Chaz wrote:
I loved everything about this scene except the fact that it wasn't mine!
Delighted that it has come around again for another squint!
Bravo! CLAP!! CLAP!! CLAP!!
Hope a 40x60 (or whatever the proper aspect ratio is) of this is hanging somewhere!!
Thanks so much Chaz, I am glad you still like it, I am glad how this turned out. I am going to enter this one in a contest or two this year, so I will get a print for that.
somehow I missed this image when it was first posted - it is a beautiful image, congratulations.
On reading your initial post I realised you may hold the answer to a nagging question I have concerning the purchase of either a D610 or D800E for lowlight & night photography.
I have seen many posts concerning the Liveview on these two cameras which in summary seem to suggest the D600/610 has a much better LV than the D800/E AND using the D800/E LV for lowlight/night photography is almost impossible.
I would prefer the D800/E option but would really like to hear from someone that has both cameras and has used them for lowlight photography.
Your comments on the LV for both these cameras would be greatly appreciated.
This is a sick image. After seeing this image and another one by Matt Anderson, I have been reading a lot on how to take images of night sky, stars, etc. I have ordered skytracker and now on the verge of pulling the trigger on Celestron 8 Edge HD scope with advanced NX equatorial mount.
People like you should be banned from posting this kind of images as they are creating a lot of tension in my household over how much money should be spent on hobbies. Need I say more how impressive this image is?
lionking wrote:
On top of the world!
;-)
Well done!
What elevation was it?
Thank you! I am glad you liked it. This was probably about 10,000 feet up, perhaps a bit less. I don't recall off the top of my head, but somewhere in that vicinity.
somehow I missed this image when it was first posted - it is a beautiful image, congratulations.
On reading your initial post I realised you may hold the answer to a nagging question I have concerning the purchase of either a D610 or D800E for lowlight & night photography.
I have seen many posts concerning the Liveview on these two cameras which in summary seem to suggest the D600/610 has a much better LV than the D800/E AND using the D800/E LV for lowlight/night photography is almost impossible.
I would prefer the D800/E option but would really like to hear from someone that has both cameras and has used them for lowlight photography.
Your comments on the LV for both these cameras would be greatly appreciated....Show more →
I am glad you liked the shot, it was nice for someone to revive it again for a fresh look.
As for the cameras, if the choice is between the D600 and the D800... I would choose D800 all day, every day. If finances are an issue, the D600 is certainly very similar in terms of results from the sensor, the biggest difference is the ability to crop so much with the D800. That extra resolution is truly amazing.
As to the LV difference, well... umm... I never use LV... I am from the old school I guess, and I just focus the old fashion way. Typically, with night shots, you want to get the focus set before it gets dark, and then put some tape on the lens to lock it in. This is also where the D800 does have a distinct advantage over the D600, in that you can use the AF in almost pitch dark. So with the D800 if I do change compositions where the foreground distance has changed significantly and I feel the need to refocus... the D800 can do it pretty easily. The D600 will hunt as it's AF is not as good. Now, I do bring along a compact high powered flashlight to help with focusing at night, but I prefer not to use it unless I have to.
Back to LV real quick, while I don't really use it, I do use the LCD display to play back an image when I first set up to double check focus from my first test shot. And one real cool feature with the D800 that the D600 doesn't have is the ability to assign the center button to be 100% Display view. So it makes for a super fast way to zoom in to 100% and double check sharpness.
As for the D800 or D800E, I only got the D800E this last Christmas, and haven't done any critical checks to compare the two, but just from shooting both, there isn't much difference really. Get the D800E if you can, but you won't miss anything really with the D800.
unike wrote:
This is a sick image. After seeing this image and another one by Matt Anderson, I have been reading a lot on how to take images of night sky, stars, etc. I have ordered skytracker and now on the verge of pulling the trigger on Celestron 8 Edge HD scope with advanced NX equatorial mount.
People like you should be banned from posting this kind of images as they are creating a lot of tension in my household over how much money should be spent on hobbies. Need I say more how impressive this image is?
Ha ha.... I appreciate your comments so much! I am glad you like the shot.
Now, you do know that I didn't use any tracking device on this? Just a simple 25 or 30 sec exposure. I don't recall what the exact time was right now. Of course, I have seen some really cool shots here from people using the star trackers, but don't think it's necessary.
With regards to LV. I use several MF lenses so unfortunately AF is not always an option. From the standpoint of pinpoint stars I have found using the viewfinder almost impossible, especially if using a wide angle lens, hence the questions on the use of LV.
I do like the option of the 1.2 crop on the D800/E as it provides the option to frame panoramas in the field while eliminating the edge and corner lens distortions that can be a bigger issue when photographing stars as pinpoints.
beyondvisible wrote:
Thanks for your response Jim.
With regards to LV. I use several MF lenses so unfortunately AF is not always an option. From the standpoint of pinpoint stars I have found using the viewfinder almost impossible, especially if using a wide angle lens, hence the questions on the use of LV.
I do like the option of the 1.2 crop on the D800/E as it provides the option to frame panoramas in the field while eliminating the edge and corner lens distortions that can be a bigger issue when photographing stars as pinpoints.
With the D800 if you use a lot of manual lenses, you can buy other focusing screens for it, so you can use the viewfinder if you want.
But back to the stars, the best plan to getting sharp shots with the manual lenses then is simply to focus while there is still light. And tape the focus ring on the lens so it doesn't move. Then when it's dark out, your lens is already focused. in regards to the 1:2 format crop, I don't want to crop anything in camera. With me, the more stars I can cram into a scene the better! That's why I switched to shooting at 14mm a while back.
For me, edge or corner distortions have not been a big deal with shooting stars. But then, we are all different. I certainly want my shots to be sharp, but I am also not viewing my images with a magnifying glass. Unless something is so distorted or soft that it distracts at a normal viewing distance, I usually let it go.
I experimented with "taping" the focus but this doesn't work for all lenses (depends on glass type used) as infinity focus can change with temperature differential. This led me to trying out LV.
With regards to the 1.2 crop, I would normally agree with you but I accidentally left it out that I was referring to individual frames that would constitute a stitched panorama. In that case I would prefer work with image frames in which the corner lens aberrations have already been removed.
I am glad how this turned out. I am going to enter this one in a contest or two this year, so I will get a print for that.