Hi All
I'm planning on going to Banff to shoot some astrophotography for the first time.
So I was wondering what settings and lens should I use to shoot with, if I use a Canon T4i/650d with either a 50mm f1.8 or 18-135mm f3.5-5.6
I was also wondering what are some good tips or techniques also
THANKS
Well...The gear you listed will make it tough to get clean results. Your 18-135 will probably be the best choice as you can leave your shutter speed at 20-30 seconds at 18mm. Yeah, you'll get some trailing if you zoom in, but for social media posts, you'll be fine.
18mm
F/3.5
20-30 seconds, (get multiple shots and see what you're happy with)
ISO 3200-6400, (again, multiple shots.)
Ok Will try that Thanks alot
I am new to astro too, but as far as the 50mm goes (if you wanna try it) shoot for a ~7 second or so exposure at f/1.8 if you have a composition that can benefit from the tighter framing.
FYI I have discovered that lens has some annoying flaring problems if you are not careful.
-SL
Ya thanks do you have any sample images by chance
My "testing" was on a night that wasn't that great for astrophotography, bright moon and snow can cause a few issues apparently...
The first (edited) image has all sorts of things wrong with it, but the stars are okay, not good, but okay. You can't tell on social media. This was also shot with a speed booster, so it was a 50mm ~f/1.2, then focus stacked. I could have done a bit better. This image has numerous other edits, not a whole lot on the stars though.
The second image is the flaring issue I mentioned with the lens. The moon is high and right, out of the framing of the image. You can see this weird "rainbow" from the left side arcing down to the roof of the building. It's subtle, but it wrecked the image, solved by shading the lens with my glove during the exposure. 50mm, f/1.2, 10s, ISO 200, straight from camera.
The third image is from ~1 week earlier capturing a Geminids meteor streak through the Orion constellation, a little better of a time for taking images. No moon at time of capture, 50mm, f/1.2, 2sec, ISO 200, EV+2.5 straight from camera.
The 4th image is an edit of the third, some adjustments in light room to deal with some minor banding, then NIK collection Dfine 2 in photoshop to help with some noise reductuion.
If you wan the RAWs to play with in post just ask.
-SL
Thanks alot the look vey good especially the last one, may I ask what camera body these were shot with?
Canon M5, nothing exotic.
The speed booster I use is from Viltrox if that matters. Be sure to keep you extra batteries in an inside jacket pocket to keep them warm, and a piece of tape or a rubber band to keep your focus from changing.
Also, I suggest bringing a small LED panel or good flashlight with some gels to play with foreground lighting. From my little experiments an extra stop or two of light on the foreground elements helps a ton in post.
-SL
Great Idea with Light Thanks will do
Re: Ryan Luna: Just curious, what is the more important downside to the OP's equipment for this? Is it the T4i or the lenses? I ask because I have the exact same camera and lens plus a 70-300mm Canon lens and would like to spend some time learning how to do AP. Are we wasting our time or should we just be satisfied with "not so great" images due to the equipment? My questions are sincere as I am a novice who loves to learn as many aspects of photography as possible.
The bigger downside are the lenses when not using an astro tracker. APS-C cameras are fine for astro, and may be better for Deep Sky Objects, (DSOs). I don't shoot DSOs. For great quality DSOs, you need some big heavy equipment. I only shoot MilkyWay Landscapes. On an APS-C camera like the T4i using at 70-300, you really don't want to expose longer than 4 seconds at 70mm. At 4 seconds, you're not going to get much detail of the sky.
If you really want to get into MW Landscapes, do what most of us do. Buy the Rokinon 14mm F/2.8 lens, ($250 new on BHphoto), and use that.
If you look at my profile, all of the MW pics in it are tracked and stacked. The pics in my profile are from my 2nd year of MW chasing, (last year). Only took me about 10-15 outings to get where I am really happy.
Thank you Ryan, I appreciate your response. I'll take a look at the lens you suggested and start experimenting.
I agree with the comments about shooting at 18 mm with high ISO. If you take 16 or 25 shots in each position, you can stack them with software like Starry Landscape Stacker or Sequator.
I just wrote a pretty long response on another post if you want to check that out too.
https://fstoppers.com/groups/12030/astrophotography/320947/need-some-hel...
Ok thanks alot will do