Using ONLY an automatic digital camera, what's the best way of taking pictures of astrological stuff? No telescopes or zoom lens beyond 135mm. I can place the camera on a tripod and take long exposures (< 10 seconds). Current camera: Sony DSC-F828, but the question is really aimed at ANY digital camera.
Best answer:
Answer by Eugene N
Without a motor drive to follow the proper motion of the stars you won't get much more than streaks for the stars (star trails). Even so, you may have to push up the sensitivity of the CCD which will mean more noise. You can shoot the moon but you'll get a small image that you'll have to edit to a larger size. By the way, I think you mean astronomical and not astrological stuff.
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Open it up for the full 10 seconds. For that short a time, you will not need to track the stars with a motor drive.
ReplyDeleteNote that the full moon is MUCH brighter than even the brightest star, so a 10-sec exposure of the full moon will be overexposed. (You'll have to experiment to determine the exact exposure for the Moon; it depends on the sensitivity of the CCD inside the camera).
For stars, you will probably not get much at 10 seconds, unless you are at a very dark-sky site (rural area). But it's worth a shot.