Astrophotography Camera Gear

 

Your Camera: Basics of Photography

 

Cameras and lenses and agood tripod are essential tools for capturing the night sky.

 

 

DSLR or Mirrorless Cameras

Full-frame cameras offer the best results for astrophotography, as they gather more light and provide better low-light performance.

 

 

Popular models include the Canon EOS R and Nikon D850. However, a crop sensor camera will also do quite nicely. I began and still use, a Nikon D5500 which was an affordable option about 10 years ago. My D5500 is used most nights attached to a telescope to take quick  30 seconds to 1 minute photos.

 

 

Camera Lenses

A wide-angle lens with a low f-stop (f/2.8 or lower) is ideal for capturing wide-field shots of the night sky, such as the Milky Way.

For deepshy images (such as  the Orion nebula, a telephoto lens or telescope will be more appropriate.

 

 

Filters:

Although not initially required, filters can be a nice (and usually expensive) addon for improved imaging.

 

• Light-pollution filters can help improve the quality of your shots if you're shooting in urban areas with artificial light.

• Narrowband filters are great for capturing nebulae and other emission nebulae in deep-sky astrophotography.

 

 

The Basics

Understanding the fundamentals of photography will greatly help when shooting in low-light conditions. The three core elements, or "pillars" of photography are:

 * Aperture

 * Shutter Speed

 * ISO

Aperture

Aperture is the opening in your lens that lets light into your camera. Think of it like the pupil in your eye—it expands and contracts depending on the lighting conditions.

 

 * Wide Aperture (f/1.8): Your "eyes" are wide open, letting in more light.

 * Small Aperture (f/22): Your "eyes" are squinted, letting in less light.

 

Aperture not only controls how much light hits your sensor but also affects depth of field (how much of the image is in focus). The lower the f-number (e.g., f/1.8), the more light you let in, and the shallower the depth of field. Higher f-numbers (e.g., f/11) reduce light and increase the depth of field.

 

Think of it like fractions:

*  f/2.8 = lots of light (wide open)

 * f/22 = little light (closed)

So, in low light, open your aperture wide (like f/2.8) to let in as much light as possible for a night landscape photo that beings out the stars.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed controls two things:

 1. Exposure: How bright or dark your photo is.

 2. Motion Blur: Whether moving subjects are frozen or blurred.

The shutter is a curtain that opens when you press the shutter button, allowing light to hit the camera sensor. The speed at which the shutter opens and closes is called shutter speed.

• Fast Shutter Speed (e.g., 1/1000s): Freezes motion (e.g., fast-moving subjects like cars or athletes).

• Slow Shutter Speed (e.g., 1/2s): Captures motion blur (e.g., waterfalls, running water).

Longer shutter speeds (slow) are useful for shooting in low light or for creative effects like motion blur. For example, shooting the night sky or the Milky Way often requires a slow shutter speed and a tripod to prevent camera shake.

 

Try this:

 1. Take a photo of a waterfall or sprinkler with a fast shutter speed, then repeat with a slower one.

 2. At night, try the same technique with a tripod while photographing the night sky.
     Compare your shots to understand the effects of shutter speed.

Another great and fun way to play with shutter speeds is night traffic. Find a highway one night and from a safe viewing point, set up your tripod and camera and have a play. Try a 30 second photograph, play with ISO and Aperature to get long red streaks from tail lights and bright white lines from head lights.

ISO

ISO is the setting that controls the brightness of your photo. Increasing ISO makes your image brighter, which can be helpful in low-light situations. However, higher ISO also introduces noise (graininess), which can degrade the quality of the image.

 

 * Low ISO (e.g., 100): Clean, sharp images in bright light.

 * High ISO (e.g., 6400 or more): Brightens images in low light, but may introduce noise.

 

The trade-off
Only increase ISO if you can’t adjust your aperture or shutter speed to brighten the image. For night photography, you might need a higher ISO to capture details, like stars.

For example, I’ve shot at ISO 10,000 for low-light scenes, and it turned out okay, but at ISO 64,000, the image was too noisy (grainy).

 

Tips:

 * In moonlit conditions, look at keeping ISO between 200-1600 depending on the moon phase and brightness on the night. 

 * On a very dark night with no moon, you can push ISO higher.

Summary

 * Aperture: Controls light and depth of field (wide for more light, small for less).

 * Shutter Speed: Controls motion blur (fast freezes, slow adds blur).

 * ISO: Controls brightness and noise (higher ISO for low light but beware of noise).

By understanding these three settings, you can make informed decisions to improve your photography, especially in challenging lighting conditions!