Star trail reduction (Page 2): For the future: Get yourself a Pentax K1 :sm04:...

Haenzel Loc: South Holland, The Netherlands

Tinker wrote:

I took some images of the Milky Way while at Monument Valley recently, but with a 30-second exposure there is a bit of star trail evident - very slight, only about three times or so the diameter of the star image itself. Is there any way in PS or is there another app to reduce that effect so the stars are sharp? Appreciate any help from all the experts in astrophotography! Bill

For the future: Get yourself a Pentax K1

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Also note besides the 500 rule, be sure you lock up the mirror on a DSLR (not required on a mirrorless). Use a self timer or remote trigger. A good sturdy tripod, weighted if necessary. Beware of the wind blowing neck straps and lens caps dangling on the safety string. Even a car driving bye can shake the camera. It doesn't take much to blur the image.

Low Budget Dave

ORpilot wrote:

Also note besides the 500 rule, be sure you lock up the mirror on a DSLR (not required on a mirrorless). Use a self timer or remote trigger. A good sturdy tripod, weighted if necessary. Beware of the wind blowing neck straps and lens caps dangling on the safety string. Even a car driving bye can shake the camera. It doesn't take much to blur the image.

I would also add remember to turn off the image stabilization. Stabilization can actually "create" a wobble just by turning on and turning back off.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Haenzel wrote:

For the future: Get yourself a Pentax K1

I was going to say that!

Stan

Low Budget Dave

Haenzel wrote:

For the future: Get yourself a Pentax K1

You might want to explain the Astrotracer feature. Most people here are not familiar with it, and I have not ever used it, (just heard from other people who have.)

Tinker

Thanks again to all who have responded; everybody has pretty much the same solution: less time and more aperture/ISO. I'm looking forward to the next chance to find a nice dark place and give it another try. The photos I did produce are not bad except for the tiny star trails. Nice color, nice composition, etc. So, onward and upwards. Thanks once again.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

Tinker wrote:

I took some images of the Milky Way while at Monument Valley recently, but with a 30-second exposure there is a bit of star trail evident - very slight, only about three times or so the diameter of the star image itself. Is there any way in PS or is there another app to reduce that effect so the stars are sharp? Appreciate any help from all the experts in astrophotography! Bill

Quite easy in Photoshop.

1) Load image

2) Duplicate the layer (and rename to Darken if so desired)

3) Set the Darken layer mode/style to Darken

4) Move the Darken layer so as to reduce/eliminate the star stretch/trailing

5) You can also adjust the Opacity of the Darken layer to taste.

6) Save result

Hope this helps?

bwa

no12mo

Longshadow wrote:

15-20 seconds max;
or get an equatorial tripod?

Get an equatorial tripod. A must.

nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

Tinker wrote:

I took some images of the Milky Way while at Monument Valley recently, but with a 30-second exposure there is a bit of star trail evident - very slight, only about three times or so the diameter of the star image itself. Is there any way in PS or is there another app to reduce that effect so the stars are sharp? Appreciate any help from all the experts in astrophotography! Bill

20 sec exposure next time multiple shots and dark slides , using starry night stacker to stack them and eliminate noise and increase brightness by stacking or use a an iOptron sky tracker on your tripod...also look up Exposure times and the 600 rule ...

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Tinker wrote:

... Is there any way in PS or is there another app to reduce that effect so the stars are sharp? ... Bill

Yes there is, although it may be a bit in the cheating catagory.

At the pixel peeping range, simply replace the "trails" with dark space.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

GENorkus wrote:

Yes there is, although it may be a bit in the cheating catagory.

At the pixel peeping range, simply replace the "trails" with dark space.

Ah, the never seen Black Holes

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

ORpilot wrote:

Ah, the never seen Black Holes

LoL

Haenzel Loc: South Holland, The Netherlands

Low Budget Dave wrote:

You might want to explain the Astrotracer feature. Most people here are not familiar with it, and I have not ever used it, (just heard from other people who have.)

In short (and I quote): "Pentax Astrotracer is a feature that very effectively uses the camera’s sensor stabilization in conjunction with the camera’s GPS. The sensor stabilization system uses data from the camera’s GPS to move the camera sensor to match the position of the stars in the sky."

Depending on focal length an exposure up to 4 minutes is possible without star trailing.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Haenzel wrote:

In short (and I quote): "Pentax Astrotracer is a feature that very effectively uses the camera’s sensor stabilization in conjunction with the camera’s GPS. The sensor stabilization system uses data from the camera’s GPS to move the camera sensor to match the position of the stars in the sky."

Depending on focal length an exposure up to 4 minutes is possible without star trailing.

True for Pentax K1 and I think a couple others have it akso. Plus I think most Pentax cameras have built into them an Interval Shooter, Interval Composit, Movie Record, and Star Stream.

It addition to all the other feastures, the Star Stream lets you automatically make those fancy star trail shots and from within the camera. So you don't have to purchase a bunch of extra things to have those functions.

So you see, Astrofunction is not the only goodie Pentax has.

Tinker

Thanks for all the suggestions! There are so many people on the Hog that are willing to offer experise and help in any way they can. Too bad the politicians can't behave the same way!