Beginner with a Canon 1100D

[chris285]

As per the above got the camera with the standard 18-55mm lens as well as a 55-250mm as well, borrowed a tripod and I have been lucky with clear skies the last couple of nights so been out and through trial and error have been working towards getting a decent image. Tonight I have had the best images so far, using the the 18-55m lens at 18mm with f3.5 and a shutter speed of 30seconds on my tripod

I'm happy with the images to start with, I know I need to get them into photoshop or something similar to process but these are just the jpeg converted raw images. I have noticed a small amount of trailing in the image so probably need to drop the exposure time down to about 20 or 25seconds i would guess using this setup at that lense setting

I had some issues when i stacked images into DSS to start with as I had  a bulge on the right hand side and the bottom right looked like pages from a book, however re stacking the images with a intersection setting has fixed this and given me a reasonable image when processed so need to play with it.

I've got a lens hood on the way, but I know really I need to look at getting away from the source of light pollution as I live on the edge of town. I need to try putting it on my motorised eq2 mount to see how I get on with that when its polarish aligned as best I can anyway, does anyone have any tips at all to help me along a little at all?

[baggywrinkle]

What ISO are you using?

If 800 try 1600 and use 20 secs rather than 30. This will reduce trailing. Also try 3200. If you are working away from the polar region then 20 secs is generally the max as stars in west & east are effectively moving a greater  rotational distance per unit time.

How are you focusing? Manually? If so then check you settings during the day time and note the focus point, it is not always past or on infinity.

The great thing about digital cameras is that you can always srcub poor images, but download them all and look at them to see what was right or wrong and make notes.

[chris285]

I have been using ISO 800 on those images

Those shots I would say were looking east so will give those things a try tonight providing the weather is kind and see how I get on, thanks for the advice

[chris285]

I auto focused on a set of lights about a couple of hundred meters or more away, then switched to manual for the shots, will check this out though

As you say great thing is trial and error means you can delete bad images with digital cameras

[autonm]

Chris - take a look at backyard EOS.

You can get a free trial of 30 days.

Create tool for hooking up to your Canon, helps with focusing and you can also create an image plan of lights and darks etc and mix it up with various ISO's / shutter speeds etc.

Although you do need to have a USB cable long enough to reach either your PC or laptop.

Take a look at my website www.mauton.co.uk 

anything from September 2013 onwards has been taken with my Canon 1100d and Backyard EOS.

Shout if you have any questions.

[starman1969]

I take it the 1100d has Live View?

If so, use it to focus on a bright star like Vega or something. Turn the focus back & forth until it appears as small as possible on screen. You may need to up the ISO to be able to see it, also you may need to zoom into the particular area of the LCD screen where it is to do this.

btw the pictures are very good for mere snapshots from your garden. The best LP filters I can recommend are the Astronomik filters. They can make a big difference to your images.

[Tinker1947]

Get a remote control there on Amazon/E-bay for around £13, you get more than 30 second exposures, timed intervals, number of images, no laptop required, Liveview with a bit of practice you can focus on every star you can see, plus a lot you can't...

[LukeSkywatcher]

Your 3rd image is pretty good. From experience i say drop the ISO to 800 and also drop the exposure time to about 10 seconds and stack. Works for me on similar images.

I use a 450D

[Jonny99]

yes always use manual when taken shots , like you im a beginner and also have a 1100d and tried to take shots with AF just wouldn't have it

[Ant F]

at the minute im using a canon 1100d, used to use a 450d but i wanted a camera with a higher ISO. i also use the standard lens of 18-55mm, this was taken at ISO 3200 with exposure of 20 seconds. i took 3 photos and stacked them and used adobe lightroom 4 to change it about a bit. not the best image as the stars were outta focus but i quite like it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95518262@N06/10493875735/