Best lenses for astrophotography in 2024

You'll want to own one of the best lenses for astrophotography if you're thinking about getting serious about photographing the stars. While none of the lenses we've selected are exclusively for astro, they're all specialist, wide-angle lenses with large apertures, perfect for letting in as much light as possible. They're also fantastic landscape lenses, making them multi-functional.

The ideal astrophotography lenses has an aperture of f/2.8 or less, and a focal length of 20mm or less. They're often larger than standard lenses, along with being heavier and pricer — which is typically due to the quality of the glass. 

We've included a range of lenses on our round-up of the best astro lenses, suiting all budgets and covering all major camera types. Our expert reviewers and team of professional photographers have selected the best lenses for the job, carefully highlighting the pros and cons of each lense on the list.

If you're new to astrophotography, be sure to check out our guide to astrophotography for beginners and consider pairing one of the lenses from this list with one of the best cameras for astrophotography. We also have guides to other handy accessories like the best tripods and best camera backpacks for transporting your kit out in the field.

Kimberley Lane

Kimberley Lane is a landscape & seascape photographer living in South Wales. Originally using photography as a way to cope with health issues, she aims to portray a feeling of calm and peace through her images. Her work has been featured in a number of national photography magazines and she is a regular contributor to Space.com.

The quick list

Below, we've summarized the most important information about our picks of the best lenses for astrophotography, including their main characteristics and who they might be best for. If you want to know more about a product before you make a purchase, click 'Read more below' and you'll find more in-depth specs and reviews for each lens.

Best lenses for astrophotography we recommend in 2024

The best lens for astrophotography overall

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The Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art is ideal for astrophotography thanks to its ultra-wide 14mm view and impressive low-light capabilities.

Design: The Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art is not a small lens. In fact, it's absolutely huge, but it's exceptionally well-made and feels like it's built to last. We love how it feels to handle, but we wouldn't recommend it for long periods of handheld use due to its weight, and you'll certainly need a tripod to get the most out of it. It has a clever lens cap that can also be used as a filter holder, and it can even be used with the lens hood on.

Performance: This lens gives you excellent sharpness across the whole image, which is impressive for such a wide lens. During our Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art Lens review, we found that distortion is minimal, even at the edges. The autofocus is quick and precise, and the manual focus ring is very enjoyable to use. It's great in low light, letting you use higher ISOs to capture sharp stars easily.

Functionality: This Sigma lens offers a range of features that extend its use outside astrophotography as well. Aperture control is seamless, with a manual ring that features detents at every third of a stop as well as an auto mode. This lens also has a switch to unclick the control when shooting video. Filters can only be applied at the mount end due to the bulbous front element, but the lens includes Sigma's GP-11 filter holder at the back to make this as easy as possible.

Although the Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art could be used for architecture, portraiture and live event photography as well, it's probably best suited to specialist astrophotography where its low-light abilities remain unbeaten.

• Read our full Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art Lens review

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Best Sony lens

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Design: The Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM belongs to Sony's elite 'G-Master' lens series, renowned for outstanding quality. If you're looking for an ultra-wide-angle lens with excellent build quality without the added weight, it's incredibly attractive, though it's also one of the priciest options in this guide. 

With its f/2.8 aperture and remarkably wide field of view, it offers exceptional performance. Despite this, the Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM maintains a relatively light weight and compact design compared to others in this guide, weighing just 1.87 lbs (847g).

The lens has a built-in petal-shaped hood to protect the bulbous glass element, which means you can't attach a filter to the front. However, there is a slot on the back of the lens where you can use gel filters.

Performance: In our Sony FE 12-24 f/2.8 GM lens review, we called the sharpness of this lens is "almost unrivaled". The image quality it can capture is incredible: Whether you're shooting the stars or a landscape, you're going to get fantastic, sharp, colorful results. We found the sharpness maintains throughout the full focal length range, even at the widest aperture (f/2.8).

Functionality: At its shortest focal length of 12mm, this lens offers a wide viewing angle of 122 degrees, ideal for capturing large areas of the Milky Way, for example. Many other lenses can only capture such a wide view by stitching together multiple photos into a panorama.

If you want excellent quality for astrophotography and can afford it, this Sony lens is a great choice. It's expensive, but its versatility makes it a long-lasting, all-in-one wide-field astro lens. As a zoom lens, it can also be used for other types of photography. If you have a smaller budget but still want an ultra-wide-angle lens for astrophotography, the next one on this list might be a better option.

