Taking pictures of the Space Station

There is a fistful of problems with shooting objects in the darks sky, and the first solution that comes to mind is a really long lens. Since those are not very bright, the only things to do are raising the sensitivity, and prolonging the exposure.

Both things cost, as well as a high quality bright long lens... When you raise the ISO, you get noise. When you raise exposure time, you get movement blur.

There is something called "zodiac drive" - a device that moves the camera/lens arrangement to follow the object during long exposure.

Long story short, it might be easier to look for the nearest observatory and see if you can use their equipment for some of your shots. Sometimes they'll have the point for camera attaching, and then it's only a question of goodwill and adapter.

All in all, that might be the cheapest solution. Unless, of course, you get hooked to night telephotography, in which case it will get costly - sooner or later. But the enjoyment has no price, as they say.

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Fil