Imaging The Night Sky With A DSLR Camera



About Imaging The Night Sky With A DSLR Camera

Astrophotography has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years and whilst ccd technology continues to make amazing advances the digital camera has opened a whole new world to amateur astronomers who are on a tight budget.

As the darker nights begin to get closer there are many more opportunities to capture some great shots of celestial bodies.

It may come as a surprise to many people just how much detail can be captured with a modest dlgital camera and sturdy tripod. In fact you can get some extremely good shots even without a telescope.

In order to capture as much detail as possible you will need to set your dslr to it's maximum resolution. Choosing the sensitivy level of you camera is the next step which is probably best set between ISO 400 - ISO 800.

Depending on the image you wish to capture you will want to adjust your shutter speed. Whilst most modern cameras will take exposures upto 30 seconds duration, several have a B setting enabling you to keep the shutter open for an indefinite period of time.

The trade off is that the longer the shutter is open the effects of the Earth's rotation will result in star trails. If this is the effect you want then great if not you will probably need to restrict your shutter speed to a maximum of 30 seconds.

It will also depend on the focal length of your camera lens, so a little experimentation will need to be done until you come up with the results you want.

Typically the most popular dslrs for astrophotograpy appear to be Canon and Nikon. Digital noise can also be a problem when attempting long exposure times so again some experimenting will need to be done to find a happy medium.

Once you're done you can use imaging software to enhance images to bring out the best contrast and color. It really is all upto you now,a dark clear night and somewhere free of light pollution is a good start.

Get clicking, and when your done send us your Astrophotography images to put on show.




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