first of all I use nikon d700 and I need some help taking star trail pics.
I'm using the interval mode on D700. taking multiple 30second shots and combining them with a program. below is my first attempt of star trail picture which was taken yesterday at Montauk, LI.




lens: voigtlander 20mm
aperture f4
iso 800
138 pics

i'm satisfied, considering it's my first startrail pic lol

i don't know if those setting were ideal..i just picked them after researching beforehand online..
my main question is "do i focus to infinity?" and "what about noise reduction?"
and if I want to take stationary star pictures how should my settings be? maybe 10-15second shutter speed with higher ISO? i have no clue..

if you guys have any other tips that would be great...and I think i'm gonna buy a fisheye lens soon. haha

First of all, don't use such a high ISO. Try to keep it at 200. I typically focus at infinity, but if your lens doesn't have a hard infinity stop (your Voigtlander probably does?) then make sure you manually set it right at infinity.

I use tungsten white balance to get a blue shift in the colors, I think it looks nicer.

Stationary star pics are a lot tougher, usually you need a very fast lens to get enough light to expose the stars enough to get them to show up, yet not move in position.

I've found that newer cameras (my old D300, for instance) don't need long exposure NR on to get clean shots, but older ones certainly do. I ruined a long exposure star trail image with my S5 by not having long exposure NR on, and it got too cold after to do another one so I was pretty bummed.

Here's one I did on my D300 using a 10ish minute exposure

oh you use bulb mode. but if you turn long exposure NR on it takes as much as the exposure time to process right? i like taking multiple 30s shots because if a unwanted light comes up in a picture i can just omit that picture..but then actually the star trail might disconnect in that case..i guess you just need to find a really good spot where no light can disturb you lol

i really like your 1st shot~ never thought about shooting thru branches. i might try that next time lol
thanks for all your tips!

Yeah, I don't even bother trying for startrails unless I KNOW for a fact that no stray light is gonna get in. That first shot was taken way north in Minnesota at my uncle's cabin in the middle of nowhere.

And yes, long exposure NR doubles the time that it takes to take and process the image to your CF card. Honestly, I with the results I got from my D300 using a straight up 10 minute exposure, I wouldn't bother turning it on because the image is clean enough. Though it was rather chilly, so the outside temperature could've been cooling the sensor enough to keep it from generating excess noise.

i see..didn't know noise was directly related to temperature. well i might go out tomorrow night (if sky is clear per weather.com) and try again. i can't use bulb mode because I don't have a release cable lol and i just borrowed my friend's dad's tripod so I want to use it as much as I can before I return it to him on saturday haha..need to buy a release and a tripod soon...and a fisheye lens...damn it!! i get addicted to new stuff so easily!

I use ISO 100 or 200 and Long Exposure NR "on". Otherwise my 40D will give me hot pixels. Use Bulb. Your star trails aren't straight continuous lines. It must be all the merged images. I use a TC-80N3 remote that can lock down the button (or program it for a certain exposure length). Be VERY careful of stray light- use a lens hood. Work on the foreground subjects a little (although the lighting is nice on yours). Here are some of mine. You said this is your first try? Great job. It is much better than where I started.

Dpic_arctic wrote:
I use ISO 100 or 200 and Long Exposure NR "on". Otherwise my 40D will give me hot pixels. Use Bulb. Your star trails aren't straight continuous lines. It must be all the merged images. I use a TC-80N3 remote that can lock down the button (or program it for a certain exposure length). Be VERY careful of stray light- use a lens hood. Work on the foreground subjects a little (although the lighting is nice on yours). Here are some of mine. You said this is your first try? Great job. It is much better than where I started.

thanks, i will give bulb mode a try..how long should i set it for? like 30min? i guess longer since my picture is roughly 70minutes worth of shots.
and it would take another 30min for NR right? that's a long time to wait lol.
yeah foreground is very important. the light shining on the truck was orangish but to make it blend with the sky i changed WB a little to make it look white.
anyway thanks for your tip~

btw, awesome pictures. so clean and i like the foreground. it's hard to find a good spot with a nice foreground, and since I live right across the city (i'm in NJ) i need to drive at least an hour away to see decent amount of stars..i guess i just need to keep searching for a nice spot..

