Chasing Luminance
MY GEAR
Here is a list of the gear I personally use along with links on where to find them. I've thoughtfully and thoroughly tested every piece of gear listed here and stand behind it 100%! Click on the pictures to be directed to Amazon for purchase.
Tripod
The Manfroto 190 GO is my favorite all around tripod. It's a good mix of light wight compact-ability and stability. It's small enough to be a good travel and backpacking tripod but stout enough to support my SkyWatcher Star adventurer tracker! .
From manfroto -
Enabling fast setup and take-down, as well as a streamlined profile, the M-Lock System twist locks are used and require just a single 90° rotation movement to swiftly deploy the individual leg sections. The 190go! is also characterized by its center column that can positioned at a 90° angle, parallel to the ground, for working from a minimum height of just 3.5". The independent leg sections, with four set leg positions, benefit working on uneven grounds and D-shaped aluminum tubes offer greater torsional support for greater stability. Additionally, an Easy Link attachment in the top casing extends the versatility of the tripod and allows for attaching an LED light, reflector, or other accessories without the need for an additional stand or rig
Camera 1
The tried and true, my old work horse... my first full frame camera that sparked my passion for astrophotography - the original Canon 6d! Although it shows it age during the day (poor auto focus, slow FPS), this camera really shines at night!
From canon -
The EOS 6D DSLR camera is the ideal tool for unlocking your creative vision. It features a 20.2 Megapixel Full-Frame CMOS sensor, a wide ISO range of 100-25600, expandable to L: 50, H1: 51200, and H2: 102400, for incredible image quality even in low light, and a DIGIC 5+ Image Processor delivers enhanced noise reduction and exceptional processing speed. A new 11-point AF including a high-precision center cross-type AF point with EV -3 sensitivity allows focusing in extreme low-light conditions, and with continuous shooting up to 4.5 fps, you are ready to capture fast action. Full HD video with manual exposure control, multiple frame rates, and the benefits of a Full-Frame sensor provides stunning performance and creative flexibility. the EOS 6D is truly the Full-Frame DSLR camera for everyone
Camera 2
When I wanted a more modern, faster DSLR body that would still work with my EOS lenses , I looked to the 80d and am VERY impressed. It's an affordable "pro-sumer" camera with a lot of great features. I love the AF and tracking. It's my go to camera for wildlife and portraits.
From Canon -
Whether raising your game to SLR level photography or having fun with a feature-rich, versatile SLR you can use pretty much anywhere, the EOS 80D camera is your answer. It features an impressive 45-point all cross-type AF system* that provides high-speed, highly precise AF in virtually any kind of light. To help ensure photographers don't miss their shot, an Intelligent Viewfinder with approximately 100% coverage provides a clear view and comprehensive image data. Improvements like a powerful 24.2 Megapixel (APS-C) CMOS sensor and Dual Pixel CMOS AF for Live View shooting enhance the EOS 80D's performance across the board. Complementing the EOS 80D's advanced operation are built-in wireless connectivity and Full HD 60p movies that can be saved as MP4s for easy sharing. Merging power, precision and operability, the EOS 80D is a dynamic SLR camera for anyone ready to realize their creative vision.
Astro Lens
By far my favorite astro lens is the Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4. It's super sharp, super fast and works perfectly with any sky tracker!
From Sigma -
The Canon EF mount Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Lens is a fast standard-length prime designed to achieve high optical performance through the incorporation of both three Special Low Dispersion glass elements and one molded glass aspherical element. These elements, coupled with an advanced optical design, work to minimize sagittal coma flare and chromatic aberrations in order to provide high image sharpness and clarity. The lens' large diameter and floating system also help to correct for vignetting to ensure maintained peripheral brightness. A Super Multi Coating has been applied to lens elements, too, to reduce flare and ghosting for higher contrast and color fidelity.
Astro Lens 2
My 2nd favorite astro lens is the Rokinon 24mm 1.4. Manual focus and apperature is very useful at night. Great sharpness just not as easy to use during the day as an AF lens.
From Rokinon -
The Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC Wide-Angle Lens for Canon gives you a wide 84° view when used with a full-frame 35mm camera, or 57.6° when used with an APS-C camera--excellent for landscapes, cramped interiors, street photography and general photography of all kinds. Four low-dispersion (ED) glass elements and two aspheric elements produce sharply defined images with a minimum of flare and ghosting. The lens focuses as close as 9.84" from the lens, giving you outstanding wide-angle close-up views. A multi-layered and anti-reflection UMC coating provides superb light transmission. All focus and exposure functions are manual--there is no autofocus or auto exposure.
Mid wide zoom lens
For all my day time wide-er angle needs I go to the Tamron 24-70 2.8 G2! Fast and silent focusing that is super accurate! Great sharpness and color rendering. Image stabilization if very helpful for still subjects! This lens also performs well at night. While I prefer the f/1.4 aperture of the above lenses, if you use a tracker and stop down to f/4, this lens performs VERY well.
