How to Photograph Stars and Meteor Showers (HD)

[goldenguy12345]

Im on a fairly low budget and need a lens with a wide aperture... I currently have

18-55mm

28-105mm

75-300mm

Can anybody reccomend a lens ?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Any F/2.8 wide angle prime lens will do (20mm, 24mm, or 28mm). Be sure to check KEH for used ones if you want to save some greens.

[976boboti]

There exists a formula to compute exposure times for trail-free star images.For the fastest moving stars (near to the celestial equator) any exposure in seconds shorter than 700/F,where F is the focal length of the lens in use, will yield essantially no trailing (for the hypecritical or those like me using a DX camera sensor 500/F may be a safer choice).Times for stars away from the equator grow more in the photographer's favour: at declination 50° the maximum exposure time goes up to 1000/F.

[superkiwizorro]

@976boboti LOL you crack me up!! that technique is soooo ancient dated way back before dslrs chimed in. with dslrs, you can adjust the ISO and defy this silly rule.

[976boboti]

@superkiwizorro I'm glad that my comment made you lough :) But still, after adjusting the ISO you can check whether the resulting exposure is short enough to avoid trailing. This rule is not defied at all, I think the two get on well together! And please don't call it silly as it took a generation of astrophotographers to be attained in this precise form.

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Unfortunately, we have to agree with Zorro on this one. Rules are meant to be broken.

[LiberalJerseyman]

light pollution is horrible for photography

[YoshiAshley]

Great photos. I am extremely interested in astrophotography. All I have is a Celestron Powerseeker 70AZ telescope. How should I start off and what do I need?

[superkiwizorro]

@YoshiAshley uhh this video is about doing it with a camera lens, not a telescope. start off with a regular lens first before considering thousands dollars worth of equipment that you won't be using much.

[flip117100]

@YoshiAshley TRing Adapter for whatever camera you have. Play around with the settings a bit. A remote to control your shutter will help with shake. For deep space you will need Auto guiders and maybe a CCD camera (specifically meant for astrophotography)

[gatler05]

Nevermind! I knew it was Explosions! Great taste and tutorial.

[lilynick1]

Thank you for uploading this. I'm going out now to try my luck. Luckily no bears here in Australia to worry about. Might get kicked by a kangaroo if anything .....

[superkiwizorro]

@lilynick1 6. yeah but don't forget red back spiders, brown snakes, funnel web spiders, and koalas. they bite, hiss, and scratch.

[TechCrazy]

Just curious why we need sandbags even in the "Mirror -Up" mode triggered with a remote control.

[superkiwizorro]

@TechCrazy your answer is in the video. watch it again.

[CragScrambler]

Sandbag is useless seeing as camera is mostly pointing directly upwards

[superkiwizorro]

@CragScrambler you still can place the sandbag on top of viewfinder housing and around the lens. if you're using a WA lens, you don't have to tilt the camera up too much.

[GTOOtt]

Why did you turn noise reduction off?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Why did you ask a question in the beginning of the video instead of finishing it?

Your answer is at 16:32.

[opihikaokid]

@ 15-18mm f/8.0 would that be the same for shooting images during the day time ?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Yup, correct. Remember this, 15-18mm range at F/8 is where image quality is at its finest but not so at other focal lengths and apertures. It doesn't mean the lens is totally useless, you can still use it but remember you're sacrificing the image quality.

[opihikaokid]

Thanks ,i have a nikon d7000 with the lens mentioned above .i have been doing night time time lapse,whats the best wide angle lens to use with the d7000 for this?("15-18mm range is safe to use at F/8.0.") is that a fixed chart or can i change the mm's & f/ and avoid chromatic aberration? or do i have to stay at these #'s to avoid? is there some where i can send you a few pictures to check out and see whats goin on in my image world?would love some pro feed back ,thanks sean

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Truthfully speaking, any wide angle prime / zoom lens with a maximum aperture of ƒ/1.4 or ƒ/2.8 are more suitable for nighttime time lapses (especially for astrophotography). Using F/8.0 on the 10-24mm will require you to crank the ISO all the way up, which will result in loss of details due to graininess.

The chart lists lenses with apertures and focal lengths that prevent chromatic aberration and diffraction.

We're not "pros" but upload the images on Flickr then private message us the link.

