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Best Astro settings for Canon 1100D?

emadmoussa

By emadmoussa
in Discussions - Cameras

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johnrt

johnrt

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That will depend on your target really, - DSO wise expose for as long as you can 10 minutes if you can track that long without errors. ISO wise I always tried to stick to a mid range value - too high and my camera (1000d) introduced too much noise. Are you running the camera tethered to a laptop? You can control everything - exposure, ISO etc etc from the laptop if you are.

Planetary wise you really need to be shooting video and stacking up several hundred frames to produce an image. Do you have a webcam you can use instead of a DSLR?

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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It really depends on what you are trying to photograph. As a general rule try and keep the ISO as low (small number) as possible consistent with a good image. Most other settings mean little as you will be photographing through a scope rather than a camera lens. For example the "presets" are of no use to you at all. You have to work out the best ISO and shutter speed for each image.

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emadmoussa

emadmoussa

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That will depend on your target really, - DSO wise expose for as long as you can 10 minutes if you can track that long without errors. ISO wise I always tride to stick to a mid range value - too high and my camera (1000d) introduced too much noise. Are you running the camera tethered to a laptop? You can control everything - exposure, ISO etc etc from the laptop if you are.

Planetary wise you really need to be shooting video and stacking up several hundred frames to produce an image. Do you have a webcam you can use instead of a DSLR?

Yep, I've got an Xbox webcam. It's useless really...very difficult to produce crisp images. I'm more interested in DSO, and yes planning to use EOS Backyard or a similar software. I'd prefer live view on my laptop screen instead of looking into the eyepiece.

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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You will find the Canon utility package that comes with the camera is more than adequate for running your camera via the laptop - you can set all the parameters and do a timed long exposure sequence. You can even trick the camera into thinking it has the mirror "locked up" so you don't get vibration when imaging the Sun or Moon. Liveview on the laptop is really useful - you can also use a Bahnitov mask and "Bahtinov grabber" (freeware) to check for perfect focus on DSO's etc. when setting up for an imaging run.

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emadmoussa

emadmoussa

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You will find the Canon utility package that comes with the camera is more than adequate for running your camera via the laptop - you can set all the parameters and do a timed long exposure sequence. You can even trick the camera into thinking it has the mirror "locked up" so you don't get vibration when imaging the Sun or Moon. Liveview on the laptop is really useful - you can also use a Bahnitov mask and "Bahtinov grabber" (freeware) to check for perfect focus on DSO's etc. when setting up for an imaging run.

Thanks Roger. Excuse my ignorance, but what is ''mirror lock-up''?

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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There is a mirror inside a DSLR that directs the light up through the viewfinder. This, of course, blocks the light from getting to the sensor - you can see the mirror if you take the lens off the camera. (Sorry if you knew this bit!). When you take a picture the mirror flips up out of the way, the shutter operates and the mirror flips down again. The mirror is comparatively heavy and its sudden motion and stopping can cause vibrations within the camera as it "clunks" up and down - this can be enough to show up on short exposure images. Therefore some cameras allow you to lock the mirror in the "up" position - and some software also allows this. When you use "live view" the mirror has to be up out of the way as live view uses the camera sensor to make the liveview image. You can use this to your advantage when photographing the Sun or Moon using short exposure times - just leave live view "ON" and the mirror will be up and out of the way.

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emadmoussa

emadmoussa

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There is a mirror inside a DSLR that directs the light up through the viewfinder. This, of course, blocks the light from getting to the sensor - you can see the mirror if you take the lens off the camera. (Sorry if you knew this bit!). When you take a picture the mirror flips up out of the way, the shutter operates and the mirror flips down again. The mirror is comparatively heavy and its sudden motion and stopping can cause vibrations within the camera as it "clunks" up and down - this can be enough to show up on short exposure images. Therefore some cameras allow you to lock the mirror in the "up" position - and some software also allows this. When you use "live view" the mirror has to be up out of the way as live view uses the camera sensor to make the liveview image. You can use this to your advantage when photographing the Sun or Moon using short exposure times - just leave live view "ON" and the mirror will be up and out of the way.

Cool - couldn't be a simpler explanation! Thanks! That explains why you lose view through the viewfinder when you do a long exposure :)

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emadmoussa

emadmoussa

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That will depend on your target really, - DSO wise expose for as long as you can 10 minutes if you can track that long without errors. ISO wise I always tried to stick to a mid range value - too high and my camera (1000d) introduced too much noise. Are you running the camera tethered to a laptop? You can control everything - exposure, ISO etc etc from the laptop if you are.

Planetary wise you really need to be shooting video and stacking up several hundred frames to produce an image. Do you have a webcam you can use instead of a DSLR?

I used my wife's 50D a couple of nights ago to see what long exposure was like (probably 5 seconds). Just to get the hang of what DSLR is all about. A normal lens without any magnification. Here's a remote shot of the Orion constellation.

post-27451-0-80981200-1361111397_thumb.j

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dph1nm

dph1nm

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As a general rule try and keep the ISO as low (small number) as possible consistent with a good image.

If you are doing shortish exposures or have a dark sky you want to keep the ISO high, as the read-noise is lower at high ISO with the 1100D. At ISO 100/200 the read noise is very high - these should be avoided for astro work in my opinion.

NigelM

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  • 6 months later...
toxic

toxic

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Let me know if you source a long USB cable for the camera, I ordered one off eBay which didn't work :-(

are you on windows 8 i noticed that my 1100D was not recognised by eos utility in windows 8 but is fine in windows 7 and if you want a usb as long as 5 mtr then it will have to be a usb extension with a repeter.hope this helps

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Fordos Moon

Fordos Moon

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are you on windows 8 i noticed that my 1100D was not recognised by eos utility in windows 8 but is fine in windows 7 and if you want a usb as long as 5 mtr then it will have to be a usb extension with a repeter.hope this helps

Am on 7 at mo, thanks mate!

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Stardust

Stardust

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If you are doing shortish exposures or have a dark sky you want to keep the ISO high, as the read-noise is lower at high ISO with the 1100D. At ISO 100/200 the read noise is very high - these should be avoided for astro work in my opinion.

NigelM

I was told to use 1600 iso with the 1100D, is that right? I tend to go with 800 on my 400D. 

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