Canon XSi/450D: Night Landscape

[niraj2002]

I have gone through all your tutorial. Thank you very much..simply explained everything that you need to know about 450D. Just need your professional opinion about the lens. I am thinking to change my standard 18-55mm lens. I have two options 28-105mm or 18-135mm, which one would you recommend if you have to choose between these two opt. Plss help.Cheers.

[mandscat]

How do you take pictures of stars (without a telescope!)?

[lbguides]

@mandscat Hi, it really depends what kind of picture you're looking for. If you want star tracks, you'll need a super long shutter speed like 10 or 15 min, something this camera can't do. You could also take a few shorter 30" exposures and piece them together in Photoshop, though 30" is probably not long enough. I can't post a link here, but check out russell brown's site for tips on how to stitch the images together. I hope this helps.

[spythe90]

@lbguides actually you can use longer shutter speed than 30" in bulb mode. I recommend a remote switch for it.

[lbguides]

@spythe90 Hi, thanks for the correction. I completely forgot about using the Manual mode to increase the shutter speed to bulb. Have you had much experience with that? From what I understand the image can get very noisy and Canon recommends turning on the Noise Reduction, which can soften the focus. Though, you're right, it can be done.  I'm not sure I would use a digital camera for 10 or 15 min star tracking shots. Either way a remote switch is a good investment.

[taedarie]

Holding black card in from of the lens allows you to take this image without spending time playing with mirror lock. hold it in front of the lens until you have pushed the button to take the photo. :)

useful video, cheers :D

[lbguides]

@taedarie Hi, Thanks for the tip:)

[eljuli1003]

what's the limit on the shutter speed ?? i wanna know, please, thank you.

[persol2747s]

from 1/4000 to 30" .

[peanutXXtreme]

thanks^^

[amdphenomIIx3]

I have a Canon Rebel Xs, I increase both shutter speed and ISO, but I still get grainy and sometime blurry images, is this because of my lense? I have an old tamron 28-105mm af lense.

[lbguides]

@amdphenomIIx3 You should be using a tripod, if you're not, and the ISO should be decreased to the lowest setting possible. Then set the shutter speed to 10sec. and see what comes out. If it's too bright, slow down the shutter speed to 5sec. if it's too dark, go with 15sec. I hope that helps. Let me know if you're still having trouble.

[lbguides]

Clearly I meant to say, "If it's too bright, [increase] the shutter speed to 5sec."

[mandscat]

thanks for this

[gammatnt]

if you don't have a tripod , you need to faster shutter speed. In order to compensate the slower shutter speed. You will need higher ISO. i use 1600, when i hold the camera by hand.

[lbguides]

You're absolutely right. When hand holding the camera, you can't use a slow shutter speed and, therefore, the ISO has to be increased.

[tehDL]

ISO 100 at night?

[lbguides]

Only if you're using a tripod. With an ISO setting of 100 the image will be clean, but the shutter speed will be very, very slow. So, you have to set the camera down on something or use a tripod.