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      07-16-2011, 05:15 PM   #713
vachss
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The1 View Post
tripod.... F10-16 keep shutter speed kinda quick, anything over a couple seconds is going to show the earth spinning and youre going to get stars with tails

lots of trial and error, and a big smile.

oh, and use a 2 second timer or a remote trigger!
f/10-16 for Milky Way shots - with a fast shutter speed?? You must have one helluva sensitive sensor. I've done a lot of this sort of shooting and to get any sort of decent rendering of the bright cloud of stars need exposures along the lines of f/1.8-2.8, ISO 1600-3200 and typically 10-20s (though sometimes with long fast lenses 5 or so sec is sufficient).

How long an exposure you can tolerate without star trailing depends on the focal length of your lens and what corner of the sky you're shooting. I usually find that I can get away with 20-25s with a 24mm lens, but no more than 4-5s with a 135 (proportional to 1/f for other focal lengths). Again though this depends on where in the sky you're shooting. Near the North Star (or Southern Cross for our Aussie brethren) the proper motion of the star field is less and you can get away with longer exposures.

For examples check out the EXIF info on this series from about a year ago: http://www.pbase.com/fvachss/australian_nightscapes

Last edited by vachss; 07-16-2011 at 05:21 PM..
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