Optimum kit for star trail photography

[viablex1]

here is one I tried using a d800 and ME for the max of 10 exposures at about 3 minutes for a total of three minutes.

with the stacking programs could I have continued for sat 10 more 3 minute shots, I guess the question is do they act like a ME program in the camera and maybe better?


_DSC0847 by gungyduo, on Flickr

 

[viablex1]

For single long exposure shots the P45+ Hands down. I own this and use it on a H2 which shutter works in 1/3 stops up to 18H 12M… Also the P45+ can be powered by a canon dual charger to power the back for long periods of time..


An example using a P45+ with a 1 hour 26 minute exposure.

1 hour 26 minutes, Peaks. by RickrPhoto, on Flickr

exposure stacking also is a very useful method in my experience, and both are useful in certain situations. I would suggest using the stacking method over a single exposure if it is within a week before or after a full moon, and the moonlight would wash out the sky of the image in a single exposure. Ironically a week before a full moon is one of the best time to do star trail landscapes..

This example was a stacked exposure taken with my 5d mark II over 3 hours. Also you gain the ability to edit further with the stack, I.E. a car drives through your frame which you may or may not want the light painting effect.. just grab a shot with or without it from the series and tada… easy fix.


Monument Valley Star Trail by RickrPhoto, on Flickr

If I was looking to invest in a new system specifically for long exposure night photography, I would personally suggest a D800E as you can stack the images pretty well, and it seems overall easier. The P45+ needing to do a dark frame, not to mention the difficulty of guesstimating what exposure to use, then having to wait twice as long to see if you were right could possibly leave you without any shots.. where as stacking lets you use the camera twice as long in the same spot to get longer trails..

very cool!!! how many images did you use for the second one? and what program do you use to stack??

matto

 

[aeaemd]

D3s/d4 are better choices for star trails. Long exposures on D800 require dark shot, otherwise you will end up with white noise in the sky. I noticed it in D800 and D800E. The dark shot improve the noise but you can still see it.
D3s or D4 are great in every aspect including the file size.

Amr

 

[gerald.d]

Any thoughts on the Canon 60Da?

 

[GrahamWelland]

Canon 60Da will give you great star colours, especially with milky way shots.

You would need to be careful I suspect with any foreground elements that could discolour due to IR contamination such as foliage. (It tends to go muddy, although that may or may not matter to to you aesthetically). When I use the full spectrum camera I've taken to using a hot-mirror filter for the first foreground exposure and then unfiltered for the star trail sequence and then I'll blend it in later. The 60Da may be better but it still has the IR sensitivity for the hydrogen band (by design of course).

It would be so nice if there were an option with MFDBs to disable LENR and take your own dark frame at the end of the sequence for sensor noise reduction later. Evidently the MFDB manufacturers don't trust us I guess ...

 

[Shashin]

One thing I'm curious about, and this is genuine interest and NOT a criticism, is that I notice that there is a slight bump at the beginning or end of the trails and I was wondering if this was perhaps shutter bounce or maybe bumping the camera/tripod? I never bother with mirror lock up with these types of shots and I probably should cover the lens when I trip the shutter myself to avoid these issues - so hence the curiosity about your shot so that I know what to look out for.

Not about any specific image, but a bump at the beginning and end can be human weight near the tripod if the tripod is on soft ground--you start the exposure and walk away and then return at the end. I have not found the mirror the big problem unless you are undermounted, but then you see the shake in everything you photograph.

Graham, I am going to be surprised if you don't have more than one tripod (you probably have enough bags as well [the definition of a photographer is a person with lots of tripods and bags]). Why not run your p25 next to your D800 the next time you go out. MFD is not easier then 35mm at night, but I do think with a little experience, it can be a competitor.

 

[Shashin]

Any thoughts on the Canon 60Da?

A very good camera for this work. Unlike a modded camera that has the IR cut filter removed, the 60a just lets more deep red light though. It is even surprisingly good in daylight which shows there is some IR filtration.

 

[GrahamWelland]

Graham, I am going to be surprised if you don't have more than one tripod (you probably have enough bags as well [the definition of a photographer is a person with lots of tripods and bags]). Why not run your p25 next to your D800 the next time you go out. MFD is not easier then 35mm at night, but I do think with a little experience, it can be a competitor.

