METEOR SHOWER!!

mattd85 said:
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

To avoid stacking try using the widest aperture you have, at ISO 1600 or above and to not blur the stars the generally accepted formula for shutter speed is 600/focal length for full frame or about 300/focal length for a 1.6 crop so on my full frame 5DII using a 24mm lens it's 600/24mm = 25 second exposure time.



Hope that helps! :)
 
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.

Great, thanks Rico. I'll take the 24L then. I may crank up the iso then and see if it's still acceptable.
 
efunc said:
Great, thanks Rico. I'll take the 24L then. I may crank up the iso then and see if it's still acceptable.

I'm planning to start at 1600 and move upwards. I've seen very successfully images at 3200 and 6400.

A tip about in camera noise reduction I've recently read but not tried is:

"When using noise reduction, an equivalent black frame is being shot. It’s a common misconception that noise reduction works like it does in Photoshop. Black frame noise reduction works by exposing an equivalent shot (using all the same exposure parameters) but with the shutter closed. Then, anything whatsoever that appears in the theoretically black print is noise. This is usually the result of heat in your CMOS or CCD. The camera then subtracts these signal values from your photo.This type of noise reduction is only possible in camera and is far superior to noise reduction using single image algorithms like those found in Photoshop. My advice is to leave the noise reduction on for shooting the Milky Way. If you’re stacking exposures (another form of noise reduction common in astrophotography) then you should leave off in camera noise reduction. Also, if you’re stacking images for longer trails, then also leave it off. But for the most part, leave it on. Your stars, even your faint ones, should be safe."
 
To avoid stacking try using the widest aperture you have, at ISO 1600 or above and to not blur the stars the generally accepted formula for shutter speed is 600/focal length for full frame or about 300/focal length for a 1.6 crop so on my full frame 5DII using a 24mm lens it's 600/24mm = 25 second exposure time.



Hope that helps! :)

So if I use a Nikon d90 with a 18-70mm lens set at 25mm I would set f to f6 speed at 12 secs and iso at 1600,does this sound somewhere near guys
 
iwols said:
So if I use a Nikon d90 with a 18-70mm lens set at 25mm I would set f to f6 speed at 12 secs and iso at 1600,does this sound somewhere near guys

That's should be fine if 25mm gives the field of view that you need, I might try 18mm if I was you to get more sky in!
 
Depending where you read, I think nearly all variables of settings come recommended! It seems to make sense to get as much light in to the camera in as short a period of time as possible (to get your desired result).

So I'm shooting at the widest aperture (2.8), the highest iso which gives little noise (1600) and an appropriate shutter speed (30 sec is working OK at the moment)

All these depend though on which kit you have, light pollution, etc. So I think we'll have slightly different setups
 
I'm planning to start at 1600 and move upwards. I've seen very successfully images at 3200 and 6400.

A tip about in camera noise reduction I've recently read but not tried is:

"When using noise reduction, an equivalent black frame is being shot. It’s a common misconception that noise reduction works like it does in Photoshop. Black frame noise reduction works by exposing an equivalent shot (using all the same exposure parameters) but with the shutter closed. Then, anything whatsoever that appears in the theoretically black print is noise. This is usually the result of heat in your CMOS or CCD. The camera then subtracts these signal values from your photo.This type of noise reduction is only possible in camera and is far superior to noise reduction using single image algorithms like those found in Photoshop. My advice is to leave the noise reduction on for shooting the Milky Way. If you’re stacking exposures (another form of noise reduction common in astrophotography) then you should leave off in camera noise reduction. Also, if you’re stacking images for longer trails, then also leave it off. But for the most part, leave it on. Your stars, even your faint ones, should be safe."

Its called a dark frame and it isn't taken with the shutter closed.
A dark frame is taken for the same time as the main exposure, with the same settings and ideally just before or after the main exposure.
The one difference is the lens or body cap is left in place for the exposure.

Then in your stacking software you can subtract the dark frame to help with noise issues.
 
I guess Rico is referring purely to in-camera long exposure NR and not the dark frames used in PP stacking.
 
Not much chance of seeing them here in Brum, clouds as far as the eye can see :-/
 
just looking through my test shots from last night, isn't it amazing how much detail there is when you zoom in?! i found a couple of meteors once i zoomed in which i didn't see with the naked eye.

posted a couple more, edited ones to flickr
 
benners said:
just looking through my test shots from last night, isn't it amazing how much detail there is when you zoom in?! i found a couple of meteors once i zoomed in which i didn't see with the naked eye.

posted a couple more, edited ones to flickr

Link to your Flickr please :) I'm gonna have a go tonight if its clear!
 
I guess Rico is referring purely to in-camera long exposure NR and not the dark frames used in PP stacking.

I was indeed talking about using in camera noise reduction as apposed to taking 'dark' frames and stacking them in PP. :thumbs:


Not much chance of seeing them here in Brum, clouds as far as the eye can see :-/

It's just started raining in Devon. :thumbsdown::bang:
 
Is this going to happen tonight or have I missed it?
 
jryans10 said:
Is this going to happen tonight or have I missed it?

It's over the next few nights with Sunday and Monday supposedly being the peak days. ;)
 
Cloud here too...
 
I've written tonight off. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.
Now, off to the medicine cabinet! :)
 
just been out ...no breaks here ...will give it another couple of hours :(
 
North East i believe, too much cloud here tho. im taking a trip to the top of moel famau tomorrow night tho :)
 
Full cloud cover here. :(
Given up and am going to bed. :)
 
In a field,
It's dark,
It's raining,
I can hear drunk people some where,
And its started to rain.

I can see the edge of the clouds tho!
 
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