First astro shot using my nifty fifty...

[Mister Roboto]

I returned my Sigma 60mm twice due to dust particles inside the lens. This seems to be a quality control issue so I replaced it with SEL50F18.

The camera was behind balcony glass door as it was extremely cold to go outside.

 

[Mister Roboto]

This is actually my first try in taking deep space so I was wondering what is your thought about it?

I thought that one was a little too dark? So here is another version

Comments, suggestions and criticisms are all welcome.

 

[kurja]

Not bad for a single frame through a window. Great orion nebula is immediately visible, fainter ones by alnitak aren't there though but ofc that's to be expected for such a short exposure. You don't seem to have much light pollution there. Next time maybe actually do go outside and get more frames for stacking

 

[photonion]

As mentioned above it looks quite cool for a single frame exposure and especially one taken at 50mm. M42 is clearly visible and I'm sure it will act as an appetizer for getting into astrophotography. However, shots like these hugely benefit from shorter focal lengths because (shorter FL lenses) are less prone to show star motion trails at least for several seconds exposures. For example in your shot above you can clearly see that the 5 sec exposure is already a bit too much for the 50mm and you get 'smudged' stars due to their motion. If you were using a 24mm lens and equally a 5 second exposure, star trails would be barely noticeable and if you were using 16mm you could even increase exposure time bearing even more impressive results.

I think you would get rid of the star trails if you used a higher ISO and shorter exp time. In such shots you can easily tolerate noise so I would suggest you try some shots at ISO 3200 and ISO6400 and probably 2 or 3 sec. exp. time. You will get crisper stars and probably a brighter scene as well.

It seems your location is rather light pollution free, so you have nice spot for starry sky shooting. If you are interested in getting into astrophotography you will have to consider a good tracking mount and later a telephoto lens (for example a cheap legacy 200 or 300mm). You will get great images and you don't even need a telescope for that! (but the tracking mount IS essential unless you want to shoot star trails).

 

[Mister Roboto]

Not bad for a single frame through a window. Great orion nebula is immediately visible, fainter ones by alnitak aren't there though but ofc that's to be expected for such a short exposure. You don't seem to have much light pollution there. Next time maybe actually do go outside and get more frames for stacking

Thanks for your comment, I actually forgot to tell that this shot was with 2x zoom. I've actually done a couple of shots with different exposures and stacked them using DSS; here is the result...

 

[Mister Roboto]

As mentioned above it looks quite cool for a single frame exposure and especially one taken at 50mm. M42 is clearly visible and I'm sure it will act as an appetizer for getting into astrophotography. However, shots like these hugely benefit from shorter focal lengths because (shorter FL lenses) are less prone to show star motion trails at least for several seconds exposures. For example in your shot above you can clearly see that the 5 sec exposure is already a bit too much for the 50mm and you get 'smudged' stars due to their motion. If you were using a 24mm lens and equally a 5 second exposure, star trails would be barely noticeable and if you were using 16mm you could even increase exposure time bearing even more impressive results.

I appreciate your detailed suggestion, I thought I had the exposure right by dividing 500 / 75mm which is around 6.6 secs so I've made it 5 but I failed to consider that I've used 2x digital zoom just to get to closer to Orion.

I think you would get rid of the star trails if you used a higher ISO and shorter exp time. In such shots you can easily tolerate noise so I would suggest you try some shots at ISO 3200 and ISO6400 and probably 2 or 3 sec. exp. time. You will get crisper stars and probably a brighter scene as well.

I've done 2.5, 3.2 and 5 and variety of ISO up to 6400 and I find that it did give significant difference. Maybe because I shot them behind glass door?

It seems your location is rather light pollution free, so you have nice spot for starry sky shooting. If you are interested in getting into astrophotography you will have to consider a good tracking mount and later a telephoto lens (for example a cheap legacy 200 or 300mm). You will get great images and you don't even need a telescope for that! (but the tracking mount IS essential unless you want to shoot star trails).

I live in a semi-city so I still have light pollution. I just got lucky that my neighbour didn't turn on their lights and the sky is pretty clear.

 

[photonion]

Wow!!! After seeing the images at 3200 ISO I have to say I'm even more impressed by what you managed to pull off!!! It seems you DO have some considerable light pollution that entered the room and got backreflected from the window (or left the room door open and light entered from another room)! I was looking at M42 on your 3200 image and it looks very nice, I believe you have to arrange a night out in a darker spot. You could also try to stack frames from different exposures, for example some 3200 ones for the details like M42 and 400 ones to get the dark background. This way you could get the best of both worlds.

You can have a look at the astrophotography forum or look up at youtube for stacking techniques explained by experts.

 

[Mister Roboto]

Wow!!! After seeing the images at 3200 ISO I have to say I'm even more impressed by what you managed to pull off!!!

Even I was surprised considering these...