By this definition I must be a true master photographer! :ROTFL:

I think that the solution is to leave the D800/D600 at home which will force me to suck it up and shoot with the P25+ at night. I bought it principally just for long exposure work and I use for that with longer daytime shooting. I haven't really used it for star trails yet though. No excuses though ...

 

[viablex1]

do you use a lot of noise reduction? when shooting these? because they don't look noise ridden at all?

for instance the 3.5 hour canon shot

trying to get my friend in MT to go out and try this with his D4.

 

[viablex1]

talking to myself but it looks like maybe 100 images or so in some cases maybe more exposed for 30 seconds then stacked

matto

 

[Ed Hurst]

Wow guys - amazing shots and extremely useful advice. I think I am going to look at using one of the Nikons for this shot (to stack a long sequence of 2 min exposures), and maybe run it alongside the 645D (shooting a single long exposure) for test purposes...

Amr, I note your advice about needing a dark frame with the D800, but not so much with the D4 or D3S. Do you know if the D800 will allow the dark frame to be shot at the end of the sequence (not after every shot) so that it can be used without interrupting the trails?

 

[Ed Hurst]

For interest, I might do a 6x7 film version as well...

 

[GrahamWelland]

Amr, I note your advice about needing a dark frame with the D800, but not so much with the D4 or D3S. Do you know if the D800 will allow the dark frame to be shot at the end of the sequence (not after every shot) so that it can be used without interrupting the trails?

Just shoot a final frame at the end of the sequence with the lens cap on. It'll be a single shot rather than one of the sequence via the intervalometer (although if it's several minutes you'll still trigger it via the intervalometer). I'd make sure that you do it as soon after the last shot in the sequence as possible.

 

[Ed Hurst]

Thanks Graham. Which brings me back to the original question - I wonder if a D800/E, with its higher resolution (but slightly more noise) would yield a better quality result than a D3S/D4, with their lower resolution but lower noise...

 

[Ed Hurst]

By the way, here is that first shot I tried using the 645D:

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stackedImage2Step8sRGBSMALL by eduardotunnel4, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[Chris Giles]

Nice.

What would be the best gap between frames to eliminate the jaggies?

I've a date with an observatory in a couple of weeks, 1DX, H3D39, H1 with a film back (need some advice on film astro too - as in determining exposure).

 

[Ed Hurst]

Thing I don't like about my shot shown a couple of posts above:
- The level of noise (apparent when zoomed in, especially in the ground areas);
- The colour artefacts around where the sun had set (can be removed with the right editing of course);
- The gaps/jaggies in the trails (I used a package that was meant to close gaps, but it hasn't quite worked perfectly here - again, I am sure this can be fixed).

Still, an instructive first effort that has shown me - together with the advice above - what I need to do to get better...

 

[Shashin]

Ed, you kind of need to ignore noise at 100%. The shot above of the moonlit river has lots of noise, at least at 100% and compared with a daylight shot. But when I made a 3 foot prints, the noise just malted away, or at least became pleasant.

Obviously, noise increase with exposure. Then the low contrast nature of night photograph and the processing to increase it just seems to accentuate it. Still, with really high pixel resolutions, it just sort of dissipates in the printing.

 

[GrahamWelland]

has anyone got a good solution for condensation control with a tech camera lens for star trail work? Decided to shoot with the P25+ with the Alpa and even though I thought I'd left the camera out in 23f for 10 mins or so before shooting I still ended up with condensation on the lens after 45 minutes. (Heck, I had ice on my tripod and P25+). I kind of thought that there would have been some equilibrium by then but obviously not.

I've heard recommendations about using handwarmers around the lens and in fact I did that with the CH-910 and batteries inside a Think Tank pouch. However, I'm somewhat loathe to do the same with a $4k lens ...

Thoughts and experiences? Conditions were borderline fog/clear sky but obviously high humidity & close to dew point even though below freezing.

 

[viablex1]

over ocatal I want to go back and try a few things


_DSC0606 by gungyduo, on Flickr