In general, any camera and a wide angle lens can be used to photograph the Milky Way if the shooting conditions are favourable and you take care of a few settings when shooting and apply a few techniques when post processing.įor example, if you are starting with shooting the Milky Way, then wide angle lenses are the best choices. In general lenses with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 are recommended when it comes to astrophotography. Again this depends on the choice of objects that you are looking to shoot, shooting conditions and how much exposure is required.
Wide angle lenses with wider apertures are generally preferred for astrophotography as wider apertures allow more light, which means you can work with lower iso values. Of course there are cameras dedicated to astrophotography and we will talk about that in detail in a later section that discusses optional gear for astrophotography. Some recommended cameras are the Nikon D850, Nikon D780, Nikon D500, Nikon D7500, Nikon D5600, Nikon Z6 II, Fujifilm X-T4, Canon EOS R6, Canon EOS 6D, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EOS 90D, Canon EOS 800D, Canon EOS 4000D, Sony A7 III, Sony A9 Mark II, Olympus OMD EM5 Mark II, Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark II, and many more cameras.
If you are only starting with photographing the Milky Way, then start with the camera that you have in hand and then upgrade to a better one when you find your camera limiting.
So, if you are able to afford a full frame camera, then it’s great, but if not, there are intermediate level crop sensor cameras with great sensors including the MFT systems. But, there are certain post processing techniques that can deal with noise issues in a very effective manner which means you can use an APS-C sensor or a micro four third camera for night sky photography. Remember, there are APS-C and MFT systems that come with great low light and high iso performance. Full frame cameras have better sensors and as a result can perform better in low light conditions and deal with high iso noise effectively. A Good Cameraįor astrophotography, it is good to have either mirrorless or DSLR cameras from any manufacturer, that have good low light and high iso performance, but it is not a necessity. Here are some of the gear and accessories that you must have for astrophotography: 1. But photographing objects like nebulae, star clusters and galaxies may require some care when choosing astrophotography lenses and cameras. Note : You can always start with the gear that you have in hand, for example your camera and kit lens are capable of photographing the milky way and the constellations for a start under good atmospheric conditions. We will discuss the gear that you must have and then go into optional gear that will help you improve your night sky astrophotography. In this article, we will take a look at some of the best gear for astrophotography. It just requires a lot of patience and practice.Īs discussed before and in various other articles at Light Stalking, astrophotography does not require expensive gear and the techniques and settings involved are quite straightforward if you understand the concept behind it. With some knowledge of the night sky, deep sky objects, camera settings and night sky photography, almost anyone can capture beautiful images of the night sky and night sky objects. Once you progress in your passion for astrophotography, you will start to explore other gear options to capture more objects in the night sky. For example, you can photograph the Milky Way and a few other deep sky objects using a mirrorless or a DSLR camera and a wide angle lens.