METEOR SHOWER!!

Well if it's clear I'm going to be out in the back garden tonight , got the tripod and shutter release, now it's just settings I need to work out, the alpha 100 doesn't like high iso, also what lens do people think would be best?

I have Sony kit lens 18-70, Sony kit lens 70-300, Sony dt 35mm or the Minolta 50mm?


Suggestions please guys and gals, I'm glad this thread has got some interest!!!

Matt
 
mattd85 said:
Well if it's clear I'm going to be out in the back garden tonight , got the tripod and shutter release, now it's just settings I need to work out, the alpha 100 doesn't like high iso, also what lens do people think would be best?

I have Sony kit lens 18-70, Sony kit lens 70-300, Sony dt 35mm or the Minolta 50mm?

Suggestions please guys and gals, I'm glad this thread has got some interest!!!

Matt
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I'd go for the widest available I think, maybe something for a bit of foreground interest/scale.

I've read quite a variety of advice on settings, think I'll start at 24mm, f2.8, iso800, 30 sec shutter... and see what happens :-)
 
Not fully dark just yet and little cloudy, so will keep waiting...
 
Haha, better put something warmer on than just shorts and a T-shirt!
 
Still a bit cloudy in the NE direction, clear everywhere else! Mind you, just saw the ISS again :-)

Should we be looking more to the horizon, or straight up? Or just anywhere in a NE direction?
 
Clear skies in Manchester at the moment, although a tad breezy. Now just need next door neighbour to stop his bloomin' security light coming on :bang:
 
Daft question, but how do you best set the focus?
 
I went with some foreground interest and focused on that manually. It's tricky in the dark but mine have turned out ok so far
 
I'm just looking up, I think I've seen 5 upto now, big burst of light then what appears like a star moving slowly across the sky until it fades, I've got my settings locked ready for 2mw night
 
I've seen a around 15 this evening - actually hoping for less as I'm imaging M31...so don't want any crossing my frames!
 
Greenninja said:
I've seen a around 15 this evening - actually hoping for less as I'm imaging M31...so don't want any crossing my frames!
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How do you do that?
 
I think I'm getting a few!
 
I'm hoping to head out to Exmoor tomorrow weather permitting which is a national dark sky reserve so hope to catch a lot!
 
How do you do that?
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I have a 30d hanging off the back of a skywatcher evostar 120 telescope - it's firing off around 50 x 20 second exposures that I'll then stack using a program called deeps sky stacker to create the final image. It is an unguided exposure, so I have to limit my exposures a bit.

Of course while the scope is doing that I can look for meteors, of which there have been plenty - mostly nothing spectacular, but there was a very bright one just after dusk, would have been nice to see that in a proper dark sky.

Mozzies are a nightmare tonight, as is the million watt security light on a garage behind me.
 
My eyes are playing tricks on me! I live in an area of very low light pollution so see lots of stars and staring up at them for long enough means they all start shooting all over the place !

Maybe best with a camera lol!!

Just to confirm - look NE direction? That's the same for peeps in South Wales??
 
I think generally NE to E, though the can happen anywhere really
 
First time at this. How do these setting sound as a starting point?

Canon 5DII & EF24L @ ISO 400, f/ 1.4, 30sec? Or would I be better off with my 24-70L at 70mm?

Unfortunately I don't have a shutter release cable, so I'm stuck at 30sec and I have to use the camera timer. Otherwise I would try f/16 at 5mins or something. Any advice?
 
mattd85 said:
I'm just looking up, I think I've seen 5 upto now, big burst of light then what appears like a star moving slowly across the sky until it fades, I've got my settings locked ready for 2mw night
Click to expand...

unlikely to be a meteor because they dont move slowly across the sky ,,,blink and you miss them ( around 145 000 mph for the persieds )
 
Between 10:15pm and 11:30, it was a big burst of light which then slowly started tracking the sky
 
just wondered which lens to try for the shower(weater permitting as usual) on my d90,either nikon 18-55mm f5-6 or tamron 90mm f2.8,will have all on ,so any advice for the lens appreciated guys
 
iwols said:
just wondered which lens to try for the shower(weater permitting as usual) on my d90,either nikon 18-55mm f5-6 or tamron 90mm f2.8,will have all on ,so any advice for the lens appreciated guys
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I had mine at 18
 
thanks matt just wondered about the difference with f
 
efunc said:
First time at this. How do these setting sound as a starting point?

Canon 5DII & EF24L @ ISO 400, f/ 1.4, 30sec? Or would I be better off with my 24-70L at 70mm?

Unfortunately I don't have a shutter release cable, so I'm stuck at 30sec and I have to use the camera timer. Otherwise I would try f/16 at 5mins or something. Any advice?
Click to expand...

Go as wide as you can, 24mm is also what I will be using in my 5DII. At 30 sec you may find some blur in the stars (which is fine if that's what you want) and ISO wise that should be fine.
 
Now I figured out what settings to use for trails, I would now like to know how I could take a detailed shot of the night sky with out trails, I guessing it's going to be stacked exposures just not as long
 
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