Florida Milky Way with the Viltrox 16mm f1.8 on Sony

Paul Farace
Mar 3, 2025
3 min read

So the stars did align and the weather did clear out in time for the new moon!

[I was never going to upload this video because of so many struggles, but I ended up making an edit if you would like to watch: Chasing Stars in FLorida - Milky Way Photography Adventure]

I went out the night before to my local spot on the beach where I can still shoot the stars in Florida and slept in the car. My alarm was set for 3:45 AM. I would have just enough time to get up, hike to my spot, and fire off a round of photos before nautical twilight began.

I used the Viltrox 16mm f1.8 lens on my Sony A7iii. The Viltrox is a new addition to my camera bag and I have been loving it. I was excited to test it on this trip and future astrophotography images where it seems to excel in performance. Being 16mm and f1.8 you have room to stop down for even better performance. I am no expert but the corners, come...ect looks very solid to me. Much better than my old Samyang 14mm f2.8.

This is the first time I attempted to stack many images into one to reduce the image noise and get a cleaner photo. I ended up taking 26 light frames and then 20 dark frames. I also took a bunch of bias frames but did not take any flat frames. Whew. A lot to keep up with while rushing around in the dark.

So 3:45 AM rolled around, and I got up and, somehow while I was getting ready, I misplaced my car keys. I stumbled around and wasted 15-20 minutes trying to find them only to eventually see they had fallen into my camera bag! So frustrating that early in the morning; it's always something when trying these things.

Luckily, I made it to my spot with just enough time to take my images before first light.

All the extra frames did end up making a very noticeable difference in the end. After, of course, the steep learning curve trying to combine all the data in Siril!

Overall, I had an excellent time under the stars and learned a lot trying these new techniques. I am looking forward to trying these on some new compositions with this lens.

Time to hit the road next and find some darker skies!

Milkyway over Florida Beach — Milkyway at the Beach, Florida - February 26th 2025. Viltrox 16mm f1.8 on Sony.

Watch the video: Chasing Stars in FLorida - Milky Way Photography Adventure

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