Hello All
I have been trying to see if I can get some tips or guidelines on how to do Star Trails or Milky Way photography using a Nikon D5100.
I understand some basic requirements are to use a tripod, go far away to a place where there is hardly any city pollution etc etc
But I am looking for guidelines in terms of how to set the equipment (Nikon D5100, 18-55mm or 55-200mm or a 50mm prime lens) as in like what should be the shutter speed, the f-stop and the ISO settings per say.
I look forward to your inputs.
Cheers
Samy
Hi!
For shooting non star trails photos of stars you need a shorter shutter speed than 1 minute. When I did this type of shots I was using my 50 mm lens at f1.4, along with a shutter speed of 30 seconds and the necessary ISO for the correct exposure. For startrails shot just use a long enough shutterspeed for the trail to take place, and use the other two parameters to adjust exposure. Make sure you use a tripod and the camera's timer or remote. Shoot in manual mode and go for trail and error (pun intended).
(Mar 27, 2013, 09:30)samyshah Wrote: [ -> ]Hello All
I have been trying to see if I can get some tips or guidelines on how to do Star Trails or Milky Way photography using a Nikon D5100.
Cheers
Samy
The first step is fresh batteries. Keeping the shutter open a long time eats batteries. If you want the iconic picture of star trails around a central point, you must center the view on the north star. I don't know what it would be in the southern hemisphere. Focus the camera to infinity, or an object as far away as possible. Set the camera to the lowest F stop your lens will allow, and the ISO to 100, and experiment on the duration of the shutter (obviously set the camera to bulb). Leaving the shutter open 5 minutes will give you 24 hours divided by 5 minutes of arc divided by 360 degrees ( a full rotation in 24 hours) ie. about .8 of a degree. Experiment with the ISO setting and F stop to compensate for earth shine and light pollution.
If you want a Milky Way picture experiment with a wide open lens and high ISO. The higher the ISO the more "noise you will have. Try it, it's personal choice how much you can stand. As a rule of thumb the stars will "streak" after 2-5 seconds. If you are rich this can be avoided by buying a motorized mount used for telescopes and mounting the camera to the mount. Be warned they are very tricky to calibrate and setup. One last thing do this on a "new moon" (no light from the moon to spoil the shot).
I really appreciate all your inputs Vlad and Cloudrider. I shall experiment with these settings and come back and let you know how it went. Maybe I just have to get it going once and with lot of trial and errors shall be able to achieve the final result.
Thanks cloudrider for the tips! Welcome to the forums - great to have you here with us!
Here is a video tutorial which may also be helpful for some on ShutterTalk:
Thanks a lot Barbara! This video is of great help and outlines the tips perfectly. Exactly the piece of information that I was looking for. I have to give it a try now and I hope I can get a good photo.