Star trails

Hey guys,

 

I just saw a few photos on star trail photography and I was rather

intrigued by them. i have a Nikon D70S. Is it possible for me to

carry out star trail photography?? some of the exposure times used

for the photographs were from 3 -8 hrs! How do I achieve that?

 

thanks

There's a method called stacking, intended to be used for DSLRs in Star photography. But i'd get a lowly Nikon FM and shoot film.

you could always use a shutter release set your camera on bulb and lock it down for thta amount of time?

D70 is limited to 1 hour maximum exposure time and if conditions do not cooperate, you will not end up with a very good 1 hour exposure (you also need noise removal on). With noise-removal off, you are limited to a 30 minute maximum exposure.

 

With the heat generated in the sensors over this period of time (which can cause significant noise), while you CAN get star trails, it is simply easier and more effective to do the long exposure trick on a film camera.

You need REALLY dark skies to use 3-8 hours. For sure not around Dallas.

at the current state of the art, digital cameras aren't very good for long star trails. There's self-noise from heating of the chip (you can fight that by cooling the camera, while fighting condensation somehow. if you use the dark frame subtraction you'll have long gaps and a sleepless night), there's power limitations (you can get an AC power supply if you're near a power source). Currently it seems best to stick to 30min exposures on the D70 with noise reduction on, and pick up a cheap old manual camera for star trails. (And pray that you don't need to use your G lenses to do so.)

 

it sticks in my craw that the F100 will drain a set of AAs in four hours flat, while the comparable Canon (EOS3) locks up and draws no power during long exposures.

 

ps - check out Art Wolfe's "Edge Of The Earth, Corner Of The Sky" for some mindblowing star trail work

also, check out Dan Heller's tips: http://www.danheller.com/star-trails.html. Some good examples of what you can do with >30min exposures.

I paid $65 for a working Olympus OM1 with a non-working meter and 50mm lense for $65 from the 'Bay.

 

It has MLU and supposedly is one of the film champions if you ever decided to get more serious with astrophotography and mount it on a telescope.

 

Yashica FX3 and 50mm lense are even cheaper. Cable release with a lock in bulb mode works well too.

 

Both have decent quality lenses and require no batteries.

Andy,

WoW! Thanks for the link. Those bridge shots are exactly what I'm hoping to accomplish with the new bridge in Charleston. I love bridges and car trails and long exposure night shots.

You can choose from the following:<p>

Option A:<br>

Spend money on a Nikon AC power supply to prevent the D70 from draining the battery in

under 15 minutes (less if it's cold outside).<br>

Spend more money on the electronic cable release.<br>

Spend as long as your exposure taking dark frames<br>

Spend a few hours subtracting the dark frames from each image<br>

Spend a few hours aligning and stacking each image<br>

Realize your computer doesn't have enough RAM to handle the stacking of 10 6mpix

images simultaneously<p>

Total spend: a couple hundred bucks and countless hours<p>

Option B:<br>

Buy a cheap Nikkormat body on Ebay (preferably one that's broken) for $10-50<br>

Use your lens<br>

Buy one roll of Kodak E200 slide film ($8)<br>

Use a hatrick (remove lens cap, replace lens cap) for your exposure.<br>

Process film (telling lab NOT to cut)<p>

Total spend: $18-70 and only as long as it takes to actually TAKE PICTURES

D70 is limited to 30mins. I have tried with remote its 30mins. I think, if you use noise reduction its still 30min exposure but takes longer to proceess noise reduction.

 

If you keep your hand on the button or use something else you can use the shutter for how long you desire. This is inpractical for myself.

 

I have not tried stacking. But I can't be bothered taking 12 30min exposures. Using a AC adaptor I would assume it would provide unlimited power supply so the battery does not drain, but each exposure is probably gonna be 30min max as well, well yeah again, you can stick something on the button so you hold hte exposure for 6hr or whatever... but its not possible becos unless you live in the rural areas like farms and stuff, its just gonna be too bright and I don't live in the USA, with a population of 500,000 people.

 

Either drive out far away or going hiking and stay overnight in a tent or cabin.

 

PS: pop the shutter speed on bulb. Click to start but this is limited to 30mins, even if you don't reclick it on the body or with the remote the D70 automatically click off after 30mins by itself. Well yeah unless you stick something on the button ......

