Capturing the Universe: The Gear Behind 986 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Images

Want to know what cameras, lenses, telescopes and mounts are used by the best astrophotographers in the world?

Well we analyzed nearly 1000 images shortlisted for the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition in the past seven years to learn what equipment was used.

See below a quick summary of the findings or read on for a more detailed analysis.

About This Research

This analysis is produced using data generously provided to Skies & Scopes by Royal Museums Greenwich.

You can see details of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition and exhibition here.

In total, we have looked at 986 astrophotography images shortlisted in the competition from 2018 to 2024.

We then categorize each image as one of the below:

1. 367 Landscape Astrophotography images (including aurora)
2. 351 Deep Sky images (galaxies, nebulae, etc)
3. 268 Planetary images (including solar and lunar)

Breaking up the images into these categories is necessary as different equipment is typically used for different types of astrophotography imaging.

If you want to learn more about how we did this analysis, please see our methodology here.

Now let’s look at the results and admire some of the amazing images.

Landscape Astrophotography

Landscape astrophotography is the art of composing an image that incorporates both elements of the night sky and terrestrial features of the Earth.

It requires different equipment to deep sky and planetary imaging, which tend to use telescopes and specialist astronomy cameras, whereas landscape astrophootgraphy is usually done with “regular” cameras and lenses.

Cameras

The most commonly used camera models in the 2024 competition for landscape astrophotography are:

1. Sony A7 III
2. Sony A7R V
3. Nikon Z7 II
4. Canon EOS R
5. Nikon Z6 II
6. Sony A7R III
7. Canon EOS 6D

Nearly all (98%) cameras in this category are Sony, Nikon or Canon models.

Just a handful (2%) have used Hasselblad, Olympus, Fujifilm, Panasonic and Pentax cameras in the whole period of 2018-2024.

Sony vs Nikon vs Canon

The leading brand has varied between Canon, Nikon and Sony over the years.

Canon used to dominate but now Sony cameras are the most used:

DSLR vs Mirrorless

DSLR use is fully dying out now. This reflects the wider trend in photography as Mirrorless cameras have got better and more affordable:

• In 2024, 88% used Mirrorless cameras versus 12% DSLR
• In 2018, it was almost the other way around

Looking at this data, you can see 2022 was the year that Mirrorless cameras took over from DSLRs, and this also coincides with Sony becoming the most used camera brand:

Sensor Size: Full-Frame vs APS-C

100% of shortlisted landscape astrophotography images in 2024 used full-frame sensor cameras.

This is because they:

1. Perform better in low-light conditions
2. Allow a wider expanse of the night sky to be photographed (no cropping)

It seems if you want to be serious about landscape astrophotography then a full frame sensor camera has become the norm.

Astro-Modification

One thing to note is that many advanced landscape astrophotographers use astro-modified versions of these cameras.

Astro modified cameras are regular DSLR or mirrorless cameras where part of the infrared filter has been removed to allow it to process color from astronomical objects better. You can read more about this here.

Whether the cameras are astro-modified or not is rarely recorded in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition data.

However, we also looked at the data from the Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition, and more than three-quarters of photographers used astro-modified models.

Therefore it seems a reasonable conclusion that a sizeable proportion did so in this competition.

Bringing it all together

Using all this, you can narrow down the characteristics of the right camera for landscape astrophotography as:

1. Sony, Canon or Nikon
2. Full-frame sensor
3. Probably mirrorless
4. Possibly astro-modified

Therefore, if you were looking to get a camera then all those cameras performing highest in this competition fit the bill:

• Sony A7 III / Astro-Modified
• Sony A7R V
• Nikon Z7 II
• Canon EOS R
• Nikon Z6 II / Astro-Modified
• Sony A7R III
• Canon EOS 6D

Many astrophotographers that we’ve featured in case studies this year have demonstrated great success with the Sony A7 III in particular – see here.

Lenses

There is less data on the specific lenses used in the competition data, but we can draw some conclusions.