• Read our full Sony FE 12-24 f/2.8 GM lens review

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Best Nikon Z-mount

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Design: This Nikon zoom lens is the most compact among full-frame f/2.8 ultra-wide-angle zoom lenses, measuring only 5 inches (124.5mm) in length and weighing just 1.7 lbs (650g). It's also completely weather-sealed to protect against different weather conditions. 

Compared to similar lenses from other brands, this lens has a less protruding and rounded front element. This allows you to easily attach 112mm filters to the front using the included lens hood, which makes it more versatile for both daytime and astrophotography. These filters can be a bit pricey as they're so big, but having the option is valuable. On the plus side, you won't need to purchase a separate rear filter system.

Performance: It comes as no surprise that the Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S's image quality is second to none. It creates outstanding images, and we've encountered minimal distortion, vignetting and aberrations in our captures across the full aperture range. 

Functionality: This lens has a wide aperture and provides a broad view at its shorter focal lengths. The customizable Lens Function (L-fn) button allows users to quickly change exposure and adjust settings without having to flick through endless menus, which is useful when you need to act fast to avoid missing a shot.

It's worth noting that the LCD featured on the lens barrel comes in incredibly useful for astrophotography in particular, since it allows you to make necessary adjustments to your settings without needing to use a headlamp.

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Best widely compatible prime

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Design: Our review of the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art is positively glowing, and we awarded the lens a full five stars. That said, one of the first things we noticed is just how heavy this lens is. Weighing 2.58lbs (1.17kg), it's much heavier than many other lenses on the market, and so if you're shooting handheld you may get tired of holding it very quickly. However, that weight speaks to how well made the lens is: It's built to last, and packs incredible optical quality.

If you're shooting astro, you'll likely be using a tripod anyway, so that extra weight shouldn't be too much of a factor. It's worth overlooking if you care about capturing beautiful photos, because the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art is more than capable of delivering outstanding results.

As an added benefit, the lens is fully weather-sealed, so if you find yourself shooting in bad weather, you don't need to worry about damaging your equipment. One thing to note, though, is that due to the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art's front element being big and rounded, you can't use any filters on the front.

Performance: Optical performance is where this lens excels, providing incredible image quality. The chromatic aberration (color fringing) is minimal even when shooting at wide apertures and you won't have any significant issues with image distortion — something which certainly cannot be said for all ultra-wide lenses.

Even at its widest f/1.8 aperture, the stars remain sharp and clear all across the frame. However, closing the aperture slightly can help minimize distortion in the corners of the image frame when you're shooting wide open.

As far as ultra-wide lenses go, the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art is close to unbeatable in terms of its performance and quality.   

• Read our full Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art review

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Best Canon RF lens

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Design: The Canon RF 15-25mm f/2.8 IS USM has a simple and sleek design, with just two buttons to operate the autofocus/manual focus and stabilizer. It has the same shape down the entire length of the lens barrel, so it's easy to store away in whatever camera bag you use.

This lens has a large 82mm filter thread at the front, allowing you to attach screw-in filters directly without the need for an adapter. We particularly liked how smoothly and quietly the focal length and focus rings operate, making it excellent for shooting time-lapses and recording videos.

Performance: In our Canon RF 15-25mm f/2.8 IS USM review, we tested the lens out with the Canon EOS R6 camera and were extremely impressed with the results. The autofocusing speed was excellent and the lens produced super sharp images. We only noticed a tiny amount of sharpness dropping off right at the very edge of the frame, and that's only when we were shooting wide open at f/2.8.

When we reviewed the images we took, we observed a minor chromatic aberration at the edge of the image, but it was only noticeable when zoomed in to 400%. While this isn't perfect, especially for astrophotographers shooting with wide apertures, the overall image quality remained stunning.

Functionality: Unlike most of the other lenses we've included in this guide, the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM is a zoom lens. It has a range of 15-35mm, so it's versatile as well as great for astrophotography. It's wide enough for gorgeous panoramic landscape shots and capturing the night sky, but can also be used for detailed close-ups.

We love the strong image stabilization offered by this lens too: It provides five stops on its own, and if you're using a Canon RF mount camera with its own in-body stabilization, that goes up to eight stops. If you're planning on using it handheld, that's a gamechanger.

• Read our full Canon RF 15-25mm f/2.8 IS USM review

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Best Sony prime lens

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