as you can see from the images in this video, this 17-28 f2.8 is very good also for nightscape photography.
Thanks for taking us with you on the 'journey' as you call it :-). Very atmospheric on location video. Love it! Also brilliant you got to shoot the aurora!
Thanks as always for your comments. Yes the aurora was a bonus .. !!!
Some incredible images you were able to capture early in the morning Richard, glad you were able to put the 17-28 to good use. Those images of the Aurora are incredible. I know what you mean about fog early in the morning after a hot day, I had the pleasure recently of being out and a cool change came in, the fog wiped out the foreground.
Thanks as always for watching Brett. Yes it's amazing how much the car fogs up when sitting for a while.
very beautiful as always Richard.
Stock camera this time?
It could capture a lot of color in MW.
This is a mixture of stock and astro mod cameras.
I want the Tamron 28-75 G2 version and Sigma 20mm Art F1.4 DG DN... Currently I use two Rokinon lenses a 18mm tiny and 14mm series ii both F2.8 for Sony E
Yes I do like the Tamron G2 lenses Jorge
Hi Richard , i really like the image at 19.58 with the fact that you manage to capture the breeze on the dam . As far as the all the other images are all really really pretty cool as well , MR Aurora. The 17/28 lens is up to par with a lot of other lenses in the canon world , and lets face it by the time you star minimize and reduce the stars you can't tell anyway. Cheers .
All very good comments Erny, as always I appreciate you watching.
Great video, Richard. That lens does indeed look good, but I think you'd get great images using a milk bottle for a lens! As an aside, I'm always fascinated by how your video clips of you setting up all seem to capture the detail in the Milky Way core. It's amazing!!
Thanks so much Simon. Yes I use the Sony A7s3 for my live video shooting. And I also use the Sony 24mm f1.4 GM lens. It takes quite a lot of work to light the scene sometimes for those shots though.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I don't doubt it. The results are always first class. Thanks as always.
From what I understand, this Tamron / Nikon 2.8 trilogy (17-28, 28-75, and the 70-180 coming out soon) isn't just a simple re-badge, the internals are all Nikon (glass, weather sealing etc). It's basically Nikon using Tamron's base design to efficiently produce an affordable, non-S class zoom trilogy. From what I hear they're quite good! Watching your vid now 🙂
Yes that's exactly what I've heard as well Craig. I think it's a good move by Nikon .. the Tamron lenses have always been very good.
What I heard is Nikon actually tweaked the motor and add weather seal to the lens. the optic is still from Tamron.
@@jliang70 Yes you may well be right John. I'm happy for Tamron to be making Nikon lenses.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Tamron's involvement is a great complement to Nikon's lens lineup, it actually helps Nikon in selling their cameras just like what Tamron and Sigma did in popularizing the Sony camera. But Nikon also has some great lenses like their 85mm F1.2
Brilliant video, looks like a great lens for anyone starting in photography in general and who may also want to shoot the night sky. Probably a better investment to pay a little extra over a Samyang. You may not get Aurora's in your area very often but I loved your windmill image and all the rest, I have watched them twice. Thank you as always for your professionalism and brilliant reviews/tutorials Richard.
Thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement Les. Yes I loved seeing the aurora. . .I'll be in Tasmania in May so hoping for a decent look then.
@@nightscapeimages.richard good luck my friend.
Go to bed mate, those images were spot on and perfect. Great feedback on the lens. Keep up the good work
Thanks for watching Troy, really appreciated.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Anytime mate. Your videos are very inspiring, just annoying that every time I go out to shoot the star trails or the milky way the clouds roll in. Now I’m living in Fiji and it rains 252 days a year. I’ll get it one day
@@troyh5955 Yes that is a great problem Troy.
Excellent review and images as always. I prefer to use primes. I have my eye on the new Z 26mm 2.8 lens and would love to see a review of it if you can get your hands on it for Milky Way shots.
Thanks for watching Martin. I've not yet seen the Z 26mm lens
Loved this lens. I’ve got my nightscape review hopefully coming out next week. But I had the lens from November-January so no Milky Way test shots for me 😢
Good on you Will. I'll be keen to hear your thoughts.
First those images you shared with us are phenomenal my friend! That lens is $1200.00 here in the states. More expensive than the 20 mm f/1.8 S lens, which I am really looking at getting for nightscapes. I have the 24-70 f/4 S which works great for me. I like the new 26mm pancake also. I started long ago with a 28mm for astrophotography on film and was happy. I could try the 7Artisans 12mm APS-C f2.8 II in dx mode on the Z6II giving me a 18mm equivalent as a experiment.