Most images in this category use:

1. Wide focal length – for example, 11mm to 24mm (the lower the wider)
2. Fast aperture – f/1.4 to f/2.8 (the lower the faster)

This is because:

1. A wide focal length allows you to capture a wider expanse of the night sky.
2. A fast aperture means that it is better at gathering light and this is especially important for night sky astrophotography as it inherently takes place in low light.

Popular lens models for landscape astrophotography include:

• Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM
• Sony 24mm f1.4 GM
• Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art
• Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art
• Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8
• Rokinon /Samyang 14mm f/2.8

Remember:

• A lower f-number means the faster the aperture and the better it will perform in low-light
• The lower the focal length the wider it is and the larger the expanse of sky you will be able to capture

What you choose will also depend on whether you are using a Sony, Nikon or Canon camera.

Star Trackers

Star Trackers are devices used by many landscape astrophotographers to track the movement of the stars in the night sky and allow longer exposure times.

The most commonly used models in the competition are in this order:

1. Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer
2. iOptron SkyGuider Pro
3. iOptron SkyTracker Pro
4. Fornax LighTrack II
5. Move Shoot Move
6. Vixen Polarie

You can see how this breaks down here:

If you narrow this data down to just the last three years then you can see that in recent year most people are using one of these two models:

• Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer – 42%
• iOptron SkyGuider Pro – 42%

Three others (Fornax LighTrack II, iOptron SkyTracker Pro and Move Shoot Move) account for the remaining 16%.

Deep Sky & Planetary Astrophotography

Now we turn our attention to deep sky and planetary astrophotography and the cameras, telescopes and mounts that have been used to capture amazing images like this:

Deep Sky Cameras

There are a handful of manufacturers that dominate for dedicated astronomy cameras.

In the past three years, more than half of shortlisted deep sky images were taken with ZWO cameras, with the majority of the rest from Finger Lakes Instrumentation (FLI), QHYCCD and Diffraction Limited (SBIG).

You can see the breakdown here (2018-2024):

• ZWO – 53%
• Finger Lakes Instrumentation – 17%
• QHYCCD – 15%
• Diffraction Limited – 3%

The top camera models for deep sky imaging in recent years have been:

1. ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
2. FLI PL16803
3. ZWO ASI6200MM Pro
4. QHY 600
5. ZWO ASI294MM Pro
6. ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
7. QHY 268M

Planetary Cameras

Planetary imaging incorporates photographing the planets of our solar system, but also the sun, moon and other objects like comets.

We’ve tried to break this down here in the way that makes the most sense.

Once again, ZWO are the most successful manufacturer, but Player One Astronomy cameras have become popular in recent years.

Here’s the breakdown for 2022-2024:

• ZWO – 46%
• Player One Astronomy – 17%
• QHYCCD – 11%
• Canon – 8%
• Nikon – 6%
• Sony – 4%

As you can see, “regular” cameras from Canon, Nikon and Sony are also successfully used for planetary imaging.

The most successful planetary cameras overall in the past two years have been:

• ZWO ASI174MM – 8%
• Player-One Uranus-C – 6%
• ZWO ASI178MM (now discontinued) – 6%

Solar Cameras

If we break this down for solar images in the last two years, then the most successful cameras have been:

• Player One Apollo-M Max – 16%
• QHY 5III174M – 13%
• Canon EOS R5 – 9%
• ZWO ASI174MM – 9%

Lunar Cameras

If we look at just cameras used for moon photography, then these have been the top models in the last two years:

• ZWO ASI178MM (now discontinued) – 15%
• ZWO ASI183MM – 9%

Telescopes

Similar to cameras, different telescopes tend to be more suited to deep sky imaging than to planetary imaging, and vice versa.

For all shortlisted images in the whole seven years, the most successful telescope manufacturers have been:

• Celestron – 16%
• Sky-Watcher – 16%
• Takahashi – 16%
• Planewave – 12%
• ASA – 8%
• William Optics – 4%

We break this down more below, with Celestron telescopes excelling for planetary, and Sky-Watcher and Takahashi for deep sky.

