Any zoom lenses that render points of light in a nice star pattern?

[Jonathan F/2]

I recently used my 24-120 f/4 VR to shoot some long exposure shots. I wasn't too happy with how it render points of light on long exposures. It just looked blurry versus the beautiful points of light rendered by my Sigma 50 Art. I was wondering if there were any zooms that render light points nicely? Thanks for any feedback!

 

[CastIron]

Was the blur a result of motion or focus? Do have have an example of what you're going for and another of what you got?

A straight-bladed diaphragm stopped down will render in-focus points of light as star-shaped.

 

[Randy]

F/16

My 24-120 did fine 2 weeks ago shooting piers with lights

 

[jbailey930]

24-70 does a great job but you know its heavy and $$ but old version may be getting a haircut. Not sure about 28-70

 

[Jonathan F/2]

Sigma 50 Art light points:

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Nikon 24-120 f/4 VR:

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Even with the small points of light with the Sigma, the light is nice and pointy. On the 24-120 VR, the small lights tend to be more mushy. I used similar settings for both shots.

 

[Randy]

Sigma 50 Art light points:

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Nikon 24-120 f/4 VR:

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Even with the small points of light with the Sigma, the light is nice and pointy. On the 24-120 VR, the small lights tend to be more mushy. I used similar settings for both shots.

Other than 1 light in #1 I don't see any, they all look mushy

 

[Randy]

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[Randy]

That was 5.6 15 seconds

 

[CastIron]

Sigma 50 Art light points:
...

Nikon 24-120 f/4 VR:
...

Even with the small points of light with the Sigma, the light is nice and pointy. On the 24-120 VR, the small lights tend to be more mushy. I used similar settings for both shots.

I see what you mean. What are the focal length and f-stop for each of these?

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I see what you mean. What are the focal length and f-stop for each of these?

Sigma is a 50mm and the Nikon I shot around 24-28mm. I shot both at f11 I believe.

 

[Retief]

It is the rays you are talking about, correct Jonathan? They are much more defined on the 50mm. Does that same "mushy" occur at all focal lengths on the 24-120? Would be interesting to see if 50mm fixes it.

 

[Butlerkid]

For nice star patterns, I use f16 or sometimes f22. I don't shoot that way very often so I don't know if some lens yield better star patterns than others.

 

[Kingfisher]

http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/6605/why-do-light-sources-appear-as-stars-sometimes

Or you could just put a piece of window screen in front of any lens.

 

[Retief]

http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/6605/why-do-light-sources-appear-as-stars-sometimes

Or you could just put a piece of window screen in front of any lens.

Oh, that is just so Low-Tcch. Go for the Gusto, Schneider 4x4. Lot's of different Star Filters out and about.

Good catch, I had forgotten all about these methods.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

It is the rays you are talking about, correct Jonathan? They are much more defined on the 50mm. Does that same "mushy" occur at all focal lengths on the 24-120? Would be interesting to see if 50mm fixes it.

Ha, that'd defeat the purpose of using a zoom if I was only going to shoot it at 50mm!

I picked up a 20mm 1.8 G recently, so I'll give that bad boy a try and see if I can get better light points at the wider focal lengths. Though I'd prefer to use a zoom since it's so convenient and a lot of times I'm shooting in shady areas in LA, so I like to keep as light weight as possible.

 

[Kingfisher]

Oh, that is just so Low-Tcch. Go for the Gusto, Schneider 4x4. Lot's of different Star Filters out and about.

Good catch, I had forgotten all about these methods.

Yep, back in the day it was fun to experiment with all those old school techniques. Even tried lace, which worked remarkably well. And like you said, they got a host of filters that do the job. One can probably pick up a good selection on ebay really cheap.

 

[heru]

I keep my 35-70mm f/2.8 lens for exactly that purpose, the star shape of light.

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[bargainguy]

I've heard these called sunstars. This guy likes the 24-70/2.8 Nikkor for them: http://christopherodonnellphotography.com/create-crisp-sunstars/

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I keep my 35-70mm f/2.8 lens for exactly that purpose, the star shape of light.

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That's exactly what I'm looking for! Maybe I'll go track a 35-70 2.8 just for this reason!

 

[Tyr-Sog]

16-35 f4 vr is known to have great star points.