Decent DSLR Lenses under £100.00 for Astro Photography ( just starting out )

Thank you for the advice, I'm not ssteward, but I'm a beginner with a Canon EOS 2000D as well, and I'll look for these lenses, then.

You can get a 500 mm F8 mirror lens which is like a Mini SCT on eBay for about $50

Hi Steve,

I also started with some of the lenses mentioned above. Most of them are really useful. Personally, I would not recommend the 500mm mirror lens. The exposure times for this long focal lenght may be a bit challenging. I think, that there are better choices. I bought a 300mm f/4 Canon L lens without the image stabalizer. There are some cheaper (500€-ish) ones out there. They are quite old but still have a really good image quality with an aperture of 4. But the lenses don't have to be that expensive. Any newer used lens will usually produce a good image quality.

I would suggest the road that Jelle is suggesting. A tracking mount for the camera is even more important. If you spend half the money on a sky tracker or something similar, then you still have some money left to buy a lens, too. The nifty fifty (50/1. is really cheap and offers a lot of oppertunities. A lens in the 200 to 300mm range offers a more detailed view to some objects. Search the web for some trackers, read some reviews and then decide. Otherwise, chances are that you will not be satisfied with your results.

A second thing, you should keep in mind. A lens for a DSLR has to be sharp for all object distances. So there must be a compromise for the makers to offer a decent quality for all of them. That said, there is some kind of compromise for the infinity focus setting. A photo lens will usually never be as sharp as a good telescope.

I really suggest to buy a tracked mount. If you'd like to upgrade later, this mount can be used for a second setup. This is how I use my old mount today. Of course, you can take images without that mount. But I guess that you will soon recognize that you want more.

This is just my personal opinion. I went through that process myself and spent a lot of money on more or less useless equipment. I do not regret it, but if I'd bought the right stuff from the beginning, it would've been much cheaper for me ;-)

Greetings

Christian

Oh, I just recognized that your budget is 100 pounds instead of 1000. So the nifty fifty is within your budget. Maybe you can find a fast 85mm lens. Stay away from one of the very old Sigma lenses for your camera. They may have problems with the DSLRs, because they can't handle some of the communication between the lens and the body…

Consider the Pentax Ahasi Super Takumar line. The lenses are solidly built and many are still in great shape despite their age (I think mine was probably manufactured in the 80s). You definitely don't need to spend more on things like autofocus or auto aperture control for astrophotgraphy, so there's no sense in spending extra on it (but they still work great for traditional photgraphy !). I bought a 200mm f/3.5 for under $100 shipped on eBay. At that focal length you will defnitely want a star tracker, however. There are a few youtube videos reviewing that exact lens for deep sky astrophotography. I'm very pleased after my first few sessions.

Markus A. R. Langlotz:
The 130g light SMC Pentax DA 35mm f/2.4
This lens is free of coma even fully open at f/2.4, so a decent performer for wide field images.
Price for a new one is about 125€, used, you'd get them way below 100€.

The problem with Pentax lenses is the aperture engagement tab that sticks out of the lens. If you're using a clip-on filter you can't use the lens. (even with an adaptor). I had to dismantle the flange too get rid of it. Another way around is to bend the tab inside the lens so it won't stick out but it is barbaric to the lens ;).

D810, no question there. The other one won't even work with APT or possibly N.I.N.A. And you want one or the other to work with your camera. 9000 shutter activations is nothing for a camera like the D810.

Thanks For info much appreciated

The tracking mount is by far your most important and should be next purchase. I have had great results with a skyguider pro, but if you can save the money, go for a full goto mount, but not a super cheap one! if not a skyguider or star adventurer will get you started, is always good for wide field stuff, and you can always upgrade to a small refractor.  This is the route I went down and bought a redcat, some guiding kit, and a couple wide angle lenses. Once I get a go-to mount and a larger scope, I will still always have a great, portable, wide field set up.     SGP and SA run around 450 USD. I'm not sure what that would be in quid as you Brits say, but I'd imagine £380 or so.
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If money is a constraint, get the sky guider or star adventurer.   Then just use some kit lenses.  I've actually gotten some pretty good pics with just the 18-55 and even the crappy 75-300 on my canon T3i or my sony a55.