Deep Sky Telescopes

Apochromatic Refractors are the most commonly used telescope type for deep sky images shortlisted in the competition in the whole seven years:

• Apochromatic Refractor – 47%
• Newtonian Reflector – 25%
• Corrected Dall-Kirkham – 15%
• Ritchey-Chrétien – 10%
• Schmidt-Cassegrain – 3%

Corrected Dall-Kirkham (CDK) and Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes are usually the very advanced models from Planewave and ASA that are used in observatories and remote telescopes.

The most successful deep sky telescope brands in the last two years have been:

• Takahashi – 26%
• Sky-Watcher – 17%
• Planewave – 15%
• Astro Systeme Austria (ASA) – 10%
• William Optics – 8%

Takahashi offer advanced models that are within reach of amateur imagers, Sky-Watcher offer a range for amateurs, and William Optics sell the best budget offereing.

The most successful deep sky telescope models in the last two years have been:

• Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 – 10%
• Takahashi TOA-130NS – 6%
• William Optics RedCat 51 – 5%
• Planewave CDK 24 – 5%
• ASA 500mm Newtonian – 5%
• Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED – 4%
• Takahashi Epsilon-180ED – 4%

Planetary Telescopes

There are two brands dominating for planetary telescopes:

• Sky-Watcher – 35%
• Celestron – 22%

With these telescope types being most commonly used:

• Apochromatic Refractor – 45%
• Newtonian Reflector – 34%
• Schmidt Cassegrain – 16%

The top models are:

• Sky-Watcher 400P (16″) Dobsonian Reflector – 10%
• Celestron C14 – 5%
• Celestron C14 EdgeHD – 5%
• Sky-Watcher Esprit ED120 – 5%

Solar Telescopes

Solar images are overwhelming done with Apochromatic Refractor telescopes (98%), with Sky-Watcher (48%) and Astro-Physics (13%) being the most used brands.

The top models in the last three years have been:

• Sky-Watcher Esprit ED120 – 17%
• Sky Watcher Evostar 150ED – 13%

Lunar Telescopes

The manufacturers dominating lunar imaging are, again, Celestron (39%) and Sky-Watcher (30%).

The most common types used are (in the past three year):

• Newtonian Reflector – 44%
• Schmidt-Cassegrain – 24%
• Apochromatic Refractor – 20%

The most successful models have been:

• Celestron C11 – 12%
• Sky-Watcher 200/1000 Newtonian – 8%
• Sky-Watcher 400P (16″) Dobsonian Reflector – 8%

Mounts

The top mount manufacturers in the past two years have been:

• Sky-Watcher – 41%
• iOptron – 12%
• Planewave – 9%
• Software Bisque – 6%
• Astro Systeme Austria – 5%
• Astro-Physics – 5%
• Celestron – 5%
• ZWO – 5%

The most commonly used mount types are:

• German Equatorial – 63%
• Direct Drive – 15%
• Center-Balanced Equatorial – 11%
• Harmonic – 8%
• Dobsonian – 3%

Note, whilst German Equatorial mounts are still top, Harmonic, Direct Drive and iOptron Center-Balanced Equatorial have caught up a lot in more recent years.

The top models in the past two years have been:

• Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro – 19%
• iOptron CEM70 – 9%
• Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro – 6%
• ZWO AM5 – 5%

More Information – Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Thanks to Royal Museums Greenwich in London, UK who host this competition every year and provided us with the data to examine.

You can visit the exhibition and buy the book with all the shortlisted images on the museum’s website.

If you want to learn more about how we did this analysis, please see our methodology here.

The featured image at the top of this article is A Very Deep Look at the Markarian’s Chain © Jakob Sahner. Taken with a Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 telescope, iOptron CEM70 mount and QHY 268m camera.

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