Needing help to decide which of these lenses is my best option

[GeoAmy]

I currently have a Canon EOS 2000D which so far I only have a kit lens for. I’ve narrowed my next lens down to a few options and was hoping to get an idea of the best options for a total beginner to astrophotography. They are all second hand in order to keep them within my price point (hard max of £200). I'll be using it out in the countryside mostly but there will likely be some instances where I'm in the back garden of a house in a cul-de-sac so a bit more residential. In terms of the quality of images I want to produce, I don't expect anything incredible because I am very much a beginner. I'm more interested in getting a lens that performs well but isn't ONLY for astro work if that makes sense, even £200 is a lot of money for me so I'm trying to pick a versatile lens. Thank you in advance! The ones I’m considering are:

• Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II (also an STM variety, unsure of the difference)
  Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
  Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM (also a 40mm EF mount variety)
  Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM (also a 100mm variety)
  Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
  Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
  Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC
  Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM
  Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 DC HSM
  Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM
  Samyang 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS
  Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC
  Samyang 14mm T/3.1 ED AS IF UMC II
  Samyang 24mm T/1.5 VDSLR ED AS IF UMC II
  Samyang 16mm T/2.2 ED AS UMC CS

[Graeme1858]

Hello GeoAmy

There's a few here that use a lens for astrophotography. I'm sure you'll get lots of advice.

Welcome to the forum.

Regards

Graeme

[JayTee]

Your top two lenses are what we the "nifty fifty". They work great as an all-around general AP lens. Because they have a 50mm FL they will start to give you star trails fairly quickly with your camera because it has an APS-C sized sensor. A quick formula to tell how long you can expose with a lens using an APS-C sensor is to divide your lens FL into 300. In your case using the nifty fifty, it's 300/50=6. So you can take up to a 6-second image before star trails become evident. You will find that there is a difference between evident and annoying. So you can increase your exposure time up to the point where the star trails become annoying!

If you go for the Samyang 14, you will then get 300/14 then you can go all the way up to 22 seconds of exposure before the trails become evident.

Good luck with whichever lens you choose.

Cheers,

[StarBru]

I recently bought a refurbished Canon EOS 1200D (T5) body. Instead of the kit lenses, I bought a used Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Zoom Lens and a re-stocked/return Rokinon (Samyang) Full Frame Ultra Wide Angle 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC lens for Canon (it's one on your list). I bought these less expensive lenses after researching as many reviews I could including watching Youtube videos, trying to get the best bang for the buck for a better quality lens, and to allow some versatility for regular photography and for astrophotography. I have seen some great images from the 18-55mm Canon kit lens, so I'm not knocking that lens, I just wanted to have a more versatile all-in-one-lens in the 18-135mm lens I chose, which is also a macro lens. I bought the Rokinon lens specifically for nebula and milky way views of the night sky, but I am sure it will do well enough for daytime photography.

I have only taken a few hundred images, mostly of an indoor baby shower for my daughter. I was able to capture about 30 good images, the rest so-so, and I attribute that to my ability as a beginner in digital photography. Sadly, I have not tried any astrophotography yet. I know a faster lens is always better for the night sky, but the faster and newer the lens, the more expensive it is. I decided to keep my purchases on the cheaper side. You can always buy better lenses as your skills get better. I have heard the Samyang/Rokinon lenses are very good for the price.

[GeoAmy]

Thanks for the advice! I think I will go for the Samyang 14mm - I keep seeing it mentioned and from what I can gather, keeping it shorter will give me more tolerance while I get to grips with what I'm doing. All of my photography so far has been with the kit lens and letting the camera auto-select settings so I need something that will be a bit more forgiving.

[AstroBee]

It's a fairly easy list to whittle down to just a couple.
You didn't mention anything about having a tracker or mount so I'm assuming you are just talking about using this on a fixed tripod. If that is true, that will rule out anything tighter than 24mm or you will get star trailing very quickly. So now you are down to just 11 choices. Now, cut all of the zoom lenses. They are generally not great for astrophotography. That whittles your list down to only 7 choices. Next lenses to cut are anything slower than f2.0 and that gives you only the Samyang 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS, Samyang 24mm T/1.5 VDSLR ED AS IF UMC II, and maybe the Samyang 16mm T/2.2 ED AS UMC CS to choose from.
Personally, my choice would be the Samyang 24mm T/1.5 VDSLR ED AS IF UMC II. Stop it down to f2 or f2.8 and you have a great lens.