Best Lenses For Northern Lights Photography
The best images will be produced by having a better quality lens versus a better quality camera. A good Northern Lights lens will allow you to reach the full potential of your camera.
The single most important feature in a lens for shooting the Northern Lights is how fast it is. You can shoot the Aurora using lenses at ƒ/4 or even higher, but that requires a much higher ISO that adds significant noise. You’ll see the best results shooting with lenses at ƒ/2.8 or below.
The best images will be produced by having a better quality lens versus a better quality camera. I choose to use a wide-angle lens for photographing the Aurora. There are prime lenses and wide-angle zoom lenses. Although prime lenses provide higher quality, I personally prefer zoom lenses because they offer more versatility.
There are some fundamental things to consider when buying lenses for Northern Lights photography. Some of the most important are:
Prime versus Zoom lenses – Prime lenses are the best lenses in Northern Lights photography. They offer the highest quality for a specific focal length, and they’re faster than zoom lenses. Their main disadvantage is that they’re less versatile.
Focal Length – Wide-angle lenses are the most popular option for shooting the Northern Lights. Shooting the Northern Lights with these lenses tends to be easier since they can gather more light and they also allow you to capture the entire Northern Lights show when they spread across the sky. A medium range and long focal lengths are usually aimed at capturing details in the Northern Lights. Using a focal length like 50 mm or longer, you can focus on a specific area where the Northern Lights are “dancing”.
Low Light Performance – This is the most important feature in a good lens for shooting the Northern Lights. The super short shutter speed and high ISO necessary to shoot the Northern Lights requires using the fastest possible lens. You can shoot the stars using lenses at f/4.5 or even narrower apertures, but you’ll see the best results shooting will occur with lenses at f/2.8 or below.
Vignetting – Some cheap Northern Lights lenses capture images with a strong vignetting in the corners. This is something you can try to fix in post-processing, but, generally, the less vignetting in a Northern Lights lens, the better.
My Northern Lights Lenses are the following:
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Below I have listed the best lenses that I would suggest you consider investing in for Northern Lights Photography
Best Canon Lenses For Northern Lights Photography
Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM – This is probably the best Canon lens for shooting the Northern Lights. It’s wide and fast enough to capture the movement of the Aurora.
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Canon EF Wide-Angle 24mm f/1.4 II USM – It’s not the widest but it is the fastest Canon prime lens to shoot the Aurora and a very good option if you’re a Canon shooter.
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Best Nikon lenses for Northern Lights Photography
Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8G ED – This is the lens I used for years to photograph the Northern Lights. It’s versatile, sharp, and fast. If you’re shooting with a Nikon DSLR, it’s still a great lens, and you can get it at a lower price.
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NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S– The views through the NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S are simply epic. Ultra-wide perspectives that challenge our sense of scale. Clarity that transports you. A level of detail you have to see to believe. All in the shortest, lightest and most versatile 14-24mm f/2.8 constant aperture zoom available. Optimized for landscapes, cityscapes, night skies, architecture, interiors and environmental portraits
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Nikkor Z 20 mm f/1.8 S – One of the best prime lenses for Nikon mirrorless shooters. This lens is designed specifically for low-light photography, and it’s one of the best Nikon lenses for shooting the Northern Lights.
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24mm f1.8 G ED AF-S Lens – The best Nikon prime lens for shooting the Northern Lights. This lens allows you to use a shorter shutter speed while capturing more light. The difference between f/1.8 or f/2.8 in Northern Lights photography is huge.
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Best Sony Lenses For Northern Lights Photography
SONY 20MM F/1.8 G – The Sony 20 mm f/1.8 is the best lens for photographing the Northern Lights. The quality in low-light photography is stunning. It’s fast and sharp even in the corners, with no deformations, aberrations, and other issues commonly found in other Aurora lenses. It’s also light and compact, and the price is affordable compared to other quality prime lenses.
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Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM – Wide-angle scenes, video, time-lapse… this is a very versatile lens to shoot the Northern Lights. It’s also my main pick for other night shootings like photographing the Milky Way.
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Best Third Party Lenses For Northern Lights Photography
SIGMA 14MM F/1.8 – This is by far the best general wide-angle lens to photograph the Northern Lights. It offers the two most important features in any lens for Aurora photography: a wide-angle field of view and luminosity. The only cons are its price and weight. Compatible with: Nikon, Sony and Canon full-frame cameras.
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ROKINON 14MM F/2.8 – This is the best affordable lens for Northern Lights photography. It’s wide, light, fast, it doesn’t have a strong comma in the corners, and the best thing; it’s fairly cheap. The only disadvantage of this lens is the lack of autofocus.
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TAMRON SP 15-30MM F/2.8 DI VC USD – This is a good wide-angle lens for Northern Lights photography. It offers excellent image quality across the entire focal length, which is rare in other ultra-wide-angle lenses. The main con is that it’s bulky and the heaviest Aurora lens on this list.
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Best Micro 4/3 Lenses For Northern Lights Photography
Olympus 7-14mm f2.8 pro – Heavyweight performance, lightweight portability. Though it is amazingly light and compact at 1.18 lbs., the M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm PRO lens (14 - 28mm 35mm equivalent) is a heavy hitter in the field. This lens is portable and weatherproof so you can take it anywhere. And with an ultra-wide angle of view and a bright f2.8 maximum aperture, you’ll capture more of every scene, from sprawling daytime panoramas to electric, super-sharp night scenes.
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Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 pro – A flexible zoom covering a popular focal length range, the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO from Olympus is a wide-to-portrait-length 24-80mm equivalent lens for Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras. Its sophisticated optical design, which includes a variety of aspherical, low dispersion, and high refractive index elements, reduces both chromatic and spherical aberrations throughout the zoom range for notable clarity, sharpness, and color accuracy.
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