Using a Canon 1100d for astropics

[Catherine45]

Thanks JamesF,

Will definitely stick to it now I'm hooked! Hopefully tonight will have clear skies for another shot at it

[Catherine45]

I'm finding a bit of shake on my pictures as I don't have a shutter release. Anyone recommend a good relatively cheap one? Maybe one with a timer so I can do long exposures and not rely on my timing. Thanks in advance.

[PeteC]

I'm finding a bit of shake on my pictures as I don't have a shutter release. Anyone recommend a good relatively cheap one? Maybe one with a timer so I can do long exposures and not rely on my timing. Thanks in advance.

Hi Catherine

There are plenty of cheap cable releases on ebay, but it might be worth paying a bit more to get a timer remote for Canon - Chinese copies are available for £15-20 but I couldn't possibly recommend them! This gives you the option of programming it to do multiple exposures which you can stack to improve the signal to noise ratio - you probably don't want to be bothered doing this yet but you might want to in future. If you haven't got a cable release and you are doing long exposures you should set the self-timer, so that any movement of the camera caused by you pressing the shutter button has died down before the shutter opens.

If you've got a 300mm zoom it's well worth trying shooting the Moon. It's bright enough to autofocus on. With the camera set to manual on a tripod try a fairly fast shutter speed. maybe 1/500sec at f5.6 and iso 100. Check the histogram and if you get a peak bunched up at the right hand edge try a faster shutter speed. If it looks dark try a higher iso number.

Doing long exposures of constellations etc. you can get away with about 15 sec at 18mm on the 18-55mm zoom before the stars start trailing noticeably. I usually focus manually using Live View on a bright star then check the preview screen by zooming in - the stars should be no bigger than the little dot you get when you zoom in on the image. It's worth taking time focussing to get it right or you will be disappointed with your images.

Good luck!

Pete

[starman1969]

I'd certainly start off by using the wide end of your lens 18mm, this will be very handy for getting large areas of sky in. Don't be afraid to experiment with different exposure times. If you use a cable release or remote you can use much longer exposure times than the camera allows on it's own.

It's not a bad idea to include some foreground interest in night sky images, if possible.

[Catherine45]

Thanks Pete and Starman, defo want to get shutter release never even thought of the timer! D'oh I have 75-300mm lens too so will defo try out the moon pics once it gets to its full stage...any day now thanks for your info will be putting it to good use soon.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

You'l actually find a full moon is rather boring, it's best when shadows are being cast across the craters.