CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Very nice job Sonny. I always love watching ISS.
Craig

NealB Loc: Lowell Indiana

Sonny it looks like tonight will be a washout here in North West Indiana. They are saying nothing but solid cloud cover for the next couple days and intermittent rain.
Really it isn't so bad as I am just getting over the flue. If it would be clear skies to night I would be out no matter what which is not always an intelligent decision at my age. Flying by the seat of your pants is the only way to fly. I have made my best decisions while flying by the seat of my pants and my worst decisions when I stopped and rationally thought it out.
Neal

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I should point out that the D3300 is a crop sensor body and the D810 is a full frame body. 18mm on a full frame would be the equivalent of 12mm on a crop body.

My two cents: As you go wider and wider, you actually end up with lower light levels. For instance, consider the 15-30mm f2.8 Tamron. At 15mm, the objective is 15 / 2.8 = 5.36mm (area = PI x R^2 = PI x 7.18). At 30mm, the objective is 30/2.8 = 10.71mm (PI x 28.68). Comparing 7.18 to 28.68, we see that the lens gathers 4 times as much light at 30mm than it does at 15mm! This is the equivalence of shooting at f2.8 vs shooting at f5.6. This is a big difference and you will see the effect immediately in your results. What I would suggest is to find the FL in between that covers the area you want to capture. Or better yet, create a pano that combines 2 or more taken at 30mm to get a wider field of view. I have actually tried 6 x 6 panos that have turned out well.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

That's the attitude I like to hear. I have read a number of the Astrophotography books and often times they are out of date and with equipment a generation or two behind current equipment, and just don't quite lead one in the right direction. For instance, usable ISO levels. The advantage of digital cameras is you get instant feedback. You can try various ISO levels, various f-stop settings and various exposure times and see immediately what it looks like. I find that I get my best result compromise around ISO 1600. That D810 make be able to eek out a bit higher. But what I find is that when using too high, I get more noise and the detail tends to suffer. If I had a Sony A7S, the ISO recommendation would change upwards a good bit.

Have fun!

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Sorry to hear you've been sick. I'm getting over a cold, but our 3 youngest Grand Kids seem to always have something they are passing around.

That's why I "run what Ya Brung". My D3300 is what I've got. (Besides a couple of Astro Cams.)
When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I took 27 images of the Intergalactic Wanderer/Tramp last night, but didn't save a one. They looked boring to me.
But I just grab onto things in Stellarium, then see what I can get. Since my Astro camera's are shutterless, it's all electronic.

When I was starting to decide on my equipment, my grand plan was to use my D3300 as my camera. But DSLR's have a finite use and with ~60,000 shutter operations in the first 1 1/2 years, I figured I needed a different tack for Astro imaging. I do use it now and then on the telescope, but it takes widefield images. And I like to take more of a deep space type imaging.
I'm like a BB in a boxcar. Just kind of rolling around.

I have a pair of insulated Carhartt's bib's I dawn if I'm going to be out in the cold for very long. Left overs from my retirement job.
I don't like to be cold if I can avoid it.

The weather will change. This has been a very unusual winter it seems. Spring is comin.

skylane5sp Loc: Puyallup, WA

Neal,
Here a link to a guy that does incredible Milky Way photos. I have his E-book.

http://intothenightphoto.blogspot.com/

NealB Loc: Lowell Indiana

Thanks I found the site to be interesting so I plan to go back for an more in depth look.

NealB Loc: Lowell Indiana

Rain and overcast here all weekend so could not try out everyones good suggestions. Hopefully next weekend will be better.

skylane5sp Loc: Puyallup, WA

Hah! The National Weather Service revealed a couple of weeks ago that here in the Pacific NorthWET we've had a dismal 30 hours of official sunlight/clear skies since Nov 1.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

I've got a Daughter-SIL and their Family scattered around up there. Port Orchard and North Seattle. (Great Grandson)
I couldn't live up there. I'm a lizard and need more sunlight.