This should help you out. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/725769

Dpic_arctic wrote:
I use ISO 100 or 200 and Long Exposure NR "on". Otherwise my 40D will give me hot pixels. Use Bulb. Your star trails aren't straight continuous lines. It must be all the merged images. I use a TC-80N3 remote that can lock down the button (or program it for a certain exposure length). Be VERY careful of stray light- use a lens hood. Work on the foreground subjects a little (although the lighting is nice on yours). Here are some of mine. You said this is your first try? Great job. It is much better than where I started.

jaehoppa wrote:
thanks, i will give bulb mode a try..how long should i set it for? like 30min? i guess longer since my picture is roughly 70minutes worth of shots.
and it would take another 30min for NR right? that's a long time to wait lol.
yeah foreground is very important. the light shining on the truck was orangish but to make it blend with the sky i changed WB a little to make it look white.
anyway thanks for your tip~

btw, awesome pictures. so clean and i like the foreground. it's hard to find a good spot with a nice foreground, and since I live right across the city (i'm in NJ) i need to drive at least an hour away to see decent amount of stars..i guess i just need to keep searching for a nice spot..


Thanks for the compliments. I try anything from 5 minutes to almost 2 hours (then my battery dies). It just takes experimenting to get the effect you want. Yes, unfortunately you do have wait for the NR for as long as the actual exposure was. The remote shutter release I use can be programmed (I use Canon, it was a total coincidence I was on the Nikon forum), so I set the camera to Bulb mode, set the exposure for 30 minutes on the remote (for ex.) and set the interval between shots for about 30 minutes (so it has time to perform NR) and set it to take 5 shots (I set it longer than I know the battery will last, so I get the max. no. of shots I can out of the battery charge). So, after I have these settings down, it will go like this:

1: 30 minute exposure
2: 30 minute interval (NR is performed in this interval)
...and it does this either 5 more times (for those particular settings), or until the battery is dead, which ever comes first. I love using this programmable remote because I can set up the camera and everything and go to bed. It usually works very well. If you live in an area with significant condensation, you might have to clean off the lens during NR. If the image is a drab grey, condensation is likely the problem (or the lens cap might still me on ).

I recommend using a battery grip or a continuous power source (cord), and DO NOT use any kind of filter. It will create distinct circular patterns in the photo. Note that when you use one long continuous exposure, it will not be as contrasty as it was in your photo. The sky might be a bluish or brown or green, etc. (as you might have noticed in my photos). I live close to a smaller city, so I like to point away from the minor light pollution. If you want to get the contrast that you had in your photo, then I recommend stacking short exposures (a couple minutes) without NR, so you get continuous trails. What software did you use to stack those images? Also, try pointing at Polaris. It is really cool how it is almost stationary and all of the stars seem to rotate around it. (If you want to know more about this, search for "North Celestial Pole" (NCP). NASA should have some good articles on it. There is also a South Celestial Pole if you're in that hemisphere, but it has no significant star marking it) Keep in mind that if you point towards the NCP the trails will be shorter. If you point away from the NCP, the trails will be longer. What may take 5 minutes pointing south, may take 10-15+ minutes pointing north to get the same length of trails.

I hope that helped a bit.

