Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM Lens Sample Pictures

Photographing Alien Throne in the Valley of Dreams, near Bisti Badlands, De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area and Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Area was on my to-do list, and obviously, I made that trip happen.

You've heard it said that a photo should tell a story. I agree that telling a story is a good aspect of a photo, but storytelling is not always important, and oftentimes, the capture of an image creates a story. This image falls into that latter category.

Some images are complicated to capture, some images are complicated to edit, and some images are both. Again, this one landed solidly in the latter category.

Even beyond any travel required to get to New Mexico, getting to Valley of Dreams requires a long drive (for everyone) that ends on high-clearance two-track "roads" (and a popular mapping app does not currently provide the correct directions). Once driving capabilities are exhausted, the hike to Alien Throne is nearly two miles with, at least for the newcomers, GPS guidance over the trailless desert.

The Valley of Dreams is a dark sky location, optimal for photographing the Milky Way. Add darkness to the hike, and even most Valley of Dreams-experienced hikers need constant GPS navigation assistance as your vehicle becomes a needle in a haystack on the return hike.

Choosing to photograph the Milky Way in April means a middle-of-the-night shooting time (with, likely, no other photographers competing for your location). After photographing a sunrise, napping, scouting, and photographing sunset at Alien Throne, and resting back in the SUV for a couple of hours, we started the second hike to Alien Throne in the darkness at 1:00 AM.

Once in position, establishing the composition was the first goal, and darkness greatly increases this challenge. I brought low-level lighting for this scene, but we opted to go with natural lighting due to the myriad of hard shadows present here.

With the composition established, the Milky Way became the focus. The lens was manually focused on the stars, and the mental note for a quick return to optimal infinity focus was that this setting was immediately after the camera's distance meter changed from a number to the ∞ symbol.

I was uncertain where the Milky Way would be compositionally ideal as it rotated through the image, and there were clouds that could shut down visibility later. Thus, images were continuously captured until the Milky Way was clearly rotated beyond the optimal position.

Next, without moving the camera, the foreground was focused on. The 24mm focal length at f/1.4 does not provide adequate depth of field for this entire scene, making focus bracketing important for that goal.

The ground subjects would not be obscured by clouds, and they were not moving in relation to the camera. Thus, they could be photographed at leisure, and longer exposures created a brighter image without concern for star trails. For this image's foreground, three 30-second images were captured at three focus distances, with the duplicate images enabling some of the noise to be averaged out.

After the blending, the three foreground images were focus-stacked into a single image. Focus stacking is easy in Photoshop (& Lightroom). Open as layers in Photoshop, select all layers, select Edit > Auto-Align Layers [select Auto], choose Edit > Auto-Blend Layers [select Stack Images]. Then, the Milky Way sky image was focus-stacked into the final image.

Further processing primarily consisted of adding contrast, cooling the color tone, and darkening the foreground significantly.

It was after 4:00 AM when we packed up to start the GPS-guided route back to the car, and the sun was up by the time we arrived at the hotel. Hotel breakfast was the end of the story behind this image.

Was the reward worth the effort? Definitely. With photography, it usually is.

Sony a7R IV and Epic Rocky Mountain National Park Milky Way The Sony a7R IV and Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens teamed for an epic Rocky Mountain National Park Milky Way on this September evening. While chasing elk in rut was our top priority during the RMNP workshops, photographing the night sky was also on the to-do list and a clear RMNP night sky never fails to wow us.

For the Milky Way to reach down close to its reflection requires the reflecting surface to have little obstruction above it. Large bodies of water have distant shores and that distant perspective usually results in lower shoreline sky obstructions. Small bodies of water are more likely to have a calm surface than large bodies but trees and mountains typically get in the way of the little-obstruction requirement. Mountains often bring elevation gain that tends to bring reflection-erasing wind.

This particular small mountain lake is set high enough for the southern view to open up to the sky while being protected from the wind for the perfect combination. I love pointed spruce treetops and always welcome their great character on the horizon. Reflections can be counted on to double the value.

As long as the correct exposure and basic compositional skills are applied, it is hard to take a bad picture of the milky way.

