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Sharper night (star) photos with D700?

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hooly

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Hi

I was in the 'backcountry' at the weekend and tried a few star shots with my D700. I don't have an external shutter release so used self-timer, 30 second exposure, f/2.8 ISO 800

I got some really nice shots but they are not particularly sharp.

1) Would I see an improvement with a longer (therefore manual bulb) exposure at a higher ISO & lower f stop?
2) Would I see an improvement if I used the mirror lock?
3) Is it correct that there is no wireless remote for the D700?

Samples below.

Thanks a lot!

Kevin





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http://www.flickr.com/photos/hooly/
 
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your lens isnt usually its sharpest at 2.8. i would go f5-f9 and also use a higher iso. you will be amazed at how many more stars you will see at the higher sensitivities to light.
 
hooly said:
1) Would I see an improvement with a longer (therefore manual bulb)
exposure at a higher ISO & lower f stop?
Click to expand...
You should stop down the lens for best sharpness. But longer exposures will cause star trails - even during 30 sec You can see stars as lines when You magnify the photo. I used ISO400 in some shots in my last night shooting and was satisfied with the results - they were cleaner that any of my previous cameras at their base ISO.
hooly said:
2) Would I see an improvement if I used the mirror lock?
Click to expand...
Not much. Mirror lock helps a lot when expoisition is relatively short - up to 1 sec, but with longer expositions its effectiveness decreases.
hooly said:
3) Is it correct that there is no wireless remote for the D700?
Click to expand...
Not sure, but I think it is not correct.
 
Your photos are very good IMO.

What lens have you used ?

If you close and increase exposition time you will get star trails, to avoid this you should use an equatorial mount, see this

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=30842069

Even using the eq mount, you will have other problems: then the landscape will be blurred,



So one of the ways to go is shot at 2.8 and capture the stars and the landscape. I have some of these photos here:

http://www.pbase.com/frikosal/naturaleza_de_noche

A wire to control the shutter is a must for this type of photos. There is no official wireless trigger but on ebay you will see one remote control. However, for this application I would recommend you a normal wire, perhaps the original Nikon that is far more trustable.

--
Blog: http://www.frikosal.blogspot.com
Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/frikosal
 
Thanks all for the replies and advice.

I found and ordered a wireless remote from ebay.

The lens was 17-35 f/2.8, my favourite lens!

I am going to the country again this weekend, so here's hoping for a clear night!

Kevin

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hooly/
 
Just for kicks, I tried a 30 second shot at ISO 256,000 on the D700 from the sunrise viewing area on top of Mt. Haleakala on Maui. You can see a bit of star trails even with only 30 seconds and wide angle (17-35mm lens; not sure what focal length). This was taken way before sunrise (about 4:30 AM).

Note that the orange glow and almost all of the stars in the east were completely invisible to the naked eye, even dark-adjusted.

Of course, the original image was quite noisy. I used NeatImage with carefully adjusted setting to minimize the number of lost stars while getting rid of the worst noise.

Doug

 
manel said:
A wire to control the shutter is a must for this type of photos.
There is no official wireless trigger but on ebay you will see one
remote control. However, for this application I would recommend you a
normal wire, perhaps the original Nikon that is far more trustable.
Click to expand...
Just want to add that the wireless remote you can find on ebay is excellent (Phottix), i use it on my D3 and it works better than i hoped for, long range on the remote, and long batterylife (accidentally left it on for over 2 weeks and still works long after that!) works great in cold weather too.

Just a tip if anyone doesnt feel like spending a load of cash on a remote :-)

--
Visit my website: http://www.coefoto.com/
 
You don't mention the lens or focal length - both critical. A 30s exposure is much too long - at 50 mm the earth rotates 2 D700 pixels per second, more at longer focal lengths. Focusing is critical - did you use magnified liveview to do it with focussing set to manual? The lens matters because some are as sharp at full aperture as stopped down a bit (my tests say the 24-70 is), others need stopping down. Go to higher ISO - the D700 sensor is miraculously quiet compared to other sensors. Phottix makes a super, and super inexpensive, RF remote for the D700 - I have one and recommend it. They are sold on an ebay store and shipped direct from Hong Kong. Use shutter delay setting (D9) mode, much easier than mirror up mode.
 
