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Shooting Stars with a S95

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Glyno

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Hi, I'm looking for advise on how to shoot a starlit sky with my S95. I'm familiar with shutter speeds/apertures and how experimenting between the two can effect the shot but the main issue I have is how to focus! I've tried using auto focus but more often than not the camera just hunts and fails to focus. Would the best option be to use the manual focus?

Has anyone got any examples they could show, any additional info would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Glyn
 
The S95 has a manual focus mode. Try that and set for infinity or longest possible distance.
 
Shot this in Av mode.
West Port, New Zealand campground during my motorbike tour of the islands.



 
Yeah, using manual focus and setting it to infinity works the best. "infinity" results in everything about 10 feet or further out being in focus, the stars are a bit further out than that. :-)

In theory the best results "should" come from the longest possible shutter speed and lowest iso, but with a digital sensor who knows. One thing about the s95 is that the shutter speed won't go longer than 15 seconds, which I found isn't quite long enough for most starry night shows so I end up having to up the iso a little. I've read that CHDK lets you set a longer shutter speed, but I haven't found the motivation to actually figure out how to install it on my camera myself.
 
PaulRivers said:
Yeah, using manual focus and setting it to infinity works the best. "infinity" results in everything about 10 feet or further out being in focus, the stars are a bit further out than that. :-)

In theory the best results "should" come from the longest possible shutter speed and lowest iso, but with a digital sensor who knows. One thing about the s95 is that the shutter speed won't go longer than 15 seconds, which I found isn't quite long enough for most starry night shows so I end up having to up the iso a little. I've read that CHDK lets you set a longer shutter speed, but I haven't found the motivation to actually figure out how to install it on my camera myself.
Click to expand...
On my SX20, I can go for as long as 34 minutes with the shutter open. Yes, I do have CHDK installed. :)
 
Wowsers said:
On my SX20, I can go for as long as 34 minutes with the shutter open. Yes, I do have CHDK installed. :)
Click to expand...
Why 34 minutes? Seems like an odd number. Probably something to do with the camera's internal representation of time I suppose.
 
Thanks everyone for the help and advise. Focus on infinity and experiment with shutter speeds and aperture it is then.

...getting clear night skies might just be a little more difficult!
 
... such star shots in total darkness are taken with a DSLR and 24mm focal length or less, ISO 3200, f2.8 and max. 15sec, because with longer focal lengths and shutter speeds star trails will occure. But the point of the compass plays a role too, if I remember that right.

BTW ... I noticed small star trails to start even with 28mm and 15sec on my G12.

--
Greetings from Germany

Chris™
 
ok, I've just had a couple of attempts from my back garden (didn't stay long as it's very cold!), this one of Orion probably the best...





I think I need to practise a bit more!
 
Try longer a longer shutter speed. I think the s95 can do up to 15 sec.

With that said, I have not had the best results shooting stars with point and shoot cameras--they tend to be too noisy for the amount of light coming into the lens.

At f 2.0 iso 3200, 15 sec, you should see stars pretty well in your picture, but I'm not sure it will be a usable image with the s95. Give it a shot.
 
I actually shot that one at 15 secs, f8, iso 80.

My next try will be with a couple of extra stops aperture and maybe iso 200.
 
With the S95, holding down the button half way it gives you the shot info.

You'll notice when it reads F8.0, the text is in orange, this indicates that this out of the cameras range. It's not actually taking it at F8.0, because the S95 only goes up to f4.9
 
Glyno said:
Hi, I'm looking for advise on how to shoot a starlit sky with my S95. I'm familiar with shutter speeds/apertures and how experimenting between the two can effect the shot but the main issue I have is how to focus! I've tried using auto focus but more often than not the camera just hunts and fails to focus. Would the best option be to use the manual focus?

Has anyone got any examples they could show, any additional info would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Here's a test I did a few weeks ago. This was from a suburban area with light pollution as well as some whispy clouds. Not ideal conditions, you'll get much better results in the countryside. You can recognize the Pleiades as well as the constellations Auriga, Perseus, and Taurus. Some post processing like contrast, sharpening, white balance, and noise reduction can help pull the stars out of the background. I think the S95 can do a decent job of capturing the stars that can be seen with the naked eye.



 
Arksun said:
With the S95, holding down the button half way it gives you the shot info.

You'll notice when it reads F8.0, the text is in orange, this indicates that this out of the cameras range. It's not actually taking it at F8.0, because the S95 only goes up to f4.9
Click to expand...
Ignore that last post of mine I'm talking nonsense, blonde moment, of course it's rated at up to f8.0
 
Arksun said:
With the S95, holding down the button half way it gives you the shot info.

You'll notice when it reads F8.0, the text is in orange, this indicates that this out of the cameras range. It's not actually taking it at F8.0, because the S95 only goes up to f4.9
Click to expand...
That's very odd - on mine the text isn't in orange, it just shows F8.0 (in white).
 
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