safe haven for tiny formats

[jcoldslabs]

Bryan,

Not being a digital guy, what is the net effect of having 70 30 second exposures instead of one long one?

I like the shot, too, by the way.

Jonathan

[Corran]

The longer the exposure, the more the sensor heats up, and the more noise and artifacting will happen (especially in the very hot deep south). This can be combated with a subtraction frame (or darkframe) but that doubles the time I have to be out in the field. However, more importantly in this case, I could have a reasonable f/stop that wouldn't have diffraction and I don't have to fool with ND filters, what with the bright foreground. The con to this is that the mirror flips up and down every shot, and at larger size, especially with the massive 36mp resolution on the D800, the startrails end up having very slight holes in them in regular intervals. It usually isn't a big deal but sometimes it is.

I'm still learning as I go about this kind of photography. It's a lot of fun as I'm an amateur astronomer when I have the time. One of these days I'll get a tracker setup and do some more serious stuff.

Here's another shot from about 2 years ago, taken over about 2 hours IIRC. Taken in the parking lot of Brasstown Bald, the highest point in GA, with my trusty old D90:

[jcoldslabs]

Cool, thanks for the detailed answer. I had no idea.

J.

[Greg Y]

Corran, I had a nightsky photographer as a client on a ski-touring trip. Check out his website.. philhart.com. Some interesting aurora b shots.

[Corran]

Thanks for the link! That's some great stuff there, I would like to get that good eventually. Need to find darker skies though, even out in the country it's pretty bright. Too much development!

[jcoldslabs]

Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar, HP5+



Jonathan

[tuco]

The longer the exposure, the more the sensor heats up, and the more noise and artifacting will happen (especially in the very hot deep south). This can be combated with a subtraction frame (or darkframe) but that doubles the time I have to be out in the field. However, more importantly in this case, I could have a reasonable f/stop that wouldn't have diffraction and I don't have to fool with ND filters, what with the bright foreground. The con to this is that the mirror flips up and down every shot, and at larger size, especially with the massive 36mp resolution on the D800, the startrails end up having very slight holes in them in regular intervals. It usually isn't a big deal but sometimes it is.

I'm still learning as I go about this kind of photography. It's a lot of fun as I'm an amateur astronomer when I have the time. One of these days I'll get a tracker setup and do some more serious stuff.

Here's another shot from about 2 years ago, taken over about 2 hours IIRC. Taken in the parking lot of Brasstown Bald, the highest point in GA, with my trusty old D90:

This online guy I know, Nightfly, still does medium format film on wide field astrophotography with amazing results. No sensor heating problem

[Corran]

Yep, just reciprocity problems, and spectral sensitivity concerns...I have done some trails with my old Pentax 67 and Provia, but so far I have preferred using digital, if only for the convenience.

I really need to buy a good equatorial mount.

[tuco]

Yep, just reciprocity problems...I have done some with my old Pentax 67, but so far I have preferred using digital.

I really need to buy a good equatorial mount.

He has as a large stash of E200 film. That was the film of choice apparently for this kind of work. I never shot it myself though. And for BW work, Acros really doesn't have any reciprocity to deal with either. Though a half a stop of extra exposure is recommended for exposures longer than 120 seconds.

[Ramiro Elena]

With my beloved Nikon F3.

Sant Gaudenci por rabato, en Flickr

Kids have such straight backs, don't they?

Darío en la playa por rabato, en Flickr