Beckman13

What is the best camera, brand or specific model, lens, and other necessary equipment one would need to successfully capture the stars on a budget (preferably all under 1500 U.S. dollars)?

Domtom999

Are we talking thru a telescope? Are we just tripoding camera and Lens and taking a long exposure of the sky? Is there a lot of light pollution where you will be doing this?

I believe I read an in-depth discussion of this previously on uhh. Have you done a search of the site for info?

Domtom999

Here I found some links


http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/1579/night-photography-primer-the-world-at-night/
http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/1667/night-photography-primer-part-2-moon-and-star-light/
http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/1691/night-photography-primer-part-3-capturing-cityscapes/

Beckman13

I was planning just through a tripod-camera set up in a low light pollution environment.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

You might want to ask this in the Astro Photography section: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-109-1.html

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

I use a Sigma 24 mm f/1.4 ART lens wide open with a Breakthrough Photography Night Sky filter. If there is excessive city light, I use a Hoya Enhanced Red filter, which cuts down on light bloom from Sodium Vapor street lighting. Sturdy tripod is a must as well as a remote release or intervalometer for longer exposures.

Any camera that can handle long exposures will work for Astrophotography. Look up the 500 / 400 rule.

Domtom999

I haven’t had much success photographing the milky way because of light pollution. I have photographed the moon, but not to my liking. Unfortunately, it was a full moon, which shows little detail. It is wisest to shoot the moon at say a quarter or half, and you can get some pretty amazing detail along the crescent shadow.

I know they sell light pollution filters, but I haven’t bought one yet. I have a Nikon D7100 which is a dx camera(has an app-c sensor). DX cameras capture a lot of noise at high ISO s, which you need to use ( high iso) so that the exposure time is reasonably short. Too long an exposure time and star dots start to look like star dashes as they slowly move in the sky. I’m not sure if you understand what noise is, but it can show up in a night sky shot as little white dots. Not desirable especially when photographing stars. I recently ordered a full frame camera which should do better at higher iso s. But unfortunately it is expensive and is on backorder.

If I were you, try to get your hands on any old digital camera and experiment with it. Try shooting the moon first then try some long exposures for the stars. Save your money until you are sure what you want and what you need. Luckily with digital you can take a thousand pictures and it costs nothing to review and learn from them.

If only I followed this advice I would have saved a lot of money while pursuing this hobby.

repleo Loc: Boston

The Sony A6000 with the Rokinon 12mm F2.0 NCS CS is one of the best budget combos. You should be able to get them for half of your budget. Put a good chunk of the change into a good tripod.


https://www.lonelyspeck.com/lonely-specks-ultimate-list-of-best-astrophotography-lenses/

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Not true, the moon is illuminated with reflected daylight, so you treat a lunar exposure like a daylight shot. If you have no detail, you are overexposing.

Use the old standby LOONEY 11 RULE:

The “looney 11 rule” states that for astronomical photos of the Moon’s surface, set aperture to f/11 and shutter speed to the (reciprocal of the) ISO.

With ISO 100, set the aperture to f/11 and the shutter speed to 1/100 or 1/125 second.
With ISO 200, aperture at f/11, set shutter speed to 1/200 or 1/250.
With ISO 400, aperture at f/11, set shutter speed to 1/400 or 1/500.

Lens Creep

Several current Pentax APS-C and FF models have a built in GPS feature that shifts the sensor in synch with earth's rotation, acting as a tracker, to produce long exposures without star trailing. A very nice kit including a good Rokinon fast wide lens could easily be assembled for under $1,000. check them out!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Any decent camera/lens will be fine. It's more about technique.

https://petapixel.com/2017/06/23/improve-astrophotography-focus-bahtinov-mask/
http://www.diyphotography.net/guide-astrophotography-will-shooting-stars-no-time/
http://petapixel.com/2014/01/29/picking-great-lens-milky-way-photography/
https://www.davemorrowphotography.com/p/tutorial-shooting-night-sky.html
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/photographing-the-night-sky.html

https://www.lightstalking.com/bite-size-tips-build-workflow-post-production/
http://makezine.com/projects/how-to-capture-breathtaking-time-lapses-of-the-night-sky/
http://www.popphoto.com/how-to/2013/06/how-to-shoot-epic-landscape-photos-night-sky
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-tips/night-sky/?sf4138099=1
http://iso.500px.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-astrophotographer-aaron-groen/?utm_campaign=nov132014digest&utm_content=CTAbutton_aaronjgroen_500pxProfilepage&utm_medium=email&utm_source=500px
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/tips-for-post-processing-your-constellation-photos/
http://petapixel.com/2014/01/29/picking-great-lens-milky-way-photography/
http://www.borrowlenses.com/blog/2013/05/the-best-lenses-for-night-photography-a-case-for-rokinon-primes/
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/star-trail-photography-tips/
http://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-set-up-your-digital-slr-for-night-photography--cms-24099

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Tokina makes f/2.8 lenses that are comparatively inexpensive and solid performers, body wise, if you can get your hands on a little used or new Canon 6D that with the Tokina 16-28 would be a nice setup and fit well into your budget.

beerhunter13 Loc: Southern Ontario, Canada

Since everything is moving, albeit slowly, I use a gear head such as a Manfrotto 405 for very fine movements with no backlash. Sturdy tripod legs are a must. Also, I make sure the tripod is sitting on something hard and heavy and made of either concrete, asphalt or stone.
For the least light pollution, go to your nearest Dark Sky Preserve ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark-sky_preserve ) and you will be amazed at what is possible to be seen. The gear is pretty straight forward, a suitable location is more difficult to find.

jtwind

I use a Sony a7iii and a tokina firin 20mm f2. It's a very nice setup and it's hard to go wrong with sony's sensors, they really are relatively low noise at higher iso's. I do agree that technique is key, I usually just get a rough frame and then start at 25-30 seconds at iso 2500. Then go from there adjusting framing and iso as needed.

repleo Loc: Boston

I'm sure your A7Riii and lens are excellent but are considerably outside the OP's budget. If the OP is tempted to take a cheaper route and go for some of the other A7xxx versions he should be aware of the Sony 'star eater' issue. Sony added a noise reduction feature in one of their A7xxx firmware updates that apparently mistakes small stars for noise and eliminates them. Supposedly, it was fixed for the A7Riii as long as noise reduction is turned off. See here. https://petapixel.com/2017/11/14/sony-a7r-iii-star-eater-no/

I'm not sure the 'star eater' is a bad thing. I think there is such a thing as picking up so many small stars that they do look like noise. Some day I'll do a comparison between the A6000 and the 'star eater' A7Rii.