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Archive 2016 · Dumb a7R astro questions

  
 
WestTexas Sky
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Dumb a7R astro questions


I find the foreground will often get enough light. If not try a longer exposure to blend. You can also light paint. Just be aware it takes very little light when working at high ISO. I have a Petzl headlamp with a single red LED that I can easily paint the foreground with.

And for an intervolometer a $20 Neewer is all you need. Does the job great. I used last weekend. Set my A7R with lens , set 240 exposures on the intervolometer of 30 seconds with a 1/second pause between each. Then let it run. Got a great time lapse of me roaming around with tripod while the galaxy spins above.

Stellarium will give you some good indication where the Milky Way will be. The Samyang 14mm is a good lens so you should be good.

Try different things and have fun.

Schlotkins wrote:
I actually have 2 A7r... maybe I'll set one up with star trails while I try to shoot non-star trails with the other.

OK a few more dumb questions:

1) For the foreground, do you usually take a super long exposure to blend in when it's completely dark or take one at dusk and then use that shot for the foreground? I guess you could use a spotlight or flashlight to try to light it up as well...

2) I'm using Stellarium with the GPS of where I am going to be to get times/compass direction for the MW. So for
...Show more



Aug 09, 2016 at 10:15 AM
dgdg
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Dumb a7R astro questions


Schlotkins wrote:
3) Any suggestions on lanterns/head lights? I ordered a Intervalometer as suggested.

Thanks again for all your super helpful comments!
Chris


After getting lost once at night, I got a real flash light that could have prevented a longer night out enjoying the stars.

This headlamp is very bright and portable.
http://www.sbflashlights.com/Spark-ST6-500CW-p106.html

I carry a spare cree super-high lumen flashlight as well. Ebay is a great source for these.




Aug 09, 2016 at 11:47 AM
Schlotkins
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Dumb a7R astro questions


dgdg wrote:
After getting lost once at night, I got a real flash light that could have prevented a longer night out enjoying the stars.

This headlamp is very bright and portable.
http://www.sbflashlights.com/Spark-ST6-500CW-p106.html

I carry a spare cree super-high lumen flashlight as well. Ebay is a great source for these.



Great thanks - what red light solution do you use?
Chris



Aug 09, 2016 at 11:56 AM
dgdg
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Dumb a7R astro questions


I have a Black Diamond Icon headlamp
http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/headlamps-and-lanterns/icon-headlamp-BD620617ALUMALL1.html#cgid=lighting&start=3

or
http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/headlamps-and-lanterns/icon-polar-headlamp-BD620616ALUMALL1.html#cgid=lighting&start=4

It switches to red or a reasonably bright white light.
Brightness is adjustable.



Aug 09, 2016 at 12:34 PM
pizdets17
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Dumb a7R astro questions


hey, with taking the foreground earlier, how do you make sure its the right area for where MW will be?

dgdg wrote:
OK a few more dumb questions:

1) For the foreground, do you usually take a super long exposure to blend in when it's completely dark or take one at dusk and then use that shot for the foreground? I guess you could use a spotlight or flashlight to try to light it up as well...

Super long night time foreground shots usually don't look that good IMO. I avoid them.
Some people are very good at light painting. I'm not one of them. It's a skill and the better shots I see involve multiple static lights, not flash lights or car lights. I
...Show more




Aug 09, 2016 at 03:55 PM
dgdg
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Dumb a7R astro questions


You need a map and an app like stellarium or sky safari. A little scouting or more than one night on location helps.
Sometimes the Photographers Ephemeris is nice. A fancy app that takes a little time to learn is PlanIt which can show the milky way with a topo map at eye level.



Aug 09, 2016 at 05:21 PM
pizdets17
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Dumb a7R astro questions


I have Star Walk, this should work I think


Aug 09, 2016 at 06:12 PM
Gary Clennan
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Dumb a7R astro questions


I use PlanIt which is awesome. I also want to commend the contributors and their detailed posts here. I have learned so much and truly appreciate it.


Aug 09, 2016 at 06:59 PM
WestTexas Sky
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Dumb a7R astro questions


Most cameras today can do it. I use my NEX 6 and tiny 8mm fisheye Samyang lens and get great results. I will go as high as iso 6400 with it and love the results.

Get out in the dark and have fun.

One last thing, as several people have posted about lights. Take at least two. I take my Petzl Tikka Plus headlamp a small Coast HX5 flashlight, and a bigger 500 lumens Duracell light I got at Costco as it has a nice adjustable beam that makes for a great lightsaber for a selfie...... 😀



Aug 09, 2016 at 08:52 PM
Landscapist
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Dumb a7R astro questions


dgdg wrote:
I did and for the A7r1 (first google page) I don't see it listed where one can shoot at 800 ISO, 30 secs, then push it to 3200 ISO and have nearly equivalent detail and noise.
At 100 ISO, I certainly enjoy pushing landscape shadows liberally even though bracketing still provides a little more detail. At higher ISOs?
Although I already have tried and true advice for our OP, I'm interested in learning more. Since you have researched this already, could you provide your link or post relevant examples? It would open new doors for me with astro.

David



Is the Sony a7R ISOless?



Aug 09, 2016 at 11:22 PM
dgdg
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Dumb a7R astro questions


Very interesting curves. Thanks for the link!
Since I'm fine with the way I'm shooting, as far as results, I have not looked much into this.
I digress a bit here with idle curiosity as I don't think it will affect my shooting. Having an open mind is still important.

