Night Sky/ Milky Way

[stapo49]

Hi all, need some advise on taking night sky/ milky way photos. I currently have a Panasonic GX9 and would like to take night sky/ milky way photos. I have been doing some research and have read that it is best to use a full frame /larger sensor. I am not interested in producing star trails.

I was hoping that people on the forum have had success with micro 4/3 sensors and night sky photography and can give me some tips? Cheers.

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[TCampbell]

You can adapt the basic guidelines to your camera by using the crop factor.

The basic rule (because there is a more complicated rule) is you start with a base value of 500. You divide this by the focal length of your lens. The result is the number of seconds you can expose with a camera on a stationary tripod... and not have elongated stars.

e.g.: If you were using a full-frame sensor camera (sensor is 36 x 24mm) and you had, say... a 14mm lens, it'd be 500 ÷ 14 = 35.7. So you can expose for about 36 seconds and not notice any elongation of the stars.

But you don't have a full frame camera. Your 4/3rds camera has a crop factor of 2.0x. If you divide 500 by the crop factor (2) the result is 250. Now you can divide 250 by the focal length or your lens ... that is the max time you should expose if you want to avoid elongated starts.

e.g: If you use a 10mm lens, then it's 500 ÷ 2.0 = 250. 250 ÷ 10mm = 25. So the longest you can expose with a 10mm lens is 25 seconds.

 

[BrentC]

This is one thing I haven't tried yet but it is more than doable with m43. Use a wide angle, fast lens f1.2-f2.8 and follow @TCampbell 's advice.

Here are samples of milky way with m43.

m43 milkyway - Google Search

 

[BrentC]

Funny enough yesterday I got Olympus email on tips of taking photos of the Perseid meteor shower this weekend. Take a read and it should help you out.

Photographing Meteor Showers | Olympus

 

[stapo49]

Thanks for the info guys. Very helpful.


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[Digital Matt]

I use a Canon 5D mk3 with a 17mm lens and generally shoot at ISO 4000, 30 seconds, f/4. It's digital. You can experiment, which is the best way to learn.

 

[jcdeboever]

I tried it on film. looked like a black, dusty negative. lol

 

[Digital Matt]

If the negative was black then you massively overexposed.

 

[stapo49]

I use a Canon 5D mk3 with a 17mm lens and generally shoot at ISO 4000, 30 seconds, f/4. It's digital. You can experiment, which is the best way to learn.

Thanks mate. I am not sure if you had an image attached? Sometimes all I see is a small square with a red cross through it. Not sure if this means the image didnt load properly or something?

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