willy6419

Starting to 'experiment'. Seems like higher iso is better to minimize 'fat stars', or 'star movement', but more noise.

Equipment D850, 24-70 2.8.

Process: tripod, cable, set focus then to manual, manual, f 14 for dof, timed shutter based on iso which i changed from 100, 400, 800 and then 1250, changing the time for both iso and to judge results, closed viewfinder.

Landscape: Desert scene with hills, cactus, bare rocks around Tuscon.

I'm going to keep experimenting. Last night seems a good start, but i've not processed any yet.

Seems like a mix between 'pinpoint stars' and 'noise', and the noise seems to be greater because of the dark (expected that) than same iso during good light.

no clouds.

Thinking shoot some at f 16, perhaps with ISO range from 400 to starting 2000 up to 4000.

moon phase is 91.1% tonight, 95.8 Monday, 98.7 Tuesday, 99.8 Wednesday, then Waning so the next week is great, and slight chance of clouds Tuesday.


Thoughts or sources solicited to speed results.

Thanks.

willy6419

my bad, i didn't realize i had a prior post and messages. Been working too much.

Sorry for being confused.

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

Consider focus stacking so you can open up the aperture a bit.
Also stacking multiple shots without moving the camera can reduce noise.
I think stellarium is onE program that does this, there are others. It’s common in the astro world.
Be aware, once you start shooting at night it can be addictive!
Edit: Just in case you haven’t seen this section: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-109-1.html

Grahame Loc: Fiji

Here's my thoughts.

If you are using the 24 - 70mm and want stars that do not show trails use the 500 rule. At 24mm the speed should be no greater than 500 divided by 24mm = 20 seconds. At 70mm it would be 7 seconds.

As it will be 'low light' and you are going to want to keep the ISO as low as possible the way to tackle this is to use the widest aperture that will give you 'adequate' DOF. Use a DOF calculator to learn and record that at say a couple of focal lengths 24 and 70mm what the DOF characteristics are. As an example (figs made up) at 24mm if I focus on something 5 m camera/subject distance everything between 3 m and infinity will be in focus. Record this info and you can interpolate on site, unless you have an app to use.

With the above two priorities taken care of you then adjust the ISO to give adequate exposure/brightness of the capture. I seem to recall some advice that all you need to do is aim to get the histogram peak approx. 1/4 to a 1/3 from the left.

The use of f/16 of f/14 seems rather excessive.

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

Larger moon throw quite a bit of light, the compromises are not as severe as you might imagine.

Turn off autofocus and go fully manual. Use live view to precisely focus with lens wide open at 2.8. If you suspect focus shift use shooting aperture but know it is harder to see well.

If you want pinpoint stars then 500 is simply too high with the d850. Try 350 for calculations of longest shutter speeds. Start ISO at 1600, go up as needed by full stops.

Think hard about depth of field needs. If you are at the wider end of your lens, 24mm, f8 is likely good enough. In any event f16 is nuts at night. You are forcing severe compromises everywhere else and getting nailed by diffraction for your efforts.

White balance works well with daylightish settings. Try 5250K to start. Stay off of auto, results will be less repeatable.

Exposure should be manual as well. Believe in your histograms. Only trust your monitor if you scale back brightness to -4 or -5.

If the constraints seem to tight, ditch the pinpoint stars and go for star trails. Up the shutter speeds to 5 mins or more, drop the iso's and you have all kinds of latitude with apertures.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

Moonlight shots are fairly easy. There color temperature of light from the moon is about 4100K. Shooting RAW will allow one to make minor adjustments in color temperature. View finders tend to be very dark or black. Use a flashlight to focus on an important object. A red flashlight allows one to see the camera controls in the dark without destroying your night vision. Try test exposures at ISO 6400 and then reduce ISO to a lower number. ISO 640 is convenient as the shutter speed is 10 times that at ISO 6400. Manual Focus and Manual exposure usually necessary. If stars are important be sure to use the Rule of 500 to make shutter speed fast enough. F 2.8 +/_ is good in this case.

Attached is a guide from the archives.

Attached file:
(Download)

Attached file:
(Download)

willy6419

Thanks. I'll adjust tonight. Appreciate the advice.

BurghByrd Loc: Pittsburgh

I'd suggest starting with the attached EV table. Depending on how much light you're getting from the moon you'll be shooting under -3 to -5 EV conditions, select your widest aperture and then ballance time and ISO for proper exposure. I'd try to keep the exposure time below 20 sec. Assuming the lighting requires and EV of -4 you might try f 2.8 for 16 sec at ISO 800. I hope the attached is useful.

willy6419

thanks That cart is totally new to me, but looks helpful.

BurghByrd Loc: Pittsburgh

It can be a little tricky to use. The columns on the left give various common lighting examples and the associated exposure values; higher EV reflects more available light. The coumns on the right give the settings associated with the EV values highlighted in green all at ISO=100. Doubling or halving either time, aperture or ISO moves the EV by one stop. For the case you stated, moon lit landscape, the left column I assumed EV -4, half moon away from city lights. There is no -1 under the green highlighted ISO 100 column in the center of the table but there is a -1, to get to -4 you have to increase exposure by 3 stops from ISO 200 (EV -2), ISO 400 (EV -3) and finally ISO 800 (EV -4). In the main table there is also no EV of -4. There is one EV as low as -1 but that's associated with an f 1.4 lens which you don't have; the f 2.8 you do have can expose down to EV 1 at 4 sec and ISO 100. With the f 2.8 lens you can get to EV -4 (5 stops) by increasing ISO from 100 to 800 (three stops) and increasing the time of exposure by 2 stops (4 x 2 x 2 -> 16 sec.). This should get you in the ball park. I would CHIMP the image you get and make adjustments as needed which of course is easier if you're working with a mirrorless camera. You might also consider exposure bracketing. I suspect stacking wouldn't work well, that would entail images taken at different points in time and the different position of the stars would casue problems; a series of 4 15 sec. images would effectively capture 1 minute of motion.

Good luck. If you discover something interresting please share.

slcarn Loc: Draper, Utah USA

During a driving trip to Glacier National Park, we stopped in a small town in Idaho for the night. The moon was full but there was a deep canyon that stayed dark while I shot astro photos at 4:00 a.m.

The Mountain in the photo was lit by the moon.
Nikon D850
Nikkor 14mm Lens
F/2.8
Iso 1000
Exposure 30 sec (500/14mm = 35.7 sec before you get star trails)

For me, examples help which is why I posted this photo.

Steve

(Download)

stogieboy Loc: Marlboro, NY

check out www.nationalparksatnight.com and www.lonelyspeck.com. Those are 2 fantastic resources for star photography. There are others, but those are my two favorites.

You can also look into Photo Pills. Its a great app for your smartphone, and will take a lot of the guesswork out of your night photography.

BurghByrd Loc: Pittsburgh

Here's another site that discusses night photography:

https://photographylife.com/night-photography-tutorial#camera-settings

willy6419

thanks,

I am a budding user of Photo Pills. It's awesome.

stogieboy Loc: Marlboro, NY