Disappointed star Shoot

[Kwacker]

Went up to a great spot on Thursday to take some pictures of the shooting stars. Unfortunately the remote decided not to work so I couldn't keep the shutter open without holding the release button down. So I kew the shots would be all shakey and they were shakey.

So did any of you get decent shots?

[Simpo Two]

No self-timer setting?

[Gemm]

I think the OP means the bulb setting, so self-timer wouldn't have made any difference?

[gary71]

Two hours. 200+ exposures. Captured nothing. Saw three shooting stars. Two out of shot, one just as the shutter closed.

So I share your disappointment! Still, I got to stand in a field for a while...

[D4VE 3LL]

One from wales a few months ago. Billions of stars out though.

[pernod]

I managed to pick up one decent shot for my three nights effort... surprisingly hard to capture these little fellas!

Edited by pernod on Sunday 15th August 00:49

[baz7175]

Some Milky Way snapping tonight from me (lone weirdo standing on top of Hyu Mountain until after midnight when everyone else seemed to be getting drunk in the bars)...

[AndWhyNot]

OP - shooting stars are really tough to capture even if your camera's pointing right at them. Although they appear much brighter than the stars their movement means the light at any point in the sky/ any split second is much dimmer. ISO800 f/2.8 is the only time I've ever picked one up in a shot.

[quote=pernod]I managed to pick up one decent shot for my three nights effort... surprisingly hard to capture these little fellas!



Looks more like an iridium flare (sun's reflection off a satellite) to me

[pernod]

AndWhyNot said:

Looks more like an iridium flare (sun's reflection off a satellite) to me

I saw it enter the atmosphere so it's def a meteorite. Part of the reason it came out so bright on camera is because it left a debris trail that hung around for around 10 seconds fading slowly (as the Perseids are known to do).

[Dogsey]

Completely failed to capture any shooting stars, I'm not sure it was that good a show this year as despite being in a much lower light pollution area with completely cloudless skies I didn't see as many as last year.

Still, I did come away with one shot that I really liked.



Click for a link to the large size.

[Scott330ci]

I couldn't focus on the stars?

Saw around 15 shooting stars though.

[longun]

Scott330ci said:

I couldn't focus on the stars?

Saw around 15 shooting stars though.

Set the camera to infinity. You should have a marker on the lense for this. Be aware some lenese focus past infinity. Look for an 8 thats fallen over. Once on that setting you won't need to change it for photographing stars.

Some cameras go to infinity when turned on. So you could try turning the camera on then switching straight to manual focus.

What camera are you using?

[itsnotarace]

Scott330ci said:

I couldn't focus on the stars?

Your camera is in noob mode

[Scott330ci]

longun said:

Scott330ci said:

I couldn't focus on the stars?

Saw around 15 shooting stars though.

Set the camera to infinity. You should have a marker on the lense for this. Be aware some lenese focus past infinity. Look for an 8 thats fallen over. Once on that setting you won't need to change it for photographing stars.

Some cameras go to infinity when turned on. So you could try turning the camera on then switching straight to manual focus.

What camera are you using?

450d

[Scott330ci]

itsnotarace said:

Scott330ci said:

I couldn't focus on the stars?

Your camera is in noob mode

Gee Thanks ...

Exif here. What mode is the noob bit?

Camera Canon EOS 450D
Exposure 300
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
File Size 741 kB
File Type JPEG
MIME Type image/jpeg
Image Width 1024
Image Height 683
Encoding Process Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample 8
Color Components 3
X-Resolution 240 dpi
Y-Resolution 240 dpi
Date and Time (Modified) 2010:08:15 19:21:19
Artist Scott
Exposure Program Manual
Date and Time (Original) 2010:08:13 23:35:36.19+01:00
Date and Time (Digitized) 2010:08:13 23:35:36
Max Aperture Value 3.5
Subject Distance 4294967295 m
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Sub Sec Time Original 19
Sub Sec Time Digitized 19
Focal Plane X-Resolution 4865.60364464693 dpi
Focal Plane Y-Resolution 4876.71232876712 dpi
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode Manual
White Balance Auto
Scene Capture Type Standard
Compression JPEG (old-style)
By-line Scott
Viewing Conditions Illuminant Type D50
Measurement Observer CIE 1931
Measurement Flare 0.999%
Measurement Illuminant D65
XMPToolkit Adobe XMP Core 4.2-c020 1.124078, Tue Sep 11 2007 23:21:40
Creator Tool Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Lens ID 48
Image Number 0
Flash Compensation 0
Owner Name Scott
Legacy IPTCDigest 0D561A1E52337D5A89DAF1838BF19C94
Creator Scott
Color Transform YCbCr
Flash Return No return detection
Flash Mode Off
Flash Function False
Flash Red Eye Mode False

[gary71]

scott330i said:

Subject Distance 4294967295 m

I found the stars to be 4294967297 m away. Thats the problem!

Mine were far from sharp as well, I just blame the lens! ...and it was set to infinity.

Edited by gary71 on Monday 16th August 13:56

[itsnotarace]

Scott330ci said:

itsnotarace said:

Scott330ci said:

I couldn't focus on the stars?

Your camera is in noob mode

Gee Thanks ...

Exif here. What mode is the noob bit?

I don't think autofocus is reported in Exif

[Scott330ci]

itsnotarace said:

Scott330ci said:

itsnotarace said:

Scott330ci said:

I couldn't focus on the stars?

Your camera is in noob mode

Gee Thanks ...

Exif here. What mode is the noob bit?

I don't think autofocus is reported in Exif

I wasn't using autofocus.

[AndWhyNot]

Scott330ci said:

itsnotarace said:

Scott330ci said:

itsnotarace said:

Scott330ci said:

I couldn't focus on the stars?

Your camera is in noob mode

Gee Thanks ...

Exif here. What mode is the noob bit?

I don't think autofocus is reported in Exif

I wasn't using autofocus.

Infinity can be a bit hit and miss, use as a last resort. Instead, refer to http://dofmaster.com/doftable.html and select your settings - it'll tell you the hyperfocal distance which is the point beyond which everything will remain in focus. For the settings you used here (18mm and f/5.6) the hyperfocal distance is about 10ft so just use AF and aim at a streetlight or the moon. Obv if you're shooting at longer lengths or wider apertures you may have to focus further away but in those instances you'll prob find it easier to pick up AF on a bright star anyway.

[pernod]

Scott330ci said:

Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Hmmm, did you have IS turned off? Image Stabilisation and tripods don't play well together as at IS tried to correct camera shake which isn't actually there... leaving you with a slightly blurry image.

I've made this mistake more times than I care to admit, it's just so easy to forget.