Here is a list of steps for photographing the milky way.

1. You need to be able to see the milky way, and it is not always visible. Find that schedule. The Photographer's Ephemeris and similar apps are useful for this. Mid-late summer is ideal.
2. You need a dark sky. Dark as in no city lights, even in the distance, is most important, and no moon or a small moon is also helpful. Plan for the dark sky location and moon schedule.
3. You need a clear sky. Heavy cloud cover is a milky way photography show-stopper.
4. A camera is required. Most modern interchangeable lens cameras will work fine, but with equivalent lenses, the full-frame models have an advantage.
5. The camera requires a lens, and lens selection is critical. The lens needs a wide aperture to create a bright enough image in an exposure short enough that star trails do not appear within the acceptable ISO range of the camera. Think f/2.8 as a minimum, and f/1.4 is awesome. A wide-angle focal length is needed to get enough of the milky way in the frame. While 35mm can work, go with 28mm and wider (full-frame equivalent). Stars are pin-sharp and you want a lens that renders them pin-sharp fully into the corners at the wide-open aperture. That lens does not exist, but some lenses are considerably better than others for this purpose.
6. Mount the camera and lens on a solid tripod and head.
7. While the milky way looks great without any other supporting environment, an attractive foreground can make such an image stand out, as illustrated in this image.
8. Focus the camera. If the moon or another very distant light is visible, autofocus on it, and then switch to MF. Otherwise, or alternatively, use manual focus (pick a bright star and fully zoom in to focus manually).
9. Set the camera to manual exposure, and remember that your LCD is going to appear very bright in the dark.
10. Use a wide-open aperture.
11. Set the shutter speed. Basically, use the longest possible shutter speed that does not create offensive star trails. Consider starting at 20 seconds for a 24mm lens on a medium resolution imaging sensor. Higher resolution imaging sensors more readily show star trails and require shorter exposures for equivalent pixel-level results. Review the shot until the ideal duration is established.
12. Set the ISO. Too high is the setting most often needed. At f/2.8, ISO 12800 is probably needed. At f/1.4, try ISO 3200 or 6400.
13. Set the drive mode to 2-second self-timer.
14. Frame the scene as well as possible (it will be very dark), capture an image, adjust the camera, and repeat that process until perfection is achieved.
15. When the composition is just right, cue the meteorite to streak through an ideal area of the composition. Want a meteorite in the frame? The odds for any given frame to have a meteorite in it is low, but selecting a date within a known annual meteor shower, such as the Leonids, greatly increases the odds. After establishing the perfect shot, set the camera's drive mode to high speed, plug in a remote release with a locking button, lock the remote's shutter release down, and walk away. Tending a second camera setup is a good use of this time. If available, a bowl of ice cream is also entertaining. Come back to adjust the composition for the milky way's movement across the sky (I know, the earth is what moves).

Amazingly, and out of the norm for me, was seeing a meteorite streak by while the shutter was OPEN, without using the continuous drive mode technique. While I welcome meteorites, I do not fancy satellites. They get removed (this is easy with Photoshop's healing brush and clone tools).

As mentioned, the earth rotates, causing the milky way to move across the sky like everything else up there. On this evening, I followed the heart of the milky way around Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park until Hallett Peak was a foundational element in the composition. Despite the 4:30 AM alarm, it was well after midnight before exhaustion overcame excitement.

What is my favorite milky way lens? Currently, the Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens holds that title for me. The 24mm focal length fills a significant portion of the frame with the heart of the milky way. The f/1.4 aperture is extremely wide, permitting lower ISO settings for less noise. This lens's image quality at f/1.4 is excellent. The size is compact enough that I can take it along as a lens dedicated to this purpose.

When cost, time, and effort are invested into a photography trip, generally only the best-available gear (or something new being reviewed) makes the pack. Milky way and aurora nightscape photography opportunities were on the potential list for a recent trip, and my three favorite night sky lenses were packed specifically for these subjects.

• Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM Lens
• Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Lens
• Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens

When the milky way is visible, the scene is extremely dark. While the milky way exposures are long, the earth is rotating, creating a form of action photography.

