canon 450D

[BUSMANMARK]

:confused:Hi,all i want to take some star pics not through a scope,could i use a 70 300mm lens set at 30secs as i dont have a remote for it and also would i get star trails ? thank you.

[hemihaggis]

yes you could use that lens for wide field ,pressing the shutter release will shake the camera , yes you will get star trails

[Tinker1947]

One of these remotes will work, also has a time for manual timing the shutter..

Timer Remote Control 4 Canon EOS 350D 400D 450D RS-60E3 | eBay

[Jannis]

if you can set a delay on the camera, that would work as well, 2 or 10 sec, just so you can click the button and remove your hands to let the camera get completely stable before the exposure starts.

another option if you don't have this option on the camera, or have a remote, is to set it to 30 sec or bulb, and start it with a pitch black plate/paper in from of the lens while you press the shutter, and (if you use bulb) quickly put it back before pressing teh shutter again to stop the exposure. the result from doing this might not be great though.

basically there is no difference between a scope and any camera lens other then the size, so nothing is stopping you from doing the same with your lens as others do with their scope. only difference is a scope will get much closer to the target, if imaging a galaxy, planet or similar.

so yes, the 70-300 will do a good job for startrails. For galaxies and nebulae, it should be possible with M42, M31, and maybe M45 (the blue color will be very hard to get though) if you tame many many short exposures at maximum ISO and stack afterwards to lower the noise. No longer then 2 sec at 300mm. you will get slight startrails, but you should also be able to capture the colors of M42 and be able to see quite a bit of M31.

[LukeSkywatcher]

yes you could use that lens for wide field ,pressing the shutter release will shake the camera , yes you will get star trails

The star trails will be more obvious the higher up you go towards the 300mm. For widefield images keep it down nearer the 70mm

[BUSMANMARK]

Many thanks to all of you for your answers got to work all week now so next week hopefuly will give it a go.

[jgs001]

At the 18mm end of the kit lens, you should just about get away without trailing at 30s. You have a choice of 2 or 10 second self timer, set using the drive mode function. If you set to 10 seconds, then use the shutter button you'll be fine.

[SkyRookie]

I have the same camera and yes there is the setting for a 2s or 10s delay. I've not played with the bulb setting too much, but the problem is the shutter is only open while the button is pressed. Therefore I think you could only use that function with a remote.