Well my friend you have a truly wonderful weekend.
Thanks as always for watching John. I'm not too sure I'd use DX mode on a Z6 .. that's a serious drop is resolution. Yes the 20mm f1.8 is an excellent lens for shooting milky way.
I would prefer an S Line Lens like the Z14-24 F2.8 S or what I use the Z 20mm f1.8 S
Yes they are better lenses for sure Peter. Thanks for watching.
Nice to see this review, I own the Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4 and was curious as what the Nikon lens was like. Obviously the fixed 2.8 aperture is much nicer but I have been impressed with the 17-35 and based on your review would say the Nikon 17-28 would be worthy of adding to the Z lens kit.
Yes for the type of work I do this lens is quite well suited Mike. Thanks for watching.
Greetings Richard, that lens does look exactly like the Tamron 17-28. I got one as part of my upgrade to the full frame Sony, it is a pretty good lens. I'm looking forward to shooting some Milky Way shots with it later this month.
Good on you Bill. Yes it must certainly have some input from Tamron. Appreciate you watching.
So Richard if you had a choice between the fixed 20mm 1.8 and this lens. Which one would you buy? Was going to buy the 20mm and now I see this. As you said this is a couple of 100 more here in Oz. Understand the different focal length makes it more versatile but……..I do hike with my camera and this is smaller and lighter.
That's a good question Andrew. The 20mm f1.8 is a better lens for low light and milky way but for standard daytime shooting the zoom is hard to beat. I didn't do much testing in daylight but from what I did see it was fast and responsive.
Hi Richard,
Great images and informative video as per usual.
It looks like from the metadata and the colours of the sky and foreground you have used 2 different cameras to compose the final images?
I like that idea, as the foregrounds look too warm when shot with the Ha modified camera.
Thanks for watching Keith. Yes I used the h-alpha camera for the sky shots and the standard camera for the foreground. Sometimes it's just easier to do it that way. You are right about the colours of the modified cameras . .I prefer my foregrounds with a standard camera usually.
Amazing images! Is your Nikon Z6 astro modified (Visible+Ha). Looking at a Z7ii and this looks like a great option down the road as I will start with my old Nikkor glass.
Thanks for watching Jim. Yes my camera is h-alpha modified. It works really well.
Incredible images and a very interesting lens indeed. Torn between it and the 20mm 1.8 z prime. Both running about the same, cost wise, in my area. I currently using the 13mm 1.4 (19.5mm) on my FF Z cameras.
Thanks for watching. I think the 20mm f1.8S is a better lens and I use that one all the time.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Excellent, thank you!
Thanks for the review Richard, I always enjoy your photos. I'm curious if you adjust the tint a little different on either side of the sky, the left being reddish and the right side green. Either way, I think the colors are amazing.
Thanks for watching Brian. I tend to keep the colour adjustments the same across the image, but with the astro modified camera it does sometimes look different. In this case there was a bit of light pollution on the right side which looks a lot more blue/green..
It’s priced just about the same as the 20mm f1.8 here in the US. If I didn’t already have the 20 I’d definitely pick this up, but already having the fantastic 20 it’s hard to justify the cost of the 17-28.
Yes you are so right David. The 20mm f1.8 is a better lens for low light photography for sure.
Definitely intrigued by this lens...I don't have a tracker though (don't shoot enough astro to justify it), would have been nice to see a couple "untracked" stacked photos to compare.
Yes good point Jason. I didn't have time to do any more but I'll try to do that next time.
Hi Richard really enjoy your videos and find them really useful and interesting. Your large prints are awesome. In the editing process do you do anything special like upscaling so can print the larger prints? Thanks
Thanks so much for your encouraging words Fred. I never upscale my images for print. Even though I shoot with a 24 mpx camera I don't have issues with quality. I guess it's because I'm generally blending more than one image together which helps increase the quality with less noise etc.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks Richard that is good to know I think we use the same equipment as hav the Z6
Thanks for the video and review of this lens which I am interested in. I am also very interested in which camera/ Lens you used to do the filming in the dark as seems very nice quality and you can also see the milky way clearly - please let me know. Thanks
Thanks so much for watching. I use the Sony A7s3 with a Sony 24mm f1.4 lens for all my night filming. . it does indeed see in the dark ...!!!
Hi Richard,
Some of your images with the tree line at the back.
How did you manage to blend in the tracked sky?
I only ever use the photoshop sky replacement feature. I love it.