Eli

Edit:P.S. I do focus on infinity almost all the time.

the best ever advice given to the whole community is in that thread link above, posted by MYWEH.

a sure MUST read

s

Dpic_arctic wrote:
Dpic_arctic wrote:
I use ISO 100 or 200 and Long Exposure NR "on". Otherwise my 40D will give me hot pixels. Use Bulb. Your star trails aren't straight continuous lines. It must be all the merged images. I use a TC-80N3 remote that can lock down the button (or program it for a certain exposure length). Be VERY careful of stray light- use a lens hood. Work on the foreground subjects a little (although the lighting is nice on yours). Here are some of mine. You said this is your first try? Great job. It is much better than where I started.

jaehoppa wrote:
thanks, i will give bulb mode a try..how long should i set it for? like 30min? i guess longer since my picture is roughly 70minutes worth of shots.
and it would take another 30min for NR right? that's a long time to wait lol.
yeah foreground is very important. the light shining on the truck was orangish but to make it blend with the sky i changed WB a little to make it look white.
anyway thanks for your tip~

btw, awesome pictures. so clean and i like the foreground. it's hard to find a good spot with a nice foreground, and since I live right across the city (i'm in NJ) i need to drive at least an hour away to see decent amount of stars..i guess i just need to keep searching for a nice spot..


Thanks for the compliments. I try anything from 5 minutes to almost 2 hours (then my battery dies). It just takes experimenting to get the effect you want. Yes, unfortunately you do have wait for the NR for as long as the actual exposure was. The remote shutter release I use can be programmed (I use Canon, it was a total coincidence I was on the Nikon forum), so I set the camera to Bulb mode, set the exposure for 30 minutes on the remote (for ex.) and set the interval between shots for about 30 minutes (so it has time to perform NR) and set it to take 5 shots (I set it longer than I know the battery will last, so I get the max. no. of shots I can out of the battery charge). So, after I have these settings down, it will go like this:

1: 30 minute exposure
2: 30 minute interval (NR is performed in this interval)
...and it does this either 5 more times (for those particular settings), or until the battery is dead, which ever comes first. I love using this programmable remote because I can set up the camera and everything and go to bed. It usually works very well. If you live in an area with significant condensation, you might have to clean off the lens during NR. If the image is a drab grey, condensation is likely the problem (or the lens cap might still me on ).

I recommend using a battery grip or a continuous power source (cord), and DO NOT use any kind of filter. It will create distinct circular patterns in the photo. Note that when you use one long continuous exposure, it will not be as contrasty as it was in your photo. The sky might be a bluish or brown or green, etc. (as you might have noticed in my photos). I live close to a smaller city, so I like to point away from the minor light pollution. If you want to get the contrast that you had in your photo, then I recommend stacking short exposures (a couple minutes) without NR, so you get continuous trails. What software did you use to stack those images? Also, try pointing at Polaris. It is really cool how it is almost stationary and all of the stars seem to rotate around it. (If you want to know more about this, search for "North Celestial Pole" (NCP). NASA should have some good articles on it. There is also a South Celestial Pole if you're in that hemisphere, but it has no significant star marking it) Keep in mind that if you point towards the NCP the trails will be shorter. If you point away from the NCP, the trails will be longer. What may take 5 minutes pointing south, may take 10-15+ minutes pointing north to get the same length of trails.

I hope that helped a bit.

Eli

Edit:P.S. I do focus on infinity almost all the time.

thank you very much for your detailed info.

if you use bulb mode with 30min exposure with 30min interval for NR your star trail must have gaps in between. i'm just sticking to taking 30second pictures using interval mode on my D700 and stacking it using this free program that I downloaded online. main reason is because I don't have a cable release so i can't use bulb mode lol. well i'm going out tonight for another try.
i'm probably gonna set aperture to about f4-5 and iso around 400. and take about 100 photos, each 30 seconds. hopefully it'll come out alright. i will post it here if it comes out decent.lol
again thanks for your help.

if you use bulb mode with 30min exposure with 30min interval for NR your star trail must have gaps in between.

I don't stack those exposures, so no, they don't have gaps. If I did stack them they would have gaps. I think I might try what you're doing tonight, and stack a bunch of photos. I just downloaded Registax, and I'm going to see how that works. Also, another tip: I always use RAW to shoot star trails. It offers more adjusting afterwards. Post what you get. I'd be glad to see!

Dpic_arctic wrote:
if you use bulb mode with 30min exposure with 30min interval for NR your star trail must have gaps in between.

