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Milky Way and Night Photography

aperture exposure

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3 replies to this topic

#1
Saffa Ben

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I would like to try to take some night photography - specifically the milky way.  I do not want star trails, so am limited by the Rule of 500.  I have two lenses.  A Nikon 35mm f1.8 and a Nikon 10-24mm f3.5-4.5, and am shooting with a Nikon D7000.

 

Using the rule of 500 and the 1.5 crop factor, I know that the max exposure time I have before I get a star trail is about 9 seconds for the 35mm lens and about 33 seconds for the 10-24mm lens.

 

What I would really like to know is, is there a graph / chart that I can use to compare or tell me how much light would enter the lens, over the different exposure times, so that I would know what lens would be best to use?  Or put another way - would more light enter the 35mm lens at f1.8 over 9 seconds, than would enter the 10-24mm lens at f3.5 over 33 seconds?

 

I'm going to test both - anyway - but it would be nice to know.

 

Any advice appreciated.


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#2
Merco_61

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f/1.8 is 1/3 of a step faster than f/2 and f/3.5 is 1/3 of a step faster than f/4. This means that the difference in light transmission is 2 stops. The 9 second f/1.8 exposure is thus equal to a 36 second exposure @f/3.5. I think that the difference in field of view between the lenses is more important than the difference in light gathering as you want the widest view you can get.


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#3
Saffa Ben

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Many thanks.  I'll certainly test both.  Agree as well about the field of view - wider angle will give broader night sky view.



#4
emilyanderson

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Use a camera that can shoot a decent image at 1600 or 3200 ISO is a wise choice.  Consuming the same 24mm lens on a Nikon crop, you'd end up with an effective focal length of 36mm (24×1.5 = 36). Applying the 500 rule will yield a shutter speed of 13 sec. (500/36 = 13.89).

You should work with a lens with a maximum aperture of at least f/2.8; the faster the higher. It’s not that you’re totally out of luck if your fastest lens is f/3.5 or you’ll have more of a challenge on your fingers since the lens won’t be able to gather as far as light.  :)  :)  


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