A very interesting video and as expected some terrific shots. Your Milky Way looks great just now, we aren't there just yet. The lens would be interesting if I didn't already have other ones in this range. I would certainly favour it over the 14-24 f2.8, this is just too expensive. I have the 14-30 f4 which is great in daytime and at a push can be used atnight, particularly at higher isos and usnig stacking. For nightscapes the 20mm is still my favourite, it is fast, compact, light and affordable. I had a quick look at prices here ( in Austria, typical of europe ). The 17-28 is 1200€, the 20mm is 1000€ and the 14-24 is 2400€. If I didn't already have the 14-30 and 20mm I might consider this lens.
Yes I think your comments are spot on David. The 20mm lens is the best I use and the 14-24 is just too expensive for most people. This is a good option indeed.
I wish this had been out when I bought my Nikon 14-30mm f/4. I bought the Nikon mostly for landscape but I came into a situation last spring when I needed the wider aperture. I have the 20 mm but I couldn't for everything into the frame. I think I should have done a panorama and just took one shot at blue hour of the foreground and then moved it up towards the sky and got one of the sky. I didn't think about it at the time. I ended up using the 14-30 at f/4 and used ISO 10,000. It came out ok but I lost some dynamic range and color. I think this lens may have been better. But I also heard that the 14-30 was sharper than the 17-28. There's always a compromise somewhere. There's no such thing as a prefect lens.
Yes it's always a good question to ask Carl. I think this lens performed pretty well . .as you can see in the images. They were all shot wide open at f2.8.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I meant to ask you about the aurora and the color. I noticed that some of the ones you have in Australia are red. Is that the real color or was that taken with your modified camera and that's the color it sees?
@@carlmcneill1139 This aroura was very red Carl. We often get very purple and magenta colors here as well.
Thanks for the look around the lens Richard. Looks like a pretty good lens for astro and travel, but yes that price tag, mmmm. Would you prefer this lens over the beloved Z 20mm F1.8S lens? Cheers mate.
Thanks heaps for watching Adrian. Way over priced isn't it. No it's not as good as the 20mm f1.8Z.
Amazing nightscape images, which camera you used for tracked sky? stock or astromodified
Thanks for watching. I used h-alpha mod camera for sky photos.
Hi Richard, You've got the Milky Way season off to a great start. Too bad Nikon didn't stretch this lens to 35mm (it could be a 17-35mm f/2.8). I have an old Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D lens that I really like, but whose autofocus motor has stopped working (common problem with this lens). Thus, the range would be ideal from 17 to 35 mm. Hug.
Thanks for watching Jorge. Yes I know a few people who used to love the old Nikon 17-35 lens.
Another great video, thanks for posting Richard. A question if you don't mind, have you ever come across the Tokina 11-16 mm/F 2,8 ATX-I CF?
Thanks for watching Phil. Yes I've seen plenty of people using the Tokina 11-16 and 11-20 lenses. It's pretty good but only suited for crop sensor cameras.
Hey Richard, thank you so much for this video. I’ve been watching several of your videos as my wife and I would like to get into landscape and night sky photography and we are trying to decide which lens to pick up. We are torn between this one and the Nikon Z 20mm 1.8 S. How do you think these two compare? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks so much for your support of my work. The Nikon Z20mm f1.8 is my favourite lens and so I'd always go for that one. The thing for night landscape photography is that it's always good to have that extra amount of light gathering power of the f1.8 lens for those times when you need it.
These days I favour the Nikon 20mm f1.8 and the Viltrox 16mm f1.8 for the Z cameras.
There's nothing wrong with these zoom lenses as you can see from this video .. I just prefer the others.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks so much for the quick response and your insight. The extra light gathering of the 1.8 makes a lot of lens and get guess we could crop or step up if the need should ever arise while photographing a subject in the foreground.
Thanks again and hope to keep watching your videos and learning more. Cheers!
I’m new to this. I bought this lens last month as a compromise given the focal length range but given how not very dark most of the UK is, I’m now wondering if I’d be better off with the 20mm 1.8 Z 🤦🏼♂️
Well I think the Nikon 20mm f1.8Z is a better lens, but this 17-28 version performed really well for me and it's more suitable for daytime work as well with the zoom.
u may not look at cmments on ze oldeee clogs.
Iöike to ask on tips on
your use of flash (?), to ight foregrounds, which u ppear to do.
also star tracker choices u recommend.
am in northern hemisphere, southern Switzerland.
use SonyA8II, w/ 24-85 Contax N Carl Ziess Vario Sonnar + Fringer adapter. a highly correected lens, early results look promising. light polluttion low where I am, the bettershortzooms are worth consiering, imo. any tips from shooters up here would be welcome.