The aurora has varying intensities and can be pulsing and dancing around the frame. If the exposure is too long, the dancing and pulsing aurora turns into a big smear of color. Thus, aurora photography also involves action, an action that is often moving considerably faster than the earth's rotation.

Wide apertures are a big advantage for stopping action, and each of the lenses included in the above list is the widest available at its respective focal length. Just because a lens has a wide aperture does not mean that you want to use that aperture, as many wide aperture lenses are not sharp wide open, becoming considerably sharper as they are stopped down. However, those in the above list are outstanding performers wide open.

While the f/1.4 aperture is a clear advantage held by the FE 24 over the other two lenses, f/1.8 is still very wide. Motion blur is caused when subject details cross over pixel wells on the imaging sensor. Because the 24mm focal length magnifies subject details more than the 14mm and 20mm options, a slightly faster shutter speed is required to photograph the same subject at the same distance with an equivalent amount of motion blur. This shutter speed difference offsets some of the aperture difference.

Mostly, I selected between these three prime lenses based on the angle of view they provide.

The day started with a 5:30 AM alarm and a long search for moose. Upon returning late morning, we learned that the northern lights forecast was favorable. However, the weather did not appear to be favorable, with heavy cloud cover promising to block all higher altitude subjects. Still, the National Weather Service hourly forecast showed the skies expected to clear at 2:00 AM at our desired viewing location. That time coincided with the moon setting, yielding darker skies.

After a short nap, a 2-hour drive ensued, heading north for darker skies and a favorable viewing location. Intermittently checking the skies, the clearing began right on schedule. Unfortunately, the aurora was not yet apparent to the eye. Dim northern lights are considerably easier to see in a long exposure image, so cameras were mounted to tripods and put into action. Test images showed a small vertical column forming over Denali, the mountain in the bottom of this image.

Initially, the northern lights were small, muted, and stationary. The 24mm lens made the little show larger in the frame than the other two lens options, and also accentuated Denali in the foreground.

The show progressed, significantly increasing in intensity and motion, with this image requiring only a 4-second exposure at f/1.4 and ISO 2500. Eventually, the 20mm angle of view (sample here) was needed to take it all in, and the 14mm angle of view (sample here) became optimal not long afterward.

We pulled into the driveway at 6:30 AM. Aside from a short nap and a few eyes-closed rests, it was a 25-hour day. As is usually the case, I struggle to remember the details of the exhaustion, but the memory of the dancing northern lights is still clear, and the images will last a lifetime, keeping the memory alive.

The top of a mountain in Acadia National Park is a great location to take in a sunset. Better still is to extend that sunset photography opportunity into night sky photography.

It is hard to make a bad composition of the milky way, but adding an interesting foreground usually improves nightscapes. My eye is naturally drawn to mountain peak markers, and the Bald Peak marker was available.

The next step in composing this image was determining the ideal balance of the marker with the milky way, and the camera position illustrated here seemed optimal of the accessible shot locations.

The Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens is one of the best nightscape lenses ever made. While the ultra-wide f/1.4 aperture is one of this lens's key nightscape advantages, the 24mm f/1.4 depth of field is shallow, too shallow to keep this sign and milky way sharp. Thus, this capture required an image focused on the peak marker and another focused on the stars.

Post-processing the two image stack was simple. The images were layered into a Photoshop file, and a layer mask was added to the top layer. Painting the mask black reveals that portion of the layer below, the peak marker and rocks in this case.

Photographing the Milky Way behind Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, CA seemed like a worthy challenge. The arch and other rocks nearby are compositionally complementary to the always awesome Milky Way. Some lighting seemed the optimal method for making the foreground subjects visible in the image, and this time, low-level (low intensity) lighting was the strategy implemented.

Low-level lighting involves setting up continuous lights on the foreground. The requirements for these lights include:

A quality spectrum output is paramount. Just as you care that the entire light spectrum is evenly transmitted through your lens, you care that the full spectrum of light is provided in the first place. Correcting light spectrum issues during post-processing can be a huge, time-consuming challenge, especially if the entire image does not share the same deficiency (such as the sky). Look for lights with a CRI specification of 95 or higher.

