Using a Canon 1100d for astropics

[Catherine45]

Hi guys,

I just purchased a canon 1100d with the hope of getting pictures of the night sky. What settings would be best for this and also which lens, I have both the 18-55mm and 75-300 mm lenses. Still trying to find my way around the camera so any tips would help. Have a tripod also, thanks in advance for your help.

Catherine

[Double Kick Drum]

Hi and welcome.

I have recently bought the same (without the larger lens) and although no expert, have experimented a bit in the last month.

I would start with wide angle shots.

ISO 800, 1600 or possibly 3200.

F5.6 or 6.3.

Shutter speed between 10 and 30 seconds.

Try to experiment a little yourself.

[Bizibilder]

Hello Catherine and welcome to SGL!! You can take straightforward pictures with your 18-55mm lens. Set the camera on the tripod and focus as best you can on "infinity" - (you may have to take some short exposures and fiddle about to get the best focus). Have the lens set to give the widest view. Set the camera to ISO 800 and the shutter to 10 seconds. Point the camera to the sky and push the shutter. You should find that you have some stars!! They will be slightly elongated due to the rotation of the Earth. Try 30 seconds to get longer trails and as low as 2-3 seconds to try and "freeze" the motion of the Earth.

Experiment from there - have fun!

[Pig]

Hello & welcome

Shaun

[Charon]

Hi from me too.

[michigander]

Welcome to SGL, Catherine!

Dana

[JamesF]

Welcome to SGL

I'm feeling a bit dopey at the moment and can't find the right place, but if you hunt around the site there's a tutorial for capturing wide field images using just a tripod and kit lens that may help you out.

James

[JamesF]

Here's the tutorial:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/36308-basic-widefield-with-a-camera-and-tripod/

James

[Catherine45]

Hi guys,

I recently purchased a Canon 1100d with the possibility of getting some pics of the night sky. I am only getting used to the camera thus far but am not really sure as to what settings to use for the best pics and what lens also- I have both the 18-55 mm lens and 75-300 mm lens, which would be best? tried getting some shots last night that looked great in the view finder but black in the photos! Call me stupid lol but I would like to know where I am going wrong thanks and any tips you may have would be great. I also have a tripod.

Thanks in advance,

Catherine

[JamesF]

Posted a link to this in your welcome posting Catherine, but in case you've not seen it there:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/36308-basic-widefield-with-a-camera-and-tripod/

It's a good place to start. I followed this method to start myself off. This was one of my first with the kit lens:

http://www.tanstaafl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cygnus-display-1.png

And with the "nifty fifty" lens:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/165604-cassiopeia-wide-field/

(apologies for the links -- it's easier than inserting the images at the moment).

James

[JamesF]

I meant to add, Catherine...

Unless you're taking long exposures (tens of seconds at the very least) or you happen to have some of the brightest stars in the field of view, you probably won't see much in the frame because the stars are just too faint. Even with longer exposures it's usual to stretch the image histogram to be able to see much of the detail.

Obviously this does make focusing quite tricky. It may be easiest to find a bright star somewhere in the sky (I'd guess that Procyon would be one of the better candidates at the moment), get focused on that and then point the camera where you're interested in without changing focus.

James

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire

[glowjet]

Hi Catherine and welcome to SGL

John.

[osbourne one-nil]

I've got an 1100D and find that for quick results, even 10 seconds at ISO 3200 gives something you can recognise and work with. If you drop down to sensible ISO ratings such as 400, then you're going to need at least 30 seconds to capture anything, and except with the widest-angle lenses, you're going to definitely need tracking for that.

Try the high ISO ratings and see what you get. There'll be noise, but a lot can be removed and it all depends on personal preference anyway.

I've never regretted getting the 1100D over more expensive and, on paper, better cameras.

[sologuitarist61]

Hello Catherine!!

[Catherine45]

Hey guys thanks for the tips and the hellos. Will give it a try later if there is a clear sky just one question- how do I focus on infinity? Defo new to this!

Thanks again x

[Catherine45]

Excellent pictures James! That's what I hope to achieve eventually! Will defo give tis a try, trial and error I suppose. From my garden Jupiter and Sirius are very bright at the mo, great that I live in the middle of no where practically thanks Osborne will try also

[nytecam]

Hi guys, I just purchased a canon 1100d with the hope of getting pictures of the night sky. What settings would be best for this and also which lens, I have both the 18-55mm and 75-300 mm lenses. Still trying to find my way around the camera so any tips would help. Have a tripod also, thanks in advance for your help. Catherine

Hi Catherine and welcome SGL

A focusing tip for your 1100D ....

adjust zoom setting

set lens to manual focus

press the red movie button

press full zoom button for enlarged view of target

manually focus on target via lens ring

press red button again to come out of movie mode

don't touch lens

...focus now set - it works for me

[JamesF]

Something else to think about...

It's very common to use an application such as AstroPhotography Tool (APT) or Backyard EOS (BYE) to control the camera for imaging. It's not absolutely necessary, but it can make life lots easier. They're not free, but not expensive either and both have trial versions if you want to try them out before committing yourself.

James

[Beulah]

Threads have been merged.

[DaveS]

The free version of APT is what I'm using ATM, and unless you want to do fancy stuff like drift aligning it should be all you need.

You could also get yourself a free planetarium program such as Stellarium or Cartes du Ciel which is more advanced.

[Catherine45]

Ok so fairly chuffed with all the advice guys- practice and patience is key, had to try and get some pics before Orion went over the horizon but some pics got not sure how good they are but will try and post here for you (not sure how to tho!)!

Thanks,

Catherine

[Catherine45]

Think you could view them on my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/94629975@N02/

[baggywrinkle]

I have the 450D and no live view so sometimes focusing can be an issue especially as you have to shoot in manual. Setting the lens at infinity often means out of focus shots.

So I have played around in the daylight to find the correct setting which on my 18-55 lens is a tad backwards and made a very small mark on both rings which I can see with the aid of a red torch in the dark.

This allows me to use the full ramge of the lens.

The image below was hot at ISO1600 F5 25 secs at 25mm.

[JamesF]

Think you could view them on my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.co...s/94629975@N02/

Looks like you've made some progress there. Focus does take practice, so stick with it.

James