Will F/4 be adequate for stars?

TheAndyA

TheAndyA

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We're off to the Dordogne soon and on previous visits, I've noticed that the stars are often much more visible down there than they are at home.

I'd quite like to try out some star photography, but I'm wondering if my F/4 lenses will be up to the job. Also I'd really appreciate any pointers to get me started if that's possible.

My gear consists of a 5D3, EF 16-34 f4, EF 24-105 f4 and a cheap 50mm f1.8.
 
If that's the fastest lens then F4 will have to be enough. The faster the better but you can at least increase the iso on a 5DIII to assist as they handle noise very well. The 50mm F1.8 is of course fast enough but for most star work won't be wide enough.
 
I have used the 16/35 f4 and 5DIII for stars, as Andy says you can push the iso. Also have the Samyang 24 f1.4 very pleased with it, would love a 16mm 1.4 as even on full frame it feels it needs to be wider
 
You'll get something with an f/4 lens but I've always found I've had to push the ISO to a ridiculously high level. When shooting at 6400, the one stop advantage of 2.8 and being able to drop to 3200 does make a big difference!
 
I shot my first ever attempt at stars/trails earlier this year too :)

I shot with an f2.8 lens at either 100 or 400 ISO, 400 I found gave me 30 sec exposures so I stuck with that as it was the longest the camera did without resorting to bulb/time mode

You can see my results here http://www.davidgoodierphotography.co.uk/astrophotography-tutorial-how-to-shoot-stars-at-night/

At a max of 400 I wasn't pushing the ISO at all and still got some interesting shots I think - have fun :)

Dave
 
Certainly f2.8 is preferred, but it is definitely possible to capture the night sky at f4.
This one is shot at ISO6400, so is noisy, but shows the detail that you can extract with an f4 lens
You'd be able to get good results, for trails, if not the Milky Way, at ISO1600, if you can find some dark skies!

20405954670_f07d10bd07_b.jpg
 
Hi guys, I'm back from my holls and thought I'd better post my first attempt. I know that it's very average (even poor), but here it is anyway.

It was taken from the garden of the Gite where we stayed. I was a little intoxicated from the Pelforth beer and the red wine, so driving to somewhere with an interesting foreground wasn't a possibility.

Edit: I've just remembered, it was actually taken from the field across the lane.

I used the EF 16-35 F/4.



The view from Bournet by Andy Aveyard, on Flickr
 
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There is nothing wrong with that Andy that a crop from the bottom won't cure in my opinion, just remove the dark shadowed area. The trees give a foreground interest and there is nothing wrong with the stars at all.
 
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