Tools for Planning Milky Way Photography

What lens are you using?  Also, I need some tips on settings.

For the image above, I used the Nikkor 14-24mm (which I had rented). Lately I've been using the Nikkor 24-70mm and a Rokinon 14mm, which is remarkably cheap and surprisingly sharp. 

Settings…it depends on your camera and the lens, of course, but my standard settings have been the following: 

f/2.8 (because that's as wide as any of these lenses will go),

20" (sometimes longer, but not too much because the stars start streaking)

ISO 3200 (occasionally  higher)

These are the settings I start out with and then adjust as necessary. Hope that helps.

Thanks.

I tend to use the basic Weather Channel app for general weather info since it is quick and easy, but when I want more detail, I use the Intellicast app.  I've heard Weather Underground is good, but haven't tried it...

I definitely need to try this out...a couple of locations I visit regularly are in the middle of the "dark sky" spectrum so I'll give it a shot, but my current home is way too bright to worry about.  

Love the image!

Thanks, TBonz. I also have the Weather Channel app for general weather, and I find it fairly reliable. I will definitely check out Intellicast. I use Weather Underground on the desktop, but I haven't seen an app. It seems okay for details. 

If you're lucky enough to have a dark sky area near you, I hope you will give it a try sometime…though we are coming to the end of the season for really good Milky Way images…the central bulge is going to be pretty low on the horizon and will eventually disappear below the horizon for a few months. We've got some moonless nights coming up this weekend and into next week, so I think I'll try to get out once or twice. I'm hoping to try the Spiral Jetty again.

We were fortunate enough to be in Hawai'i in September and took a trip up to the summit of Mauna Kea, however we only had one travel tripod with us, so my better half commandeered it! I did not get a chance to try taking images myself, however, she did and although not great, she did get a couple that are usable. We had no idea before going to Hawai'i that we would get the opportunity so did not prepare and had no idea of settings - wish your post had come in before we went ;-)

We will definitely try again; we have an area in the south-west of Scotland that is a designated dark-sky area, however, I am sure it will be nowhere near as clear as being 13,500ft up Mauna Kea!

Hi Nicole, what exposure times do you tend to go for. I know it all depends on light and other conditions but as an average?. I'm looking to try some night shots out at the start of next year into Spring as I'm heading up to the North West of Scotland, should have some nice clear (non light polluted skies)

Ross, I'd love to shoot the Milky Way from Mauna Kea…someday perhaps!

Rob, it depends on what lens I'm using, but on average I generally start out with a 20-second exposure and go from there. With my 24-70 lens, I can't really go any longer than that or the stars start streaking. But with my 14mm I can stay open for 30 seconds (though 20 seconds is still where I start with that one too). Of course the aperture is always as wide open as I can get it, and these times are for those lenses on a full frame camera. 

David Kingham has a good blog post on the "rule of 500" that can help figure out exposure times here: http://www.davidking...oid-star-trails

Others say rule of 600, but I'm going with David on this one since he is so dang good at what he does. I'm thinking about taking a workshop with him next summer…but it's pricey!

Thanks Nicole. I've printed out his conversion chart. Was going to use my 50mm but looks like it'll be the 10-20mm at 14mm focal length. Also looked at dark sky finder, 2 hours drive gets me into a grey areaso should give good results.