Newly retired and on a budget…

[BoBindy]

Hello from Hoosierland🙋‍♀️

We will be visiting Big Bend Natl (& dark sky) Park in October (new moon phase).  I want to get some quality photos of the Milky Way but don’t have a lot of money to spend on camera.  

Suggestions/advice on how to accomplish this on a $500 budget.

(is it possible to attach my iPhone to a telescope?  Would that be cheaper but same quality?).   Appreciate any advice👍🏻

[Earl]

Milky way photography needs a wide angle, so no telescope is needed.

Which Iphone do you have?

[Elp]

If you want easy, near enough within budget and far more wow factor than doing it on a budget get a ZWO Seestar, nothing else will come close. It's limited on planets due to the short focal length but for everything else well it's all in reach. For wide milky way you can mosaic, or get a Dwarflabs Dwarf (soon to be version 3) as that has two in built lenses for more options.

Imaging with a phone is possible if you can set exposures to long (seconds length) and they must be absolutely fixed with no vibration (this includes setting the shutter, so you'd have to set a delay timer to take each image).

Imaging through a telescope is not necessary easy, for very good quality is definitely isn't cheap. Also note for good astrophotos you need decent post processing software skills, you won't get much of a result straight out of camera.

[woldsman]

For a budget of $500, I'd suggest:

a pre-owned full frame  entry level DSLR camera (eg Canon 6d)  with a low shutter count (should be easily obtainable from a used camera dealer).

a Rokinon/Samyang 14mm lens (these also come up pre-owned quite often)

a tripod (doesn't have to be premium).

You'll also need as accessories an intervalometer (acts as a remote shutter release), a red dot pointer, a dew band heater and a usb power pack to run the heater.

If you want to cut a corner, a cropped sensor DSLR would also work but full frame is better a) because wider field of view & b) because you can have a slightly longer exposure time without star trails.

You can stack and process using free software (eg Sequator/Siril and Gimp) but if you can afford inexpensive software (Affinity Photo and BackyardEos for capture using a laptop) life will be a bit easier.

Sounds like you already have a dark sky that is likely to be clear - these are priceless here in the UK. 

PS have a great retirement - wish I could do the same!

 

Edited July 10 by woldsman

[maw lod qan]

Congratulations on your retirement!

I'm partially retired going on 7 years and definitely understand budget!

I look forward to your milkyway images!

[Tony Acorn]

Welcome to a hobby that has a habit of causing GAS - or Gear Acquisition Syndrome - amongst its followers.
I can concur with Woldsman's comments about a pre-owned DSLR camera and the Samyang / Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 manual focus lens as being a great and quite cheap starting point - it's how I returned to astronomy as it gives you a portable set-up that has other uses too. I went with a Nikon D7200 cropped sensor camera on a decent tripod and I know that the Nikon D5300 onwards and D7100 onwards all have built in intervalometers. I bought a separate intervalometer from Rollei as it can be programmed to run up to 399 exposures with the camera in Bulb mode so you set your ISO on the camera (ISO 800 or 1000 on the D7200 with that 14mm lens works pretty well) and the exposure duration to a maximum of 13 seconds to avoid star trails. Alternatively, if you actually want star trails, turn down the ISO and lengthen the exposure.
There is a brilliant e-book by Royce Bair titled Milky Way Nightscapes that can take you from zero to intermediate MW shooter in no time!

HTH

Tony

[BoBindy]

On 10/07/2024 at 07:44, Earl said:

Milky way photography needs a wide angle, so no telescope is needed.

Which Iphone do you have?

iPhone 14

[happy-kat]

Hi, the nice thing is you can practice before you go with your iPhone. What are you planning to use to hold your iPhone  completely still ? key to night images of the milky way

[Earl]

4 hours ago, BoBindy said:

iPhone 14

Get a small tripod, phone holder and a remote control, that should all be pretty cheap, and then you can use the camera's long exposure modes to take sky photos.

Edited July 17 by Earl

[dweller25]

Hi @BoBindy

What @Earl  says 👍

Here is a handheld photo of the Aurora Borealis taken recently with an IPhone 14.

I would experiment with your iphone first before buying any extra kit.

 

Edited July 18 by dweller25

[PeterStudz]

I’m no astrophotographer but It’s not difficult to get a shot of the Milky Way with a modern smartphone as long as you are in a dark site. You’ll need a small tripod like shown above. Nothing else apart from a little practice.

The image below was taken by my 12 yr old daughter while in Crete last year using an iPhone 12 Pro on a little tripod. 30 sec exposure with a little editing using the stock camera app. All very simple. An iPhone 14 should do better! It’s does depend on what you expect to capture. There are many other possible opinions that will give you more flexibility on targets plus better quality results. 
 

Edited July 17 by PeterStudz

[Steve Ward]

Plenty of videos to guide you on YT.

[PeterStudz]

Personally and if budget allows, I’d also invest in some good quality  lightweight 10x50 binoculars. If it’s truly dark it’s amazing what you can see in these.

[DaveS]

See if there's a camera app for iOS. I use Deep Sky Camera beta but that's for Android, not sure if it's available for iOS. It allows for full camera control with the ability to set up full imaging sequences.

[PeterStudz]

6 minutes ago, DaveS said:

See if there's a camera app for iOS. I use Deep Sky Camera beta but that's for Android, not sure if it's available for iOS. It allows for full camera control with the ability to set up full imaging sequences.

I’ve literally tried all the cameras apps for iOS and apart from one non of them give any real benefits for wide-field shots. The one app that is interesting and can give good results (both at an eyepiece or without a telescope). It’s called AstroShader - it will auto-align and stack in real time. However, it does take some practice in order to get right. 

[DaveS]

OK, I only have experience of Android.

[PeterStudz]

14 minutes ago, DaveS said:

OK, I only have experience of Android.

There’s new stuff coming out all the time so you never know! But I guess some of this depends on whether the OP will be satisfied with what comes down to point-and-shoot or wants more and is willing/has the time to learn some astrophotography imaging and processing skills. Maybe they have some already. I don’t know much about that!

 

 

 

 

Edited July 17 by PeterStudz

[Tony Acorn]

12 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

"There’s new stuff coming out all the time so you never know! But I guess some of this depends on whether the OP will be satisfied with what comes down to point-and-shoot or wants more"

And of course the deeper she goes and better BoBindy becomes at this, the more she will want to enter the murky world of GAS - gear acquisition syndrome! 

 

 

 

 

 

[Elp]

12 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

I’ve literally tried all the cameras apps for iOS and apart from one non of them give any real benefits for wide-field shots

All you really need is a mode which enables long exposure imaging, preferably a manual mode (all these auto modes are pointless). A bluetooth shutter remote will enable you to take images without touching the phone, or use the in built delay timer on the phone. Phone must be tripod mounted on or a jig which doesn't allow it to move during the exposure.

Your mileage will depend on phone, mine allows dslr like manual options with the default software, one of the reasons I bought it. I've also tried the AP mode on a Google pixel, even it's 15s exposures are too long as you can see star elongation (or the way the software combines each 15s image during the few minutes it takes the photo), but as a simple "point and shoot" solution it works incredibly well.

In fact any device which allows long exposure imaging you can use, I've done it with compact cameras though you'll get edge star distortion with a lot of in built lenses, but you'll still capture the milky way if it's dark enough - which is key.

Edited July 18 by Elp

[PeterStudz]

One other point. If you already have an Apple Watch (many iPhone users do) then there’s a built in Bluetooth camera shutter remote as standard. Although the built in shutter delay works well anyway. 

Edited July 18 by PeterStudz

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