The Milky Way

[ozimax]

I have been trying to take some quarter decent star photographs for years, with virtually no success. Here's an attempt from outside Tamworth last Saturday night, settings as follows:

Fuji XT-1 + 35mm F1.4 lens, ISO 1600, 8 sec exposure, jpg, manual focus, on tripod
image tweaked in Topaz Adjust 4

MilkyWay1 by Ozimax, on Flickr

I took some shots at 2,3,4 secs but they seemed too underexposed. Maybe there's some star experts out there who can enlighten me as to best Fuji settings for capturing these sorts of images? Thanks.

[zafra52]

It is a very nice picture. I like the colours as I look at it I wonder how is it I never see as many starts? Well done!

[Mr Darcy]

This looks to be a very good attempt Ozi.
I am puzzled though some of the stars show elongation due to the long exposure, even though I would have thought 8 sec too short for them on a 35mm lens, unless this is a crop or the camera has a tiny sensor. Also only the stars near the edge of the frame show it. Perhaps it's aberration caused by the lens.

One thing that works quite well for brightness is to take multiple short exposures and stack them on layers in Photoshop. Align them. Then use one of the layer blend modes. From memory, multiply, but I'll have to check my notes. Am away from my main computer ATM.

Try to take your photos on a cold clear calm moonless night. Movement of the air can cause distortions, and make sure you are as far from city lights as you can get. Tamworth should be ok though unless you are in the middle of town.

Giving up now. Ipad auto-incorrect is driving me crazy.

[Geoff M]

Maybe there's some star experts out there who can enlighten me as to best Fuji settings for capturing these sorts of images? Thanks.

I am hardly an expert but I have had some degree of success using Fuji gear for shooting the stars, see this thread http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=43919&p=453364&hilit=Milky+Way#p453364 which gives some detail about settings I used. As Greg states a wider focal length is the best choice, using your XF35 (53mm in 35mm terms) is too long. The longer the focal length the greater the chance of seeing star trails. There is a formula to use that provides the approx shutter speed needed at given aperture/focal length to prevent trails happening but not sure what it is, trial and error is a good rule of thumb! Try using the 18-55 @ 18mm, f2.8

[ozimax]

This looks to be a very good attempt Ozi.
I am puzzled though some of the stars show elongation due to the long exposure, even though I would have thought 8 sec too short for them on a 35mm lens, unless this is a crop or the camera has a tiny sensor. Also only the stars near the edge of the frame show it. Perhaps it's aberration caused by the lens.

One thing that works quite well for brightness is to take multiple short exposures and stack them on layers in Photoshop. Align them. Then use one of the layer blend modes. From memory, multiply, but I'll have to check my notes. Am away from my main computer ATM.

Try to take your photos on a cold clear calm moonless night. Movement of the air can cause distortions, and make sure you are as far from city lights as you can get. Tamworth should be ok though unless you are in the middle of town.

Giving up now. Ipad auto-incorrect is driving me crazy.

Thanks Greg. Last Saturday was a beautiful evening, far enough from the city to get a clear view of the skies, but it was very windy. I haven't tried the multiple shot/blend technique but will look at that next time I'm out west.

Thanks again for the comments.

[ozimax]

Maybe there's some star experts out there who can enlighten me as to best Fuji settings for capturing these sorts of images? Thanks.

I am hardly an expert but I have had some degree of success using Fuji gear for shooting the stars, see this thread http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=43919&p=453364&hilit=Milky+Way#p453364 which gives some detail about settings I used. As Greg states a wider focal length is the best choice, using your XF35 (53mm in 35mm terms) is too long. The longer the focal length the greater the chance of seeing star trails. There is a formula to use that provides the approx shutter speed needed at given aperture/focal length to prevent trails happening but not sure what it is, trial and error is a good rule of thumb! Try using the 18-55 @ 18mm, f2.8

Thanks Geoff. I will indeed try your suggestions at the next opportunity. I did read of a "formula" to determine the shutter speed, that being 500/FL eg 500/50mm gives a 10 second exposure. I have no idea whether or not this works in most situations.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[ozimax]

I am hardly an expert but I have had some degree of success using Fuji gear for shooting the stars, see this thread http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=43919&p=453364&hilit=Milky+Way#p453364 which gives some detail about settings I used.

Geoff, your Milky Way post images seem to have disappeared! Lost in space.

[Geoff M]

Geoff, your Milky Way post images seem to have disappeared! Lost in space.

My Zenfolio hosting site is currently undergoing maintenace, should be back by the morning.