While having the entire visible light spectrum equally provided is important, additionally helpful is the ability to continuously adjust the light's color temperature output, enabling emphasis of the foreground feature's color and matching the desired night sky color temperature — try 4000-4500k. Especially important is having warm settings available. Look for lights providing minimally 3200k, and lower is better.

Most night sky photography involving foreground lighting is not done in the back yard. Thus transportation and, often, hiking are involved. Especially when using multiple lights, compactness is a desired trait.

Yes, reducing the size of the light causes the lighting to be harsher, producing a sharper transition into shadows. However, the size of night sky foreground subjects is usually quite large, and the lights are typically placed at a distance from the features, making the size difference between portable lights typically irrelevant.

Compactness means less storage space is required.

Compact lights usually feature light weight, also a feature desired for transport.

Another important low-level lighting feature is continuously adjustable brightness. Light intensity falls off at an inverse-squared (very fast) rate, so the intensity required for one situation can be vastly different from another. For example, the light behind the arch in this image was much closer than the light illuminating the entire scene. Look for a light that provides 1-100% intensity adjustment control in small increments (1% is ideal).

I saved a key requirement for last. Unless lighting distant mountains, the light output needs to be extremely dim.

No manufacturers are saying, "Let's see how dim of a light we can make", and nearly everyone wants their lights to be as bright as possible. Indeed, brighter is better for most photography and videography lighting applications. Ask lighting experts for the dimmest light recommendation, and their eyes glaze over.

However, the night sky is dark, and extremely dim light is required to balance the foreground with the night sky. We are talking about quarter moon phase light levels.

I took three Luxli Viola² 5" On-Camera RGBAW LED Lights for this trip. Aside from meeting the just-shared requirements, the battery is powerful and removable, permitting the lights to be checked on a flight. In addition, a Bluetooth controller app enables the lights to be controlled remotely, an especially helpful option when working in challenging areas in the dark.

While the Viola lights are not the lowest wattage lights, they dim to a much lower intensity than the considerably lower wattage lights I've tried, even at their 1% settings (making me question the accuracy of the 1% setting indication). The Violas use the common NP-F550 Lithium-Ion battery pack. This battery is not tiny relative to the light, but it is long-lasting (especially at 1% lighting levels) and readily available.

On this morning, I carried all of the requisite gear to the location — at 2:30 AM. This time of the day, along with strong wind and low temperature, resulted in complete solitude.

Because of the uneven, rocky scenario behind the arch, the plan was to set up the accent light on Robus Monopod supported by a compact Robus SBM-001 Stabilizing Base. That plan seemed great until I returned to the camera position and heard the distinct sound of a Viola light hitting rock.

Remember that wind factor I mentioned? There was not enough base surface area to prevent the light from blowing over. At that time of the night, it took two such occurrences to prove to me that this light stand was insufficient for the conditions.

A true light stand is a inexpensive, lightweight option for positioning low level lights. After all, holding lights is what they are designed for. However, these need a flat surface (or a weight) to prevent them from tipping over.

Tripods provide significantly more flexibility and stability, and there were two tripods in the MindShift Gear BackLight Elite 45L. Hoped for was that I could shoot with two cameras simultaneously, but the reality was that the Really Right Stuff Ascend-14 Long Travel Carbon Fiber Tripod had to take on the light stand role.

Did I tell you about the wind? While hearing the light hit the rocks twice was painful, hearing the new RRS Ascend-14 go down into the rocks provided that sick feeling you've likely experienced at some point in life. But, unwavering to the challenge (and better educated), I improved the Ascend-14 setup, and there were no more blow-downs.

Noteable is that the Viola light suffered only a scratched plastic housing after falling approximately 4' into the rocks three times.

A second light was positioned on a rock far off to the camera left to provide broad foreground lighting.

The next challenge was getting the lights dim enough for the scene. Even at 1% brightness, the Violas required flagging of much (75%?) of their face. While the flagging requirement left this equipment project incomplete, a high-quality, workable solution was in hand.

I enjoyed photographing the Milky Way until the sky became bright enough to hide the stars.