Thanks for watching Allan. I really like the Sky Watcher Star Adventurers .. both the 2i and Mini models. I also have the ioptron Sky Guider Pro which is nice. Have you seen these videos regarding flash. th-cam.com/video/-pI2E_6AMYU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/CNOHxtoUyJE/w-d-xo.html
Great video, exactly what I was looking for before planning for 17-28.
By the way, what camera did you use to make the video, where you could see the stars in the background so clearly, also what were the ISO value if you can share that?
Thanks so much for watching. I use the Sony A7s3 with the Sony 24mm f1.4GM to make the night videos. It's a great combination for that. I regularly shoot at 64,000 iso at night.
@@nightscapeimages.richard that's really good considering iso 64000!! Thanks again!
@@phenomdark27 Yes it's fantastic
Isn't some of the lack of distortion due to using the Z6 instead of the Z7/Z9? How many images did you light with the panels?
(My error ~ I forgot that the Z6 was an FX sensor) 🤜
That's the lens. That's what you get when buying an expensive cheaper lens 😂. I would never buy this, save more money, and buy the 14-30, even used, for the same price.
There is Zero Distortion on my Z 7 with 20mm f1.8 on Milky Way
@@Mr09260 But you aren't taking vertical lines along the edges.
No the Z6 and Z7 is exactly the same regarding distortion. I only lit one image of the old barn with the low level lighting.
@@coltoncyr2283 The 14-30 is a good landscape lens but I'd prefer f2.8 for low light work.
Excellent review Richard (as usual). Question: How would you rate this lens compared the to Nikon 20mm f1.8 Z in terms of star quality / coma? Best Regards from Northern Norway - Hendrik
Thanks for watching Hendrik. I think the Z20mm f1.8 is better all round performance wise. . but the copy of the 17-28 f2.8 I had was really good. More coma in the corners but certainly acceptable.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thank you Richard. Appreciate your feedback. Cheers
Interesting lens, but still expensive. In my country it sells for 1250€. For sure it is less cheaper than the 14-24 but kind of out of my reach. I am planning at some point in the future to move to mirrorless but since everything is so new the lenses are so expensive. Maybe Tamron will come out with some nice alternatives for us the non pros.
Yes I think this Nikon version is more expensive than the Tamron version for Sony cameras. Hopefully it will come down in price.
@@nightscapeimages.richard is there any chance you could make a video with alternative recommendations for not of the line but good lenses? Something that can be reached by people that do not want to pay too much for lenses but produce decent results?
@@marieta.s Well I'd have to think about that. There are lots of good lenses around but everyone has a different opinion of what they consider cheap. Generally newer lenses will be more expensive .. usually they drop in price after a while though.
@@nightscapeimages.richard any recommendation would be appreciated 😃
Hey Richard I’ve been considering this lens thanks for reviewing it.
How do you think it performs with single shot or stacked sky’s?
Hey Craig, it's not too bad at all. Not as good as the 20mm but I reckon it's a very good lens.
I'll stay with my 14-30mm f4 thanks
Yes the 14-30 f4 is a great lens for daylight . . but I prefer the faster aperture for nightscape shooting.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I shoot weddings with speedliights and a few night shots
What tracker did you use for those excellent shots? Many Sony owners use that Tamron 17-28 for landscape and Milky Way. Pretty sure it’s made by Tamron. Is it branded Nikon?
Thanks for taking a look David. This lens is branded Nikon but it looks like a Tamron. I used the Star Adventurer Mini to shoot all the tracked skies in these shots. See this video on how I use it. th-cam.com/video/qeYrxtaKd3Q/w-d-xo.html
Sony owners do have more options with ultra wide zooms and primes. There is also a Sigma 16-28mm and 14-24mm, Sony's own 12-24mm, new Tamron 20-40mm F2.8.
@@jliang70 And of course the Sony 14mm f1.8GM.
@@nightscapeimages.richard magadap also give the Nikon a range of Sony E..
@@jliang70 Yes I made a video about that a couple of weeks ago.
So you gunna buy that lens Richard??
Well I have all of those focal lengths already covered . .so I have no need for it. But it's a good lens for anyone who hasn't already got those lenses for night shooting.
Curious, do you need the landowner's permission to shoot things like the old barn?
Yes I always attempt to make contact with land owners. This particular barn is right on the fence line and you don't need to enter the property to shoot it.
Use your car to block the wind.
Well I do often do that but not in this case. The wind was fairly gentle later on Mark.
its not a Nikon.......its a Tamron rebadged........
It may well be Cliff. And I think there will be more to come.
Tried the Lens - it's not very impressive wide open...🦘
I shot all of these images wide open Roy. Appreciate you watching.