mark.r Loc: Port Talbot South Wales

A picture of Deneb a star in Cygnus.

(Download)

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Was this shot with a mirror lens? You have doughnuts for the stars in this one, but not in the others... You should move to the other end of the swan, and shoot Albireo!

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Very artistic Mark.
Craig

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

:thumbup:

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

This is a case of not achieving perfect focus. Focus needs to be adjusted until the stars are reduced to the smallest possible point of light.

I am including a sample showing the near by Ring Nebula. This was taken using an Orion 8" Astrograph Reflector Scope. This scope has a Focal Length of 800mm and is a F3.9 lens which means that it is good for extended objects. But look at the stars which are point sources. This is what you should be able to achieve.

I have also added a shot of Vega (could seem to locate one of Deneb). Here you can see the effect of a really bright star. This was a 15 sec shot. My ISO is high to pick up the fainter stars, but Vega is really bright.

I have also added an original of the Vega shot. Vega is so bright that darkening the sky affects what Vega looks like. These super bright stars are a challenge to deal with them in the picture.

This was done using a Sony A57 crop sensor type camera. Using live view (with cameras like these it is always live view), I use the focus magnifier and carefully adjust the focus for the smallest size stars. I also find that it helps to pick a dim star to focus on as the bright one can bloom and are more difficult to tell you have best focus.

Hope this helps you see what you can do.
By the way, this was a 10 sec shot at ISO 3200.

Sample of Ring Nebula and

(Download)

Vega, sample with really bright star

(Download)

Original shot of Vega before darkening sky

(Download)

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Great pinpoints Jim H.