The velvet-black sky so common in Creede is just not possible in urban Santa Fe. This is a time, then, for experimentation. Last night I tried out the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4 Nokton Classic. This is a compact Leica M-mount rangefinder lens. It was mounted on a Sony A7iii using a Hawk's Factory L-M to E adapter.
Wide-angle wide-open exposures just don't work under the bright sky of Santa Fe. The measured sky brightness last night was sqml=19.63 mpsas, about six times brighter than a typical Creede sky on a moonless night. My first exposures were done at f/2.8. I later came back for a couple additional shots at f/1.4.
This is not a good lens for astrophotography. There is heavy light falloff and vignetting in the corners when wide open, and some very noticeable astigmatism. The astigmatism is greatly reduced at f/2.8, but the corners still look dark. The metal lens shade made for this lens might be contributing to the dark corners, but I needed to leave it on as a filter holder. The filter used was a Hoya Sparkle-6.
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| Orion rising through the branches of an apricot tree. f/2.8, slightly cropped. |
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| An hour later, f/1.4, full-frame. |
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| Betelgeuse in the corner, f/2.8. |
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| Betelgeuse, f/1.4. |
The lens:
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