Time lapse of the stars

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chris-red

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Chris
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I know it has been done many times, but this will be my first time lapse project I intend on working on.

I was just after tips and advice, My plan was to spend some time one evening trying to get the stars to show up seeing what settings work, before setting up for the actual event. I was planning on using my 55-250 lens as I live in a town with a fair amount of light pollution, I figure the zoom will hopefully negate some of that.

I planned to set the aperture at the widest setting the ISO at 400 and play about with the shutter speed till I get a decent image.

How fast should the time lapse be? One a minute?

Another question would there be a way to record a time lapse that covers dusk/dawn without the night time being too dark and the dawn/dusk being bleached out?

All I have to do is wait for a night where I can actually see the stars!
 
The long focal length will make the stars streak more, or mean a faster shutter speed to prevent this. The is a rule I seem to think the shutter speed should be 600/focal length seconds or faster to prevent streaking.

With the above in mind, you will probably want higher than ISO 400.

Most 1 shot time lapses of stars are about 5-30s in length. Beyond that it's usually more than 1 shot.

The day night transition is called the holy grail, it's not easy and even the top people struggle here.

I recommend reading the timescapes forum. Lots of good info there.
 
maninsuitcase said:
The long focal length will make the stars streak more, or mean a faster shutter speed to prevent this. The is a rule I seem to think the shutter speed should be 600/focal length seconds or faster to prevent streaking.

With the above in mind, you will probably want higher than ISO 400.

Most 1 shot time lapses of stars are about 5-30s in length. Beyond that it's usually more than 1 shot.

The day night transition is called the holy grail, it's not easy and even the top people struggle here.

I recommend reading the timescapes forum. Lots of good info there.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I did wonder how the day/night thing was done, short of adjusting the camera very few hours, maybe a variable ND filter and something to control it:thinking:


Thanks for your advice I didn't see the timescapes forum, Too many boards!
 
chris-red said:
Thanks for your advice I didn't see the timescapes forum, Too many boards!
Click to expand...

Some people use aperture priority and auto ISO and fix the flickery mess in post, some use a little bramper, some hardcore it and adjust the settings by hand, others are writing tools to automate the process using tethered capture.

Must admit it's not really something I've tried much.

ps timescapes is here : http://www.timescapes.org/
 
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