Photograph the Milky Way with a 24mm focal length!

The experienced one Milky Way photographer Anja Kallenbach has during her trip to Chamonix, a commune in France Viltrox lens with a 24 millimeter focal length can test. In this blog post she tells you about the challenges of choosing the right lens in combination with the Milky Way photography and what experiences she has already gained with the 24 millimeter focal length.

Testing and preparing the lens for night photography

The summer weather of 2021 with lots of clouds put you to a tough test, at least if you have a new lens for the Milky Way to test. The photographer got up every night in the week before departure to take a test photo on the balcony. At the Photographing stars All the weaknesses of a lens were revealed mercilessly and she has had to send back many expensive lenses after just one day of testing. decentered, lots of chroma in the corners, which means that the stars were no longer displayed round or the result in the corners was simply not sharp enough.

She has it all the more Viltrox AF 24mm f/1.8 surprised when she saw the test photo. She couldn't believe how a lot of quality one already for such a thing low price could get. The lens is already fully usable, has little vignette and chroma. What's more, it is small, handy and light. This was particularly important for the photographer because she had to carry her equipment, which included photo accessories as well as a sleeping bag and tent, up the mountain. Despite the weather forecast, Anja Kallenbach really wanted to test the lens in practice and photograph the Milky Way with it. So they went to Chamonix to the Arctic Ocean. She had one there breathtaking view of the Milky Way, as can be seen in the following result.

camera	cover	ISO	exposure
Sony ILCE-7III	f/2.2	4000	10 seconds

Breathtaking panoramic shots

After a long and hot climb up the mountain, the photographer was met with a breathtaking view rewarded. The view of the receding glacier and the Drus lay before her. In the background loomed the famous north face of the Grandes Jorrasses, a multi-peaked mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the Alps. This scene cannot even be captured in its entirety with a focal length of 14 millimeters. Let alone the entire arc of the Milky Way. He was too big for such a shot. For this reason she usually chose one Panoramic shot, since these consist of several individual image sequences is created. She emphasizes that with a lens with a 24 millimeter focal length, the image immediately became much more detailed. In addition, she has the Rollei panoramic head 200 Mark II "updated version" used so that she knew directly in the dark how far she could push the camera for the panoramic image.

camera	cover	ISO	exposure
Sony ILCE-7III	f/2.2	4000	10 seconds

A panoramic image like the one above with a 360 degree all-round view by Anja Kallenbach arises from a total 108 images in four rows. This must all be planned out in great detail so that nothing overlaps too much afterwards and no noticeable errors are visible in the foreground. The night she took this panoramic image, it was particularly difficult for her because some clouds passed through the subject during the creation process and she unfortunately had to start the recording again.

In addition to the lens and the panoramic head, she took photos with a Sony Alpha 7III and the Rollei remote release. The sky was captured with an ISO of 4000, an aperture of 2.2 and an exposure time of 10 seconds. To ensure that the stones and mountains in the foreground do not appear too dark, the foreground was exposed for 30 seconds.

camera	cover	ISO	exposure
Sony ILCE-7III	f/2.2	4000	10 seconds

Chamonix is ​​only a small village, but it is clear to see that the... Light pollution shines up to the tops of the mountains. Anja Kallenbach likes to consciously incorporate this enlightenment into her pictures. This is supposed to be as Size comparison to landscape serve.

The overall impression of the lens

If the lens is for the Milky Way photography Whether for panoramic images or simple individual shots, Anja Kallenbach can only recommend the lens. With the 24 millimeter focal length You can take detailed and breathtaking photos. The lens will definitely accompany the photographer on her upcoming trips and will continue to do so breathtaking images create.

You too are with one Viltrox lens been on the road Show us your pictures on Instagram or Facebook at #rolleixviltrox!

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