I don't stack those exposures, so no, they don't have gaps. If I did stack them they would have gaps. I think I might try what you're doing tonight, and stack a bunch of photos. I just downloaded Registax, and I'm going to see how that works. Also, another tip: I always use RAW to shoot star trails. It offers more adjusting afterwards. Post what you get. I'd be glad to see!

yes, if you stack them you will have gaps. however this is due to the layering technique used, which is the `lighten` mode and is also used by the majority of online stackers.
if however you have read the link that was posted above, you would of noted the inclusion of using the screen mode during the layering. by using a combination of both on alternate layers the gaps will be filled in.

if you look at my site the tutorial is also posted there and a sample of my work using the above discribed tec,

simon

A couple of pointers:

Get one of those little LED key-chain lights that locks on, make sure it has fresh batteries. Hang it from the tripod, making sure the light does not shine into or illuminate anything in the exposure. This makes finding the tripod in the pitch dark much easier after a few hours of exposure.

Because stars are point-sources of light, aperture does not affect the apparent brightness of the stars. It does, however, affect the apparent size of the stars, or the width of the startrails. I set my aperture to get the foreground (if present) and stars in focus, and use a hyperfocal table to determine the proper POF.

Turn off VR!!! For some reason, VR lenses (sometimes even with VR off) will display a diffuse red band, bands, or cross in long nighttime exposures. We had a thread here regarding this problem a year or so back, and it does seem to happen with all VR lenses that were out at that time. It's definitely a problem with the 70-200 VR and the 18-200 VRII. If you've never used a particular lens for nighttime long exposure, test it before you waste a long night out in the cold. It doesn't take too long to run the test--a couple of minutes--just put a lightproof bag over the lens and shoot a long exposure at a fairly high ISO (400-800). If your lens has this problem, it'll be obvious in the test exposure.

18-200 VR, VR on, ISO 800 ~10 minutes:

Timm wrote:
A couple of pointers:

Get one of those little LED key-chain lights that locks on, make sure it has fresh batteries. Hang it from the tripod, making sure the light does not shine into or illuminate anything in the exposure. This makes finding the tripod in the pitch dark much easier after a few hours of exposure.





I wrap one of those GlowStick things around my tripod leg. At least, when the temperature is above 40F.


Kent in SD

The red light on the back of my camera works pretty well (oops, I'm in the Nikon forum, it's on my EOS 40D anyway, maybe not the Nikons...).

Two23 wrote:
Timm wrote:
A couple of pointers:

Get one of those little LED key-chain lights that locks on, make sure it has fresh batteries. Hang it from the tripod, making sure the light does not shine into or illuminate anything in the exposure. This makes finding the tripod in the pitch dark much easier after a few hours of exposure.





I wrap one of those GlowStick things around my tripod leg. At least, when the temperature is above 40F.


Kent in SD

Never had that problem, but I guess I'm glad I got those night vision goggles now

Timm wrote:
A couple of pointers:

Get one of those little LED key-chain lights that locks on, make sure it has fresh batteries. Hang it from the tripod, making sure the light does not shine into or illuminate anything in the exposure. This makes finding the tripod in the pitch dark much easier after a few hours of exposure.

Two23 wrote:
I wrap one of those GlowStick things around my tripod leg. At least, when the temperature is above 40F.


Kent in SD

Tmeck wrote:
Never had that problem, but I guess I'm glad I got those night vision goggles now


Glow sticks are a little cheaper though.

(i was gonna upload 2 pics but for reason I can only link one picture..)

i took this picture last night..the trees were completely dark but a police car came when i was taking the last shot, to kick us out, thus lit up the trees which made the picture more interesting..i was gonna post the one with dark trees but for some reason can't upload two pics...(from photobucket)...total of 72pics were merged.
i think it's better than my first try at least lol.

This shot is MUCH better than your first shot. The light on the trees actually turned out very well...what a coinicidence lol. What was your focal length, aperture, ISO, etc.?