What is the best neutral density filter for night photography? That is a question you have not likely asked before. However, the 1% light output was too bright, and this project was continued upon my return to the studio. Some of the light had to be blocked.

The Viola lights are not the smallest available models, and if the light requires dimming, why not select a smaller, lighter light to work with? Since I was going to block light, perhaps I could block the extra light coming from more compact LED lights.

The second round of research resulted in a few Simorr Vibe P96L RGB Video LED Lights joining the kit. That the Simorr P96L light specs are solid, and their cost is considerably less than the Violas, are positive aspects.

The Simorr batteries are integrated, meaning the light must be carried onto a plane and that a fresh battery cannot be inserted in the field. However, these lights are so small that they require little space in the first place. The battery drain at 1% is low, and a second light costs only a bit more than a spare NP-F550.

Back to the dimming problem. Neutral density filters are designed to block light, and that is the need being addressed.

You care about the spectrum color neutrality of your lens, and we just discussed the need for your light, but the spectrum color neutrality of your neutral density filter is just as important — and perhaps a bigger challenge to overcome. Color deficiencies can be accounted for during post-processing, but accurately fixing the deficiency requires high-level post-processing skills, along with an image of a standard ColorChecker or similar captured in the same lighting. When the spectrum deficiency is not identical throughout the image (the LED light will not affect the sky color), the color correction skill level requirement increases significantly.

The next phase of this project was to order a Lee Filters Zircon Dark Density 24x24" Gel Filter Sheet. Simply cut the inexpensive gel filter into LED light-sized pieces, and tape them on the lights as needed. Right? That plan seemed ideal until the strong red color cast in the test images immediately disqualified this solution.

Knowing that many threaded neutral density filters have the same problem and that there was a resolution, I gaffer taped a Breakthrough Photography neutral density filter, known to be free of color cast, over the Simorr light. The result was perfect.

While carrying a range of round ND filters in the night photography kit to tape on rectangular LED lights is not optimal, this is the best solution I've found so far. Breakthrough's 100mm square neutral density filters align nicely with the size of the larger Viola lights, but they are an expensive addition to a kit not otherwise using them.

Back to the low-level nightscape lighting strategy. Surely, you have heard of light painting. So here are the low-level lighting advantages over light painting.

What are the Low-Level Lighting Advantages Over Light Painting?

• Once set up, low-level lights provide shot-to-shot consistency that also facilitates timelapse recording.
• Less skill is required. Light painting is an art — don't underestimate the skill level required to create even lighting.
• Many photographers can share a single light setup, regardless of their max available aperture and other camera settings.
• Low-level lighting preserves night vision.
• It is easier to light from multiple locations simultaneously without tripping over rocks in the dark to get from one to the other during the exposure time.
• Low-level lighting does not intrude upon other photographers or those otherwise enjoying the night.
• Multiple cameras can be operated simultaneously by a single photographer, and long exposures facilitate such.

What are the Light Painting Advantages Over Low-Level Lighting?

• Provides entertainment and challenge during long exposures.
• Raises anticipation — brings back the film days excitement of never being certain what the image would look like.
• Provides a greater variety of lighting in the result set — and a higher failure rate.
• There is no setup.

Reviewing the Lights:

What are the Low-Level LED Light Requirements?

• High-quality spectrum output (CRI 95 or higher)
• Continuously adjustable color temperature output, with 3200k or lower available
• Continuously adjustable brightness, including extremely dim
• Compact size, light weight
• Probably: a method of further dimming the light — flagging or filtering

As shared, the Simorr Vibe P96L RGB Video LED Lights and Luxli Viola² 5" On-Camera RGBAW LED Lights are good options.

The foreground lighting in this Badlands National Park Milky Way image is courtesy of a pair of Simorr Vibe P96L RGB Video LED Lights on Manfrotto Befree Advanced Travel Tripods.

Even at their lowest intensity settings (1%), half the light face required gaffer tape to bring the overall light balance down to Milky Way levels.

Post-processing of this image primarily involved peripheral shading correction and increasing the contrast of the foreground and background independently.