p530 long exposure photos

[Sirty]

The p530 cannot take photos with an exposure time longer than 30 seconds on an ISO of 100; however, I can't see any stars with that ISO, the sky is dark enough that I should be able to get, at the very least, some stars. I was wondering if there was any way to help either increase that exposure time (even if I get star trails, at this point I just want something) or to do photo stacking with a list of photos. I'm fairly new at astrophotography but I have looked around on the forum and haven't seen anything about the p530. 

[Cornelius Varley]

Hello and welcome to SGL. What camera is a P530 ?

[davew]

It's a Nikon Coolpix.

I can't help you with your question but here's the manual download page ( I think ! )

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/57/COOLPIX_P530.html

Dave.

[Sirty]

Sorry I thought I added it, its a p530 Nikon Coolpix

It's more of an entry level dslr with a fixed lens

[david_taurus83]

Hi, We have a P510. It's a bridge camera, more for simple point and shoot. I tried a little astro stuff with it using a tripod but the lack of long exposure is not ideal. I done a bit of digging around the web and i dont think its possible to increase the exposures. Cracking optical zoom though!

 

I bought a Canon 600D just for astro instead. Much better though if you prefer Nikon then I think they are just as good. The Canons seem to be more popular.

[Sirty]

52 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

Hi, We have a P510. It's a bridge camera, more for simple point and shoot. I tried a little astro stuff with it using a tripod but the lack of long exposure is not ideal. I done a bit of digging around the web and i dont think its possible to increase the exposures. Cracking optical zoom though!

 

I bought a Canon 600D just for astro instead. Much better though if you prefer Nikon then I think they are just as good. The Canons seem to be more popular.

I am thinking on getting a new camera, but I am on a budget so if I do i would need to sell my old camera. Does the Canon 600D work well for street photography? Or do you know one that is balanced in both sides? I don't think I can afford to buy two lenses if they are above 2-300 though. 

[knobby]

30 seconds @ ISO 100 should easily pick up stars, trailing as well ! It's probably out of focus. Use manual focus at infinity and tweak til dots .

Also Google the 1/600 rule to calculate exposure length before trailing.

Good luck.

[david_taurus83]

I've not used it much for daytime pictures but the few I have took look great though I'm definitely no photographer. Most people remove the IR filter in front of the sensor to increase the sensitivity of the camera for astro (nebula) work. Doing this however will make daytime images very red biased. I bought mine from Juan at the link below with IR filter removed but with another filter replaced to enable daytime photos. This works fine with a custom white balance. Of course, you don't need to 'mod' at all. Lots of targets like galaxies and clusters will come out just fine. The mod just helps bring out emission nebulae better. Regarding lenses, a Canon (Nifty) 50mm is a great all rounder. If you want to do wide field though then a good quality one can start to get expensive, but then again quality and cheap rarely go hand in hand.

 

https://cheapastrophotography.vpweb.co.uk/

[Sirty]

34 minutes ago, knobby said:

30 seconds @ ISO 100 should easily pick up stars, trailing as well ! It's probably out of focus. Use manual focus at infinity and tweak til dots .

Also Google the 1/600 rule to calculate exposure length before trailing.

Good luck.

Sorry, 15 seconds (or less, it's been a while since I tried). Although I will look into the focus, I set it to infinity focus but I will try to manually set it and see if that (for some odd reason) works.

The stars that came out were very tiny and sparse so I am not sure if they are stars or noise. I can only see them when I zoom in, but they are different colors and seem to move around when I accidentally shake the camera. 

[JamesF]

Perhaps try focusing on the Moon, then point the camera at another area of the sky and taking the longest possible exposure without adjusting the focus at all?

James

[Sirty]

I'll have to try that, 

 

[geordie85]

As its still just a point and shoot camera, are you able to focus manually? 

[Sirty]

Apparently, its called a bridge camera? From what I read, bridge cameras have a sensor the size of point and shoot camera, but the lens and body (plus a few other small details) are dslr. So it's halfway between point and shoot, and dslr (but yes, it does have manual)