Use something like a Nikon Fm2n or a F3 or Fm3a would be ideal since no battery is needed and for these photography, star trails you don't rely on the meter anyway. If you pop on auto it won't tell you to go for 6hr... haha... its not that smart.

 

IMO, the electronic film cams with the issue of battery its too much fuss. Some film cams, may well do 6hr or such but its a waste buying one set of batteries for one shot or 2 shot and the risk of that the battery may just go flat and ruin that film of yours and not get a photo after you have travelled out for it.....

All you need is a Nikon body that has a working B

shutter setting and that is in focus, i.e. the mirror hasnt

been damaged, the camera hasnt had any bad impacts or

bayonet damage. This should not be difficult to find. A Nikkormat

FTn with a non-functional meter would be all you need. You should

be able to find one for less than $100.00. For $250.00 or less

you should find a nice working Nikon FE2. This will give you

standard TTL flash, aperture preferred and manual modes and a

manual B setting. A Nikkormat EL, EL-W or Nikon EL2 (AI

type) will work fine as will a Nikon F, F2, F3 and F4. Note that

G type lenses will only allow shooting at their minimum aperture

of f/16, f/22 or f/32. AF and AF-D lenses are fine.<br>

<br>

You will also need a Nikon AR-2 cable release for the old Leica

style shutter release found on the older Nikon F series bodies or

a Nikon AR-3 cable release with the standard or ISO (I think)

conical attachment for later Nikon cameras up to and including

the Nikon F3. These both have a locking collar to turn the B

setting into a T setting.<br>

<br>

I caution against a cable release with a finger screw lock as

these can get cold and loose their grip allowing the shutter to

close in the middle of the exposure.<br>

<br>

Digital is not the last word in photography. There are times

where film is clearly better. Im not anti-digital. I own a

Nikon D2H and would own a Nikon D2X if only. I would not use

either for very long exposures. Im not greatly impressed

with the D2H for night photography though I have not used it much

that way. My recommendation is a clean fully functional FM/FE

family camera such as the FE2 or FM2n. Excellent

condition as KEH.com uses would be fine with me. Some buy Bargain

grade and completely happy.<br>

<br>

Star trial photos can go from 30 minutes to as long as the sky is

dark. There is a limit when the sky is not really dark. You can

print down some but there is a limit to that also.<br>

<br>

Hope this helps,<br>

<br>

Dave Hartman.<br>

<br>

Attached is a photo showing the effects of a bright sky as well

as a clear dark one. The photo overlooks Palmdale, CA. It was hazy

in the valley but clear at high altitude. City lights brightened

the sky in the valley. Nikon FE2, 20/3.5 AIS Nikkor, 32 min. at f/4.0

on TX. There was a half moon. The negative was a bit thin and was

intensified Kodak selenium toner.<div></div>

I have been trying to achieve star trail photos with my canon 10d and have found that, even with stacking photos in Photoshop, the camera simply isn?t fast enough between shots, so I end up with star trails that have small but perceptible breaks in what should be continuous streaks of light. After doing a lot of research and experimentation, I have decided that the best way to get star trails is definitely with a film camera. Digital is just not up to the challenge yet. And yes, 6-8 hours is VERY long and would require a VERY dark sky (new moon phase, hours away from the ambient light of civilization). The photo below was taken far from any town in a very dark night and was only about a half hour exposure (and you can still see the red and green lights in the bottom right corner from a town about 20 miles away).<div></div>

You really don't need that long of a shutter opening to achieve good star trail photography. Anything longer than a minute will shows visible star trails. I was really trying to capture the northern lights in this shot but got lucky enought to have the star trails show.<div></div>

On a D70 with the current battery system - you dont.

 

Digital is probably not the best tool for ultra long exposures as these cameras are VERY battery dependant.

 

I use a Nikon F2 and Film for these types of shots as the F2 does not require battereis to function.

 

I have also used 4 F2's and loaded each one with BW film. The first three cameras get color filters. I use a specail holder on my tripod that allows me to point all four cameras at the same point in space.

 

After the four expoures are taken I scan them and subtract out the odd stuff that doesnt belong in hte images.