Beginner Picturing the night sky

Gavin1982

Gavin1982

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Gavin
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Please be kind as I am completely new to the world of DSL cameras. I am really keen to be able to take pictures of the night sky in order to capture the stars but I'm unsure if the type of camera/lens I have is suitable. I tried taking pictures yesterday evening in my back garden but did not have much luck. Grateful if anyone could give me some pointers on this if possible?
 
It's a Canon EOS 1200D Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 III Lens.

I can't figure out if its my settings, if I don't have a good enough lens or if its because I need to go somewhere with far less light pollution.
 
Welcome, Gavin:welcome:!

I can't offer any help but I am 'watching' this thread because I'd like to read the experts' tips too;)! I hope you find these forums helpful!
 
Did you use a long shutter speed to let the light in
 
Hi Pete. I'm unsure as to what shutter speed I had used. I will need to get more clued up on this. Hi Julian. Thanks for this. I will check out the links.
 
When you say you didn't have much luck, what did you get and what were you trying to photograph? You need a solid tripod, put the camera on high ISO, widest aperture, f3.5 in your case and about 30 seconds, see what you get and work it out from there.
 
Hi Chris. I was just really looking to capture some stars in the night sky but it was just pitch black. I have a tripod so I will mount my camera to that. The nearest aperture I can get to this is f4.5. I can do 3200 ISO or 6400. Forgive my naivety but when you say to set it to 30 seconds, does this mean 1/30 on the shutter speed control? I really appreciate your guidance on this.
 
1/30 is one thirtieth of a second

30 seconds will be 30" which is left of the 1/30..... keep moving your shutter speed dial to the left of 1/30 and you will get longer exposures, I'm not familiar with your camera but I would say it is similar for all DSLR's.

EDIT
it seems on a Canon that your viewfinder will show 0"30 for 30 second exposure.
 
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I mean 30 seconds not 1/30, I don't know your camera but most cameras go up 30 seconds or failing that if it has bulb mode (B) then the shutter will stay open as long as you hold the shutter button down. The difficulty with that is that you really need a remote release to do this because if you actually press the shutter button you will make the camera wobble even on a tripod. Start at about 1600 iso. and see how it goes. There is a rule of thumb that says to avoid star trails you can expose for 520 divided by the focal length of your lens to avoid star trails so in your case 520/18 = 28 seconds. At the other end of your zoom it would be 520/55 = 9 seconds.

One other point if you put your camera on a tripod use the self timer (2 seconds or 10 seconds) so that you have your hands away from the camera when the shutter opens.
 
Welcome to the forum Gavin :)

The equipment you have is definitely capable of taking night shots to include stars (y) I'm guessing you also have a tripod and remote shutter release.

Firstly, for me, it would be easier to show you than try tell you here, but I'll have a go :D

You need to turn the auto focus off and manually focus onto something in the foreground, then set the camera to manual. If you are wanting to avoid star trails, your shutter speed is determined by focal length, I'll put a chart up below. Aperture is wide open, f3.5 with the lens you have. Now all that's left to set is ISO, this is light sensitivity.

Because the shutter speed is determined by focal length and aperture is set to wide open, ISO is the only setting you need to alter. I would start at a round ISO 2500 and see what you get, higher the ISO more stars will be visible.

Its all trial and error when you start, but the beauty of digital is its free, it doesn't matter how many times you get it wrong ;)......just enjoy the learning :)

Here's a chart for shutter speed compared to focal length, I would go with 18mm and a shutter speed of 16 seconds, that gives you a second or 2 to be on the safe side to avoid star trails.

So just to re-cap,
Shutter speed 16 seconds
Aperture f3.5
ISO 2500 and higher if need be

Any more questions just ask, I'll try answer the best I can :)

Edit to add, the 500 rule applies to full frame, on a crop body it becomes approx. the 350 rule ;)


chart.jpg
 
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Good advice here. I find for sky shots I autofocus on a distant object and then set the focus to manual and try not to move the lens focus again. I realise that can be difficult in the dark condition you'll need

Alternatively, during the day autofocus on a distant object and note the position of the distance ring on the lens. In theory the position when focussed on a distant object should the the infinite symbol, but this is not always the case. Then manually set to this position when you are taking shots of the stars. The 500 varies with the area of the sky you are photographing but it is a very good starting point.

Other useful things to have are a torch (head torch is preferable as it leaves your hands free) which has a red filter or red LEDs, so your night vision is not destroyed every time you turn it on. A pair of binoculars is handy too, to have a look around. Oh, and a really dark site. You can certainly get photos of stars where there is some light pollution but a very dark site is so much better.

The free to download Stellarium is also handy to show you the night sky at anytime.

The following was taken with a kit lens (it happened to be set at 23mm, don't recall why), the ISO was 6400. I set the camera on manual and chose f4.0 and 20s exposure, pressed the shutter button and waited - sometimes waiting for even 20 seconds seems a long time :)

A long way from being a interesting shot but I hope it gives the idea.

Dave

14815-1457690007-9ded9e4d00e0230963e94d0c1e2a02fa.jpg
 
The other thing I forgot to add this morning was to shoot raw or both ( I shoot both), this lets you play with WB in PP'ing.

Obviously the less light pollution the better but if you shoot raw it gives you more options to try correct it :)
 
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