The Best Canon Cameras and Lenses For Night Photography
Capturing successful images of the night sky requires powerful camera equipment. Standard camera settings for night photography range from 10-25 seconds of exposure, an aperture of f/4.0 – 2.8, and a high ISO ranging from 1600-12800. These types of camera settings create ‘noise’ in the photographs, primarily due to the long exposure and high ISO. Therefore, it is important to select a camera body capable of shooting at high ISO levels to produce clean images. Below you will find links to all of the Canon camera bodies and lenses I recommend for night photography. All links navigate to the official manufacturer’s product webpage, followed by purchasing pages to B&H and/or Amazon.
Canon Cameras

This is a screenshot from DPReview using their free comparison tool. Please note, images shown were taken in a studio using the following settings: 1/20 second, f/5.6 aperture, & 6400 ISO. You can compare different camera bodies, ISO settings, focus on different portions of the image above, and download the original RAW images by visiting HERE.
- Canon 1D X Mark II: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Canon 1D X
- Canon 5D Mark IV: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Canon 5D Mark III: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Canon 6D: [ B & H | Amazon ]
My Top 3 Canon Camera Recommendations:
Lenses for Canon Cameras
- Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 III: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 II: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Canon 24-70mm f/2.8: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Irix 15mm f/2.4 Blackstone: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Irix 15mm f/2.4 Firefly: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Laowa 12mm f/2.8: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Rokinon SP 14mm f/2.4: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Sigma 14mm f/1.8: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Sigma 20mm f/1.4: [ B & H | Amazon ]
- Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 G2: [ B & H | Amazon ]