Beginner advice needed for night sky shots

[vil]

Hi all

I would like to take some sky shots during my trip in mid Dec. I have a entry level DSLR with a 17-55mm lens.

Although there is a post on the guide to max exposure to avoid star trails, can anyone advise me what is the ideal F-stop and ISO to use for reasonable level of sharpness and acceptable level of noise?

Thank you.

[Gary]

Hi all

I would like to take some sky shots during my trip in mid Dec. I have a entry level DSLR with a 17-55mm lens.

Although there is a post on the guide to max exposure to avoid star trails, can anyone advise me what is the ideal F-stop and ISO to use for reasonable level of sharpness and acceptable level of noise?

Thank you.

Hi Vil. I am not an astrophotrographer but just sharing some ideas I have came across from my friends who are.

- F stop - open as wide as possible to allow max light to go through
- Shoot as wide as possible for starscape effect and minimising star trailing especially in non-tracking setup - 17mm in your case.
- ISO - depending on quality of sky and camera performance, at least ISO 800.
- Sharpness - more do to with precision of focusing. Try infinity, shoot, use live view zoom in check sharpness of stars, adjust focus slightly, repeat again and again until you are satisfied.
- Noise - experiment with different ISO and exposure timings at the location. Can also take multiple shots and use stacking software to boost signal-to-noise ratio. Other techniques involve shooting dark, flat and bias frames for post editing purposes to improve the final image quality.
- Do attach some heat packs around lens if the location is dewy.
- Moon is bright in mid December. It may brighten up the sky. Adjust your camera settings accordingly. The settings that work in perfectly clear skies near new Moon period may not work for your location.

Perhaps you may want to mention the exact brand and model of your DSLR. Other members in this forum may have experience with it and give you more model specific tips and advise.

Good luck and have a nice trip!

[antares2063]

Remember to bring along a tripod to wherever u are headed to for star shots...as we cant tell how dark your location is..best is to trial and error...no hard and fast rule but start with 2 secs, ISO 800 and then adjust accordingly

[vil]

Thanks for the replies.

My camera is a Canon 1100D.
Yup I will be bring a tripod along.

Hopefully can do some time lapse photography if the skies are good.