For the scientifically minded, there must be some other variables. Sometimes thinking in extremes helps to understand the middle.
For a relevant example:
At 800 iso, pushing my exposure 2-3-4 stops reproducibly fails to show any meteor trails that occurred in the field of view.
If I however make only two changes - set iso to 5000 and reduce shutter time proportionately, the meteors are properly exposed.

Many of us including myself have seen A7r1 images with regions that appear black, but after we push them, look terrific. There has to be some limit to where underexposure captures essentially nothing and at this point the sensor is not technically ISOless. With meteors, I have found a breakpoint where the "ISOless" nature of the sensor no longer applies. It works well much of the time. Astronomers with their fancy cameras are able to push and stretch an amazing amount of astronomical detail from an image that initially looks quite black. Yet I cannot do this with a simple meteor on my A7r1.
How do we draw a new ISOless curve that shows this phenomena?


David



Aug 10, 2016 at 07:43 AM
Schlotkins
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Dumb a7R astro questions


Thanks again for all the wonderful comments. I am ready go have some fun.

I'm actually ordering everything up I need today. Any suggestions on an LED lamp for light painting? I assume I want something that sprays wide but can also be pretty dim.

Thanks!
Chris



Aug 10, 2016 at 10:07 AM
Gary Clennan
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Dumb a7R astro questions


Schlotkins wrote:
Thanks again for all the wonderful comments. I am ready go have some fun.

I'm actually ordering everything up I need today. Any suggestions on an LED lamp for light painting? I assume I want something that sprays wide but can also be pretty dim.

Thanks!
Chris


I use Phenix tactical type lights for the size to power ratio. I actually prefer a powerful (yet dimmable) light with a beam width that can be adjusted. I almost always use the lowest power setting with a focused beam. My light also has an optional diffuser I bought off Ebay that works great.



Aug 10, 2016 at 11:11 AM
Gary Clennan
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · Dumb a7R astro questions


dgdg wrote:
Very interesting curves. Thanks for the link!
Since I'm fine with the way I'm shooting, as far as results, I have not looked much into this.
I digress a bit here with idle curiosity as I don't think it will affect my shooting. Having an open mind is still important.

For the scientifically minded, there must be some other variables. Sometimes thinking in extremes helps to understand the middle.
For a relevant example:
At 800 iso, pushing my exposure 2-3-4 stops reproducibly fails to show any meteor trails that occurred in the field of view.
If I however make only two changes - set iso
...Show more

Looks like there may be the possibility of clear sky here on Friday night for the show. What do you recommend as a good starting point for capturing meteors? Seems like shortest possible SS would be best? I'm thinking of just letting the camera(s) run for a few hours and see what I can capture...



Aug 10, 2016 at 11:14 AM
dgdg
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · Dumb a7R astro questions


You're lucky Gary. I've got the east coast cloud cover blues.

Shutter speed only affects overall exposure and the number of meteors you may catch per frame. It's all about aperture and iso.
For dark skies I'd start with iso 5000 and f/2.8 to capture the meteors. Adjust your iso based on the first few captures. I'd try for shutter speed of 15-30 secs depending on your focal length.
You've posted some great astro landscapes here on FM. Can't wait to see what you do with the Perseids!

David



Aug 10, 2016 at 03:27 PM
Gary Clennan
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · Dumb a7R astro questions


dgdg wrote:
You're lucky Gary. I've got the east coast cloud cover blues.

Shutter speed only affects overall exposure and the number of meteors you may catch per frame. It's all about aperture and iso.
For dark skies I'd start with iso 5000 and f/2.8 to capture the meteors. Adjust your iso based on the first few captures. I'd try for shutter speed of 15-30 secs depending on your focal length.
You've posted some great astro landscapes here on FM. Can't wait to see what you do with the Perseids!

David


Thanks! How about a tracked image in 5 minute intervals? I assume I would then be capturing as many as possible with longer "tails/streaks"? Not exactly sure how fast they move through the sky though....



Aug 10, 2016 at 04:09 PM
dgdg
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · Dumb a7R astro questions


Meteors visibly last a second or less except for fireballs which may last a couple seconds longer.
The problem with tracking for 5 minutes is the resulting iso at f/2.8 is approx 800 or at iso 3200+ you'll be over exposed for everything else. You'll have to play with it and see what you get. Realize capturing meters is based on iso and aperture. When I get the chance for another shower, I'll takeep one 4min tracked shot for the background, then drop down to 30sec and iso 5000 for the meteors.

The Perseids are active now, just not at their peak. You could play with the settings tonight.

David



Aug 10, 2016 at 05:44 PM
dgdg
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · Dumb a7R astro questions


From the A7r1 this weekend.
Somehow I lucked out with perfectly clear skies until the fog rolled in around 4 am.

http://davidsphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v8/p1917025139-5.jpg

Edited on Aug 15, 2016 at 08:08 PM · View previous versions



Aug 15, 2016 at 02:50 PM
Gary Clennan
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · Dumb a7R astro questions


dgdg wrote:
From the A7r1 this weekend.
Somehow I lucked out with perfectly clear skies until the fog rolled in around 4 am.

http://davidsphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s7/v156/p2120995255-5.jpg


Protected?




Aug 15, 2016 at 07:10 PM
dgdg
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · Dumb a7R astro questions


Why do I always do that?

How about now?



Aug 15, 2016 at 08:09 PM
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