[opihikaokid]

Thanks Super helpful.I am new to photography and not sure about lens maximum focus distance?@ 17:56 in the video they talk about putting something in the foreground and saying it will be in focus as long as it is further then the maximum focus distance? how do i find out what that would be ? Any help would be great

[Lilkiwiguy87]

The maximum focus distance is the first numbers on the left on the scale. For example, on 24mm ƒ/1.4G, 1m and 2.5ft are the maximum focus distances. Anything further than 1m or 2.5ft (i.e. 5ft or 2m) appear to be in focus at infinity. This cool trick only works with wide angle lenses (35mm and below).

[opihikaokid]

@Lilkiwiguy87 Thanks ,i have the nikon DX AF-S 10-24mm f/ 3.5-4.5 lens.when i turn it to infinity just to the right it reads first number 2 ft/ 0.5 m, so thats the maximum focus point ?I have been doing a time lapse and loved your time lapse video.Also with the 10-24mm f/3.5 4.5 i think the chart for sharpness said 15-18mm @ f/8 to avoid that chromo (what ever stuff)once again thanks you guys ROCK SEAN

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Yup, that's correct, that's the maximum focus distance. If you want the foreground to be in focus at infinity, make sure they're further than 2ft or 0.5m, voila.

Chromatic aberration, yup, 15-18mm range is safe to use at F/8.0.

[key00992233]

Great stuff!! Got some spectacular pictures, thanks to this tutorial. Well done!

[BvizioN]

Many thanks for the video, very helpful indeed.

[Bosch232]

Bears?  Really? :)

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Really.

[grabedigger]

Ususaly i do this with an 8mm fisheye lens on APS-C, works great, but the lens lacks on a 2.8 apperture. Now next month i'll put the Canon 10-22 on the test with this, time for the winter sky. Orion is at it's best now!! Nice turorial man, like allways you make pretty awesome tuts! Thanks!

[BlueShirt7]

what could be out of infinity?? (i.e. 9:56)

[Lilkiwiguy87]

When going past infinity to the left, you are actually focusing backwards to the maximum focus distance (first number on the focusing scale on the left).

[ringmore1986]

Great Video! Helps a lot!

[MrBarkVader]

Great video even for a Canon guy. I have a 50mm F1.4 prime lens and a F4 L 17-40mm lens. Which do you think best for star photography?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

We're not sure what camera you are using because Canon have different crop factors (aka focal length multiplier). If you are using a FX body (i.e. 5D / 5D Mark 2 / 1Ds Mark III), either will do just fine. Except you would have to push the ISO sensitivity up high when using the 17-40mm because of its slow maximum aperture. If you are using a crop body (i.e. 7D / 60D / etc.), 50mm ƒ/1.4 is probably too long and you will not get very much unlike with 17-40mm at 17mm. Good luck.

[mitreviper]

Am I right to say the AF-S Micro 60mm f/2.8D suitable for photographing stars as well on a DX format?

- Was looking at AF 35mm f/2D but was afraid of the moisture protection lacking and it seems the AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G review is not that good for photographing stars if I remember .

[Lilkiwiguy87]

A 60mm lens on DX becomes a 90mm lens, which is too long for photographing the stars.

You will be just fine with the 35mm ƒ/2.0D AF. Just remember to leave it in bag to allow it to acclimate to temperature change first before using.

[HapZungLam]

I always have a question on Nikon about its Long exp. NR. Having high ISO sensitivity noise reduction is pretty easy to understand. But why doing long exposure needs noise reduction? I thought noise only comes from ISO settings~?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

This video already explained why.

Sensors have the tendency of overheating from doing several long exposures within a short time period. Overheated sensors will result in noisy images, depending on time length (i.e. 8 hours on digital will result in awfully grainy images while there is virtually no noise with film).

Digital sensors are not designed specially for doing very long exposures (hence it stops at 30s) but it still allow you to do so by using Bulb (B).

[MrCoolManTim]

This is so helpful. Thanks!

Wish there was a channel like this for Canon cameras though..

[Lilkiwiguy87]

There are a lot of tutorials that are universal to all other camera brands. You just need to find out the equivalents for all these menu items and camera features.

[MrCoolManTim]

@Lilkiwiguy87 I was referring more to your products reviews then anything else and what I meant was: I wish there was a channel which had the same extremely high quality, in information and production, which covered Canon products.

I use a Canon DSLR and I find all your videos very interesting and useful, if not a bit confusing sometimes – with all the foreign menu options and switches on your D3 :).

[Acilpirin]

I too :D

[bbreeg26]

i love your videos