1

I'm planning to shoot star trails with My Nikon D90. I'm going to use a Nikkor 18-105 VR lens. I'd like to know the ideal settings for shooting star trails, including what type of white balance and metering to use.

Mark Whitaker
  • 8,900
  • 3
  • 42
  • 78
pinaldesai
  • 119
  • 1
  • 4
  • 1
    As long as possible :). Although the other setting I don't know – damned truths Dec 12 '12 at 07:02
  • I don't want to go For Long Exposure for shooting Trails. So looking for alternative settings – pinaldesai Dec 12 '12 at 08:08
  • @pinaldesai Surely you need the long exposure to give the star a chance to move in the frame? – Edd Dec 12 '12 at 08:42
  • Yes Edd, but not more then 30 Seconds. So looking for settings that will do justice to my frame within 30 Sec of stutter speed. – pinaldesai Dec 12 '12 at 08:48
  • possible duplicate of Tips for landscape+stars photography? – Imre Dec 12 '12 at 13:12
  • @Imre: the linked question has a comprehensive answer about star trails, but doesn't mention them in the question. It just asks for "tips".... – mattdm Dec 12 '12 at 15:32
  • 1
    @pinaldesai how on Earth (no pun intended) are you going to get a reasonable trail from a 30 second exposure. Have you thought of using "bulb" mode on your cam with a remote? – Rob Dec 12 '12 at 18:34
  • http://www.olegnovikov.com/technical/startrails/startrails.shtml - Last time I did it I did a 15 min exposure and this only produced smallish trails – Rob Dec 12 '12 at 18:36
  • I'm going to take multiple shots (say 160 + shots within 120 minutes) each with shutter speed of 30 Sec or less and will make stacking to generate star trail. – pinaldesai Dec 13 '12 at 06:49
  • It seems to me that it would be much simpler to do a thirty minute exposure instead of stacking hundreds of thirty second exposures. – J. Walker Dec 15 '12 at 16:55
  • @JWalker: with a single 30 minute exposure, you risk clipping the highlights and losing the distinction between different luminosities of each star. With a stacked approach, you get to keep all that information. I successfully tried multiple exposures in the 6-8 second range, with the camera in a continuous drive shooting mode. – Jono Dec 25 '12 at 09:45

2 Answers2

2

I've not done star trails but I've done a few moon shots.

Specific things for the D90 are that you need a very solid tripod as the D90 has no mirror lockup for shooting to prevent movement/vibration. Turn off the Long Exposure NR, VR on the lens autofocus and auto-iso. If you have a remote release like the ML3 then use that otherwise use the self timer.

If it's cold / frosty and you plan to be a while then try & insulate the back of the camera to keep the battery warm, ni-mh batteries don't appreciate the cold very much.

And have fun!

James Snell
  • 9,709
  • 25
  • 39
  • Mirror lockup isn't important for long exposures, as the mirror flapping vibration dies away within a few seconds, and the exposure will likely be for multiple minutes. Mirror lockup is only really important in the ~1/4 - ~5 second range. – Fake Name May 09 '13 at 09:05
  • It does die away, but from what I've gleaned from talks presented by Nik Szymanek (a widely published and respected amateur astronomer) it seems to be better to eliminate it where possible. – James Snell May 09 '13 at 21:26
2

Star Trail Photograph is one of the most challenging activity, I've learned it from here: http://www.jamesvernacotola.com/Resources/How-To-Photograph-Star-Trails/12233655_V7cX4D http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Learn-And-Explore/Article/h0ndzhvw/photographing-the-night-sky-star-trails.html

Jez'r 570
  • 2,298
  • 4
  • 29
  • 47