Jay1989 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 So, I've been out tonight trying to take pictures, I've tried with M31, M41 and M45 but all I get is a completely black picture, bit confused reallyI've tried all sorts of settings, did a quick search on google and for taking pics of the stars with just a camera and tripod are 15secs exposure, f/5.6 aperture f/5.6 and iso 1600, but I still got a black screen, even just using the camera on a tripodCould anyone shed some light as to what I'm doing wrong? Thanks in advance Ps. I should probably state, I am using the camera in Manual mode, AF turned off and the camera is a Nikon D3300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker1947 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Did you take the lens cap off..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eri Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 have you tried taking a 15sec pic of betelgeuse or sirius? do they show up ok? i would have thought that 15 secs would be long enough to give you some faint star images. possibly the focus is out? i havent taken pics without my scope so am just shooting in the dark here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig20264 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 15 seconds is more than enough to get something on the sensor. I know lens cap is stating the obvious, but did you? Have you?You say you have AF turned off. Did you manually focus on a bright star first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uranium235 Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 You need the shutter at its widest possible opening (lowest f number), ISO1600 should be fine. But you need to try stacking multiple images or at least part process one sub (stretch it a few times) and the stars should appear. Could be that the focus is not right too, its best to focus on a bright star first before moving to your intended target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronin Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 I would suspect that the focus ia a little off and so you lose the image, M31 is fuzzy and dim at the best of times, if the focus is out by a bit it will just disappear.M31 is dim and it is easy to miss - was it actually in the field of the lens (I assume DSLR with camera lens?), in effect have you imaged a blank bit of sky. I suspect many have and never admitted it. Hubble got lucky when it tried.As it is a DSLR you can simply open up the lens set the speed to 20 sec and open the aperture, basic idea is just to prove that you are actually getting it/something. May not come out great but DSLR's have a Delete button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CathR Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Can you get your aperture more open than f5.6 to let in more light? Also focussing, as suggested above. What you can do is focus on something way in the distance before it gets dark using live view or whatever and then tape your lens so the focussing ring doesn't move. You can't rely on the infinity mark on the lens itself. Use the sort of tape which doesn't leave a residue of sticky stuff behind when you take it off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay1989 Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Yeah lens cap was definitely off, yeah I manually set the focus onto the brightest star firstI've with the exposure set to 20 seconds too, my aperture goes down to 4.2, I'll have another bash at it on the next clear night and use the tips suggested here, really want to get this nailed, dying to get some picsI managed to take some pics of the moon last night and they came out fine, just using camera and tripod, I only have a 18-55 zoom lens for my camera at the min so couldn't get real close up to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4N Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 If you have he Nikon AFS DX Nikkor 18-55 then it has a maximum f ratio of 3.5 at 18mm and 5.6 at 55mm.I would suggest trying with it zoomed out to 18mm and the aperture fully open at f3.5.20s is getting up to your maximum exposure time before you trail at 18mm, at 55mm it is more like 7 seconds before you will trail.Good luck /DanSent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay1989 Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Thanks mate I'll try those next time I go out and yeah, that's the lens I have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4N Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Check you have the noise reduction turned off as well, whilst it is very good at removing noise it can also decide that stars are noise and remove those too!/DanSent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay1989 Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Ah very good point, never thought of doing that, thanks mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig20264 Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Check you have the noise reduction turned off as well, whilst it is very good at removing noise it can also decide that stars are noise and remove those too!/DanSent from my iPad using TapatalkGood advice. There is also a high ISO noise reduction option. Turn this off too. It's right next to the long exposure noise reduction option in the menu. You need to be working complete!y in Manual mode. Don't let the camera make any dercisions, and shoot everything in ''Raw'.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy-kat Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Back button focus if your camera supports it is brilliant to use as it will hold focus on a lens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay1989 Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Cheers guys, I'll change those settings now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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