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Fun with the Pentax K5

benroy

Subscriber Member
Clouds: very early today...rapidly moving cirrus (ice crystal) clouds, replacing yesterday's thunder boomer (cumulonimbus) clouds. Thunder boomer clouds are typical here in South Florida this time of the year...being moved out by fast moving cirrus clouds is indicative of a change in the weather...hopefully a bit cooler and dryer. 50-135 w/5KIIs..Converted from color to PS BW IR or red filter. You can see the moon, as it sets in the western sky, peeking out in pic #4 (right side).
 
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seakayaker

Active member
. . . . . a venture out for some night photography.



Pentax K5IIs ~ 55/1.4 ~ ISO 100 ~ 25 sec ~ F5.6

with wind and ground shake from train . . . . .
 
I took this shot a few weeks ago and overlooked it until tonight. It was taken at the entry to a corral near Fort Griffin, Texas with the Pentax K5 IIs and the DA* 16-50mm. Post work was done in Lightroom and Photoshop CS6.

Any suggestions on how to get a better quality image would be appreciated. This a 20 second exposure at f/2.8 ISO 1600. I am still bothered by the amount of noise at these settings. Don't know a thing about stacking and my only logical conclusion would be to use a faster lens at a lower ISO. Am I wrong?

Noise reduction programs such as that in Topaz DeNoise and the noise reduction feature of Lightroom seem to blur details a bit too much for my taste.

I've just begun shooting the night sky in the last two months so I am sure there are tips and tricks I am unaware of.. share your secrets if you feel the urge.

Even at 20 seconds there are minute star trails, not all that noticeable unless you really pixel peep but short of using some kind of tracking mount I feel the best solution would be a faster lens.

I've seen similar shots in which the colors ranged anywhere from blue to almost red, I guess that is a personal choice and sometimes a result of ambient light from man made light pollution and atmospherics.

 

tsjanik

Well-known member
Jim it sounds like you could use the Pentax GPS unit. It includes a program Astrotracker which moves the sensor to track star movement. I haven't used it but here's a discussion thread:

Pentax Forum - Camera & Photography Community - PentaxForums.com


As for noise reduction, I'd try a luminosity mask, e.g., on a PC in PS, Ctrl-Alt-2 will select all the bright areas (stars); Ctrl-i inverts the selection allowing you to apply NR to only the dark areas.
 
Jim it sounds like you could use the Pentax GPS unit. It includes a program Astrotracker which moves the sensor to track star movement. I haven't used it but here's a discussion thread:

Pentax Forum - Camera & Photography Community - PentaxForums.com


As for noise reduction, I'd try a luminosity mask, e.g., on a PC in PS, Ctrl-Alt-2 will select all the bright areas (stars); Ctrl-i inverts the selection allowing you to apply NR to only the dark areas.
Thanks for the tip on the noise reduction technique.. I will give it a try. I didn't think of handling the issue that way.
 

seakayaker

Active member
. . . . . some other photographs from the group walk about on Friday night.

Southbound Freight



K5IIs ~ 55/1.4 ~ ISO 100 ~ 30 sec ~ F6.3


Tattoo



K5IIs ~ 55/1.4 ~ ISO 100 ~ 25 sec ~ F14


Downtown



K5IIs ~ 55/1.4 ~ ISO 100 ~ 30 sec ~ F6.3


Lies



K5IIs ~ 55/1.4 ~ ISO 100 ~ 30 sec ~ F8
 

benroy

Subscriber Member
Dan: the railroad crossing and the tattoo parlor are eye-poppers! Altogether, an eerie but eye-catching set of images...hope more are forthcoming.

Roy Benson
 

benroy

Subscriber Member
More hot color...power company truck came by to deprive us of power for an hour or so...so yellow is the hot color of the day...50-135 w/5KIIs.
 
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seakayaker

Active member
One more from the evening sky.

Trygve
Lens used, aperture and exposure time please. Very nice star points with no drift. I would like to try this myself some time in the near future and your feedback would be helpful. (note: near future could be days, weeks, or months away as we have headed into the overcast and rainy period after a brilliant summer.) I will be heading out with a group for the next four Friday nights but no guarantee of clear skies.

I have enjoyed Jim's work and appreciate him providing the lens, aperture and exposure time.

Thanks!
 

PenSon

New member
Lens used, aperture and exposure time please. Very nice star points with no drift. I would like to try this myself some time in the near future and your feedback would be helpful. (note: near future could be days, weeks, or months away as we have headed into the overcast and rainy period after a brilliant summer.) I will be heading out with a group for the next four Friday nights but no guarantee of clear skies.

I have enjoyed Jim's work and appreciate him providing the lens, aperture and exposure time.

Thanks!
Lens DA15mm, ISO800, f/5, 20s ;)
 
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