Hey Kevin shot this image with my D700 and it was a five minute guided exposure with my 14-24mm at 24mm and I used the D700 to focus on a bright star an then switched the lens to manual. using this method or using live view will guarontee sharp images. Your photo looks good to me and it looks plenty sharp. However itf you could provide a small 100% crop I will be able to tell for sure. As for a longer exposure, well that will not make your stars sharper, they would trail due to the earths rotation. I used the MC-36 for a 5 min exposure. I always use mirror lock up for my shots. You could use the "Hat Trick" and put a dark hat or cloth over the front of the lens while you trip the shutter, wait one second and remove it and this will eliminate the vibrations. Let me know if I have helped.
-Todd


hooly said:
Hi

I was in the 'backcountry' at the weekend and tried a few star shots
with my D700. I don't have an external shutter release so used
self-timer, 30 second exposure, f/2.8 ISO 800

I got some really nice shots but they are not particularly sharp.

1) Would I see an improvement with a longer (therefore manual bulb)
exposure at a higher ISO & lower f stop?
2) Would I see an improvement if I used the mirror lock?
3) Is it correct that there is no wireless remote for the D700?

Samples below.

Thanks a lot!

Kevin





--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hooly/
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/todd991

 
I saw your post with M51, very cool. You mentioned that you could almost see the galaxy with your own eye. Well it is an awesome looking galaxy through my telescope and I wish you could come see it for yourself, here is a photo of my scope: A 20-inch Dobsonian. M51 is amazing with this scope.... Have you ever gone to the Texas Star Party in Fort Davis, Texas?

-Todd


manel said:
Your photos are very good IMO.

What lens have you used ?

If you close and increase exposition time you will get star trails,
to avoid this you should use an equatorial mount, see this

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=30842069

Even using the eq mount, you will have other problems: then the
landscape will be blurred,



So one of the ways to go is shot at 2.8 and capture the stars and the
landscape. I have some of these photos here:

http://www.pbase.com/frikosal/naturaleza_de_noche

A wire to control the shutter is a must for this type of photos.
There is no official wireless trigger but on ebay you will see one
remote control. However, for this application I would recommend you a
normal wire, perhaps the original Nikon that is far more trustable.

--
Blog: http://www.frikosal.blogspot.com
Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/frikosal
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/todd991

 
Todd Hargis said:
I saw your post with M51, very cool. You mentioned that you could
almost see the galaxy with your own eye. Well it is an awesome
looking galaxy through my telescope and I wish you could come see it
for yourself, here is a photo of my scope: A 20-inch Dobsonian. M51
is amazing with this scope.... Have you ever gone to the Texas Star
Party in Fort Davis, Texas?
Click to expand...
Wow, I guess the 20 inch provides a totally different view ! (But maybe the problem is in my eyes, or lack of experience. My friend could see it well with my 6").

How do you follow the objects? I mean, there is no equatorial mount in a Dobs, isn't it ? Is it difficult ?

If I ever pass near Fort Davis I will be glad to attend the Texas Star party ! Hower I'm in Barcelona, not very close :)

I see you have a 14-24. Do you stop it for star photos or use it at 2.8 ? Could you please post a 100% crop of a brilliant star, in a corner of the image ? To prepare future photos, I'm doing some tests with my primes (20,24,28,35,50) and I see that at 2.8 the optical aberrations are too large. Thanks !

--
Blog: http://www.frikosal.blogspot.com
Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/frikosal
 
Yeah that is pretty far away dude.... well maybe one of these days. I have a 100% crop of the top left corner of this milkyway shot (wide open at f/4). Here is the shot:



ISO 1250

And the crop:



I have also tested the lens at f/2.8 and the IQ is the same. It is a fantastic lens.

I use this setup for my photos, not the big Dob.





Thanks Manel.

-Todd
manel said:
Todd Hargis said:
I saw your post with M51, very cool. You mentioned that you could
almost see the galaxy with your own eye. Well it is an awesome
looking galaxy through my telescope and I wish you could come see it
for yourself, here is a photo of my scope: A 20-inch Dobsonian. M51
is amazing with this scope.... Have you ever gone to the Texas Star
Party in Fort Davis, Texas?
Click to expand...
Wow, I guess the 20 inch provides a totally different view ! (But
maybe the problem is in my eyes, or lack of experience. My friend
could see it well with my 6").
How do you follow the objects? I mean, there is no equatorial mount
in a Dobs, isn't it ? Is it difficult ?
If I ever pass near Fort Davis I will be glad to attend the Texas
Star party ! Hower I'm in Barcelona, not very close :)

I see you have a 14-24. Do you stop it for star photos or use it at
2.8 ? Could you please post a 100% crop of a brilliant star, in a
corner of the image ? To prepare future photos, I'm doing some tests
with my primes (20,24,28,35,50) and I see that at 2.8 the optical
aberrations are too large. Thanks !

--
Blog: http://www.frikosal.blogspot.com
Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/frikosal
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/todd991

 
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