1. Shot behind balcony door with blinds covering it and room not totally dark.

2. There was a cheap UV filter on the SEL50F18.

3. 2X digital zoom was used.

It seems you DO have some considerable light pollution that entered the room and got backreflected from the window (or left the room door open and light entered from another room)! I was looking at M42 on your 3200 image and it looks very nice, I believe you have to arrange a night out in a darker spot. You could also try to stack frames from different exposures, for example some 3200 ones for the details like M42 and 400 ones to get the dark background. This way you could get the best of both worlds.

Thanks a lot for the encouragement; lemme see if I can open the balcony door or get out without wifey yelling at me lol.

You can have a look at the astrophotography forum or look up at youtube for stacking techniques explained by experts.

I've been reading stuff lately and I will try those dark frames, bias etc and all.

 

[davelok]

I've been reading stuff lately and I will try those dark frames, bias etc and all.

Did you have long exposure noise reduction on? If so, wouldn't it do the dark frame subtraction itself? I'm only asking to make sure, as I have a very vague notion about these things.

 

[Mister Roboto]

I've been reading stuff lately and I will try those dark frames, bias etc and all.

Did you have long exposure noise reduction on? If so, wouldn't it do the dark frame subtraction itself? I'm only asking to make sure, as I have a very vague notion about these things.

Good point, I think I have it disabled or set to low; I will verify later. I think even if that is off, dark and bias frames will give better result.

 

[Mister Roboto]

I've been reading stuff lately and I will try those dark frames, bias etc and all.

Did you have long exposure noise reduction on? If so, wouldn't it do the dark frame subtraction itself? I'm only asking to make sure, as I have a very vague notion about these things.

Good point, I think I have it disabled or set to low; I will verify later. I think even if that is off, dark and bias frames will give better result.

Ok I looked at and it is disabled and cannot be changed? High ISO NR setting was set to low though.

 

[Steve Bingham]

If you have software such as PS CS6, you might try stacking. This can greatly reduce noise and allow higher ISO shots. Where I live, the Milky Way is pretty much south. You might want to try it, even with a 50mm the results can be impressive. (SW section of USA)

Also NR on a longer exposures is recommended. It will take a "dark slide" (blank black picture) and use this to subtract any noise in the photo. Don't be alarmed if a 5 second exposure takes 10 seconds.

--
Steve Bingham
www.dustylens.com
www.ghost-town-photography.com

 

[Mister Roboto]

If you have software such as PS CS6, you might try stacking. This can greatly reduce noise and allow higher ISO shots. Where I live, the Milky Way is pretty much south. You might want to try it, even with a 50mm the results can be impressive. (SW section of USA)

 

[davelok]

Strange. If you can enable it, it would be interesting to compare it with manual dark frame subtraction.

 

[Mister Roboto]

Strange. If you can enable it, it would be interesting to compare it with manual dark frame subtraction.

I figured out why it was disabled; shooting mode was Continuous. I will try to shoot with it enabled and disabled next time.

 

[davelok]

I too was shooting with Continuous enabled last night, and saw that LENR was was disabled. Thanks for drawing the conclusion for me!

 

[Mister Roboto]

I too was shooting with Continuous enabled last night, and saw that LENR was was disabled. Thanks for drawing the conclusion for me!

No problem, I guess Sony should somehow indicate on the menu that something disabled something so we wouldn't wonder why and how to go around it.

 

[davelok]

I too was shooting with Continuous enabled last night, and saw that LENR was was disabled. Thanks for drawing the conclusion for me!

No problem, I guess Sony should somehow indicate on the menu that something disabled something so we wouldn't wonder why and how to go around it.

And in another coincidence today, in my excitement of seeing for the first time a Crested Serpent Eagle take to flight, I forgot that I had switched to Manual Focus just a minute before to spot it better among the branches, and took more than a 100 snaps in Continuous shutter mode, all the while wondering about why the focus window wasn't showing. I did correct my mistake, but it was too high up by then. Got about 5-10% shots in zone focus by sheer luck.

And that's when I realised Sony should have put an Idiot lamp in the viewfinder like in old times.

 

[Mister Roboto]

I too was shooting with Continuous enabled last night, and saw that LENR was was disabled. Thanks for drawing the conclusion for me!

No problem, I guess Sony should somehow indicate on the menu that something disabled something so we wouldn't wonder why and how to go around it.

And in another coincidence today, in my excitement of seeing for the first time a Crested Serpent Eagle take to flight, I forgot that I had switched to Manual Focus just a minute before to spot it better among the branches, and took more than a 100 snaps in Continuous shutter mode, all the while wondering about why the focus window wasn't showing. I did correct my mistake, but it was too high up by then. Got about 5-10% shots in zone focus by sheer luck.

And that's when I realised Sony should have put an Idiot lamp in the viewfinder like in old times.

Yes sometimes I wish we can store 2-3 custom settings that are not dependent on each other.