DSLR Shots and Discussions

Titan1080 · 08-16-2013, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huck

Man I tried to do some star shots a few nights ago and it came out horrible. I have this problem where my camera won't focus right in the dark, and if it does it won't take the picture. I tried to manually focus which didn't work well cause I couldn't see the stars through the viewfinder, so I tried focusing on some lights far down the road and using that setting to shoot the stars. Most of them came out blurry. The ones that were in focus were really grainy and pixelated. I know the stock lens isn't all that, but I've taken some pretty good night shots with it before, so I'm not sure what was wrong. I really want to know why the hell it's having the focusing problem. Keeps saying the subject is too dark.
Anyway, if you guys have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. It was a Nikon D5100, stock lens, 100iso, 20-30 sec exposure, 4.5f. When they came out grainy I tried going to a 10 sec exposure with a 650iso. didn't really help at all.

I survived Zdayz 2013... (barely)

How grainy is really grainy? Post one of them up if you don't mind sharing. Without a tracking mount that compensates for the Earth's rotation, you're going to need to use faster ISO settings depending on the type of photo you're after and of course the lighting environment. In general, blurry shots are usually due to focusing error. I probably have the same kit lens as you and what I do is to temporarily set the rotary dial to landscape (the little mountain-shaped icon) and target the most distant thing you can see that the camera can focus on. Then flick the lens to manual focus and do your best not to touch it. Using the viewfinder is tough but possible, tougher still if you're in the city since your eyes will have trouble adapting to the dark with all the artificial light sources, even looking at a traffic light a half mile away can ruin your vision for a few minutes.

Keep your preview screen shut at all times and leave your cellphone in your pocket, that will definitely ruin your vision for up to 15 minutes if you even glance at it. The longer your eyes have to adapt, the easier you'll be able to see through the viewfinder. I also have a deep red flashlight that minimizes the impact to your eyes while allowing you to see what you're doing, you can either buy one or make one with a normal flashlight, some red mylar or whatever that plastic see-through gift wrap stuff is and some duct tape. The kit lens is definitely a good lens, probably the most versatile for astrophotography on a compact DSLR, since the 18mm level of the zoom will get you a nice wide field of view with a reasonable f/3.5 aperture. You really can't get much wider than that with a larger f/stop without spending serious cash on a full-frame lens.

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