You have probably seen those awe-inspiring pictures of the night sky that encompass the whole Milky Way in a single image, or the landscapes over which there are spectacular skies and wondered what kind of lenses they were using. This post serves as a guide for selecting the best wide angle lenses for astrophotography. Moreover, if you’re looking to buy a DSLR camera to get started with DSLR astrophotography, look into my other review articles: BEST DSLR CAMERAS FOR NIGHTSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY, DSLR Astrophotography: The Top 5 Budget Cameras.
What is a wide-angle lens?
A wide-angle lens is a lens that has a short focal length. This allows it to capture a wider field of view than a standard lens- it can fit more into the frame both horizontally and vertically. Therefore, where long focal lengths are useful for photographing small objects, such as individual nebulae, galaxies, and globular clusters, a wide-angle lens in astrophotography is important for capturing wide, sweeping pictures of the night sky that encompass larger objects, such as the Milky Way or scattered clusters. They are also useful for photographing landscapes and forming mosaics of your nightscapes.
What to look for in a wide-angle lens?
Due to their extremely wide viewing angles, some low-quality wide-angle lenses struggle to reduce the distortion of objects at the edges of the image. Therefore, it’s crucial to identify lenses that provide the best image quality while minimising these distortions.
Hence, we have prepared a list of the best wide-angle lenses on the market that work excellently in DSLR astrophotography and provide the best nightscape pictures.
Sigma Art 40 mm f/1.4
Ideal for Wide-field Milky Way shots, panoramas, and foreground-rich compositions. However, it has a narrower field of view.
Pros:
· Exceptional sharpness edge-to-edge – one of the sharpest Art lenses, with less than 1% distortion and near non-existent sagittal coma flare,
· Bright f/1.4 aperture – great for gathering light in low-light conditions. (The lower the aperture, the better for gathering light.)
· Minimal chromatic aberration and coma – great for pinpoint stars
· Robust build quality – professional feel and weather sealing
Cons
- Heavy both physically and also on the budget compared to other lenses
- 40mm may be too narrow if you want all-encompassing views of the night sky.
Rokinon 14mm f/2.8
Best for Budget landscape and wide-angle astrophotography
Pros
· Ultra-wide 14mm field of view – captures vast night skies
· Excellent value – one of the best budget astrophotography lenses
· Lightweight and simple design
Cons
- It has manual focus. However, you might not need auto-focus anyway if all you want to do is DSLR astrophotography.
- Decent coma and distortions
- Not weather-sealed and basic build quality.
Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4
If the Sigma 40mm f/1.4 seems to narrow for your liking, you may want the Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4 lens, which has a slightly wider field of view and is great for capturing the Milky Way, panoramas, and starry foregrounds. Moreover, it is a high-end lens with a premium build quality.
Pros
· Large f/1.4 aperture – superb light-gathering for low-light scenes
· Very sharp with minimal coma – especially good for shooting stars
· Versatile – great for portraits and general low-light photography too
· Reasonably priced among f/1.4 primes
Cons
- Not as wide – may require stitching for wide Milky Way arcs
- Slight vignetting and coma at f/1.4 – improves significantly when stopped to f/2
- Older version may lack weather sealing (the DG DN version for mirrorless is better sealed)
Sigma 14–24mm f/2.8 Art
Ideal for: Versatile wide-angle astrophotography with zoom control
Pros:
- Zoom flexibility (14–24mm) – great for both wide vistas and slightly tighter frames
- Very sharp across the zoom range
- Well-controlled distortion and coma, especially at 14mm
- Weather-sealed and solidly built
Cons:
- f/2.8 aperture – not as bright as f/1.4 primes, but still great
- Bulky and heavy (over 2.5 lbs) – may strain lighter trackers
- Pricey – a premium lens with a premium cost
Final Thoughts
For the best high-quality photos and ultra-wide nightscapes, I recommend the Sigma 35mm or 40mm lenses. Want a lens that can take high-quality sweeping nightscapes with some control over zoom? The Sigma 14–24mm f/2.8 Art is an excellent choice. Alternatively, if you want a similar field of view without spending too much, the Rokinon 14mm lens is the best option. Overall, these are the top wide-angle lenses for astrophotography, making them ideal for capturing stunning images of the night sky. Most importantly, go for the one which fits your purpose best, whether it be getting ultra-wide shots or just shots of the Milky Way core at sunset.