From Tamron -
Characterized by apt focusing speed and image stabilization, the Canon EF-mount SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 from Tamron is a revised fast standard zoom covering a versatile wide-angle to portrait-length range. A sophisticated optical design with two extra refractive elements, three low dispersion elements, three glass-molded aspherical elements, and one hybrid aspherical element helps to suppress aberrations and distortion throughout the zoom range while eBAND and BBAR coatings have been applied to individual elements to control lens flare and ghosting for improved contrast and color fidelity. Balancing its optical attributes, this lens also utilizes a USM autofocus motor to deliver notably quick, quiet, and precise focusing performance that suits both stills and video applications. Also, 5-stop-effective Vibration Compensation helps to minimize the appearance of camera shake for sharper handheld shooting in difficult lighting conditions. Additionally, the lens is moisture-resistant and has a fluorine coating on the front element to enable its use in trying environmental conditions.
Mid long zoom lens
Much like it's little brother, the 70-200 2.8 G2 from Tamron is FANTASTIC! Great sharpness, focusing, stabilization... yeah. Most of my wildlife and many of my portraits are shot on this lens and it's never let me down.
From Tamron -
A popular telephoto zoom for a variety of shooting applications, this Canon EF-mount SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 Lens from Tamron is characterized by its bright f/2.8 constant maximum aperture, as well as sophisticated optical and physical designs. In regard to optics, an improved layout contains one XLD element and five LD elements to suppress color fringing and chromatic aberrations for notable clarity and color accuracy, and both BBAR and eBAND coatings have been applied to reduce flare and ghosting.
Super Telephoto
When I need super reach I turn to the Tamron 150-600 G2. Very impressive range, image stabialized and "good" focus.
From Tamron -
Spanning a versatile and long-reaching focal length range, the Canon EF-mount SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 from Tamron is a 4x zoom covering telephoto to super telephoto perspectives. Complementing the long reach is an optimized optical design that features three low dispersion (LD) glass elements to reduce chromatic aberrations and color fringing throughout the zoom range. eBAND and BBAR coatings have also been applied to reduce ghosting and flare when working in strong, backlit lighting conditions.
"Deep" space Lens
When you're using a star tracker and want a lens that reaches a little further out to photograph nebula or the Andromeda galaxy I recommend looking into the canon 200mm f/2.8 prime! It's super light wieght so it's easy on the tracker. very sharp and creates pretty cool star refraction spikes at f/4
From Canon -
A medium telephoto L-series prime, the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM combines a flexible focal length with a modestly bright maximum aperture to realize a relatively compact and lightweight design well-suited for sports and portraiture applications. Its advanced optical design incorporates a pair of ultra-low dispersion glass elements to greatly reduce color fringing and chromatic aberrations in order to realize notable clarity and color accuracy, and a Super Spectra coating also helps to increase contrast when working in harsh lighting conditions. Benefitting the optics, a ring-type USM is employed, too, to deliver quick and quiet autofocus performance along with full-time manual focus control.
Heavy duty tracker
This star tracker is perfect for wide "night scape" images as well as deep sapce astrophotography. It's an interesting trade off between this and the next tracker i'm going to mention. This tracker is a bit heavier, and harder to polar align but the results you can get are superior. You can shot heavier, for longer and produce more detailed deep space images.
From Sky Watcher -
Sky-Watcher USA assembled the full-sized Star Adventurer Pro Pack to bring their tracker together with popular accessories to give you a complete rig for wide-field astrophotography with a DSLR or for astronomy with smaller optical tube assemblies (OTAs). This kit includes the Star Adventurer tracking head, an equatorial wedge for accurate long-duration tracking without field rotation, a counterweight kit to properly balance your loads, the declination bracket, and the ball head adapter. All you need is a tripod, camera, and/or OTA and you're ready to go out and enjoy the wonders of the universe.
Light duty tracker
When portability and ease of use is important to your night sky adventures the Move Shoot Move Rotator is PERFECT. Fast and easy to set up, reliable at wider focal lengths. Fast and convent charging... this really an amazing tool for any nightscaper or timelapse artists!
From Move Shoot Move -
Behind the scene, we are a team of the enthusiast of the astrophotography.
This lead to the born of MSM-Gauda Rotator, before this release, we have internally tested by many friends of our astrophotography community. Now it's the right time to share it with the world.
We would love to be your friends. if you have any idea, please tell us, we would love to help and share our insight on photography.
External Hard Drive
Gotta back up all that epic footie right!? Nothing better than an reliable WD drive
From Western Digital -
Every journey needs a passport. The My Passport drive is trusted, portable storage that gives you the confidence and freedom to drive forward in life. With a new, stylish design that fits in the palm of your hand, there's space to store, organize, and share your photos, videos, music, and documents. Perfectly paired with Western Digital backup software and password protection, the My Passport drive helps keep your digital life's contents safe.