help taking picture of stars with a 350d

[tony69]

good evening have posted this in photograthy section as well not shore were was best. i seem to be haveing problems taken pictures of stars with my canon 350d these are the settings iam useing 18mm 3.5 iso 400 10" in manual with shutter release cable all iam getting is a black picture but when i put it on normal ie green sq it works but cant set the time any ideas please

[Stephen]

Have you set the focus to approximately infinity? ISO 800 may be more beneficial as well (though I am no expert ...)

[Carl M]

Sounds like your either out of focus or not gathering enough light. Up the ISO to 800 or 1600 and at 18mm you might be able to do 30" with a small amount of movement, if not go to 20". Have you got the lens in manual/auto focus?

[tony69]

thankyou for replys have in manual setting will up the iso and see how i do thankyou.

[dugpatrick]

If you don't see _any_ stars then the problem is focus. What I do: Use manual mode and increase the exposure until the histogram is about half way. The exact settings depend on the amount of light pollution. For my skys I use iso800, 1 minute exposures, for f/4.92. Many people go much longer, but they have darker skys.

[tony69]

gave it a try last night with the settings as follows manual iso 800 and 1600 f3-5 and 4.9 at 30" and 60 but still nothing anyideas were iam going wrong please.

[malc-c]

A 30 second exposure at 800 ISO should give you something, even if it's a LP image of the sky (as you are near a large town / city). Are you saying the images are still black ?

On my 400D the manual setting is not the last setting on the program dial, it's the last but one, are you sure you have the camera in the correct mode ?

[Merlin66]

Is the cable release definately holding the shutter open for the 30 s?

What does the histogram show? Does the data given by the camera (for the image) match the exposure you think you are using??

[tony69]

hi malcolm

iam useing m setting on dial

hi merlin

cable release is working ok as i use the camera all the time for other things and it was holding itopen for the 30 sec but iam not getting an image after it releases or a histogram if i use the green sq on the dial i can take pictures for 20 sec only but this is no good for what iam trying to do any more help welcome from you both please.

[Merlin66]

Are you setting the exposure to 30sec or on bulb?

If you use the camera's 30s then you one press the shutter once..

If it's bulb then you have to hold the shutter open...

I've just doubled checked with my Canon, with the same settings - everything works, so we must be missing something????

[tony69]

hi merlin

thanks for your help have tryed both 30" and buld and useing cable release i dont get it been takeing photos for 30yrs and i have finaly found something that i cant do i must be getting old lol.

[Merlin66]

What "cable release" are you using?

Do you get the same problems just pressing the shutter button??

[tony69]

not shore but i just noticed my mirror was locked up from when i last took photos of the moon dont know if that makes any diffrence or not ?

[tony69]

this is the star trials from wed 31st aug i need some advice on settings still please any advice welcome thankyou

[tony69]

these are the settings i used in order of pictures.

35sec

4.0

iso400

25mm

21.08

27sec

3.5

iso200

18mm

21.20pm

6sec

5.6

800iso

18mm

21.27pm

24sec

4.0

400iso

27mm

21.38pm

29sec

3.5

iso400

18mm

21.40

13sec

3.5

iso400

18mm

21.44

15sec

4.0

iso800

18mm

21.51

15sec

4.5

iso200

18mm

21.52

15sec

3.5

iso400

18mm

21.55

thankyou.

[Merlin66]

They look pretty typical.

the 30sec shot shows the brighter stars.....

[tony69]

thankyou so you think 30sec is about right or longer ?

[Merlin66]

I assume you're working with a fixed camera on a tripod?

You could probably go up to 45sec at 1600ASA with minimum trailing of the stars.

Can your shutter release control beyond the 30s? I use the TC-80n controller....

(The single USB connector to the 350D only works up to 30s)

[tony69]

hi merlin

yes my camera in on a tripod i have a wireless remote so timeis not a problem can go realy long if i keep hold of it tried 1600 iso and it was realy light but will give it a try again tonight as clear skys promised thankyou again for helping me

[Carl M]

Nice images, glad to see your getting some good results now Try taking several subs and stack them in DSS and you will most probably see quite a difference

[badboybubby]

hi merlin

yes my camera in on a tripod i have a wireless remote so timeis not a problem can go realy long if i keep hold of it tried 1600 iso and it was realy light but will give it a try again tonight as clear skys promised thankyou again for helping me

Is there a reason somebody should use a shutter release over an IR wireless remote, does it perform the same function for Astrophotography as such?

[tony69]

hi carl

thanks for reply dont under stand what you meen by subs can you explain please i need all the help i can thankyou.

[tony69]

Is there a reason somebody should use a shutter release over an IR wireless remote, does it perform the same function for Astrophotography as such?

sorry mate wrong person to ask i have now idea it was part of my kit so didnt see any point in buying another one sorry.

[Carl M]

A sub = an exposure. So if you take several exposures of the same object and load the images into DeepSkyStacker, then stack them into 1 photo - which will bring out more detail. The more exposure time the more data on the photo you will get, however when using a tripod and taking many exposures and then stacking, the corners tend to stretch because of earth rotation but you can crop that out as long as you have the object in the centre of the picture.

[tony69]

so if say i take 10 pictures the same and stack them it will be a better picture?