4 replies to this topic

[cprstn54]

I have the D3500 connected to a Celestron telescope via T-ring and T-adapter with 20mm plossl lens.

 

The aperture is fixed but unknown. I am able to focus and set the shutter and ISO.

 

What I am looking for (from my days of 35mm film) is a little needle in the viewfinder that I can move to a fixed index at which the camera's light meter tells me I have decent exposure.

 

What is the equivalent procedure on the D3500, so I can set the ISO and shutter at ballpark levels?

 

Ken C

 

[Merco_61]

Your D3500 doesn't meter with lenses without a chip, so you will have to bracket your shots to find the ballpark exposure. As the light transmission of your rig is unknown and so is the level of light pollution at your location, you will just have to experiment.

 

Shoot a series of exposures and check how they look on the camera screen. When you have something that looks decent on the camera, download the photos to your computer and check how they look on a better screen. You don't have to write your settings down as they are saved in the EXIF metadata in the files. Shoot in raw, so you have more room for tweaking exposure when you edit the photos. The less you have to adjust in post, the better. When you gain experience, you will learn how the histogram should look for good exposures. This will make the workflow faster as you won't have to download to evaluate.

[cprstn54]

Thank you, Merco_61. Nikon does not advertize that feature [absence].

 

Do you think I would get any useful info if I put one of those $20 light meters ("Urceri" at Amazon) over the eyepiece holder of the Celestron when the camera and T-adapter are removed, assuming I can keep out ambient light? That would be more practicable for me than a digital zoom light meter that costs more than the whole Nikon kit.

 

Ken C

[TBonz]

I think you are making it more difficult than it needs to be...One of the nice things about digital vs. film is that you can look at your images once they are taken.  If it isn't light enough you can extend your time or the reverse.  You can see that on your LCD and you can see it in the histogram.  Play with it one or two evenings and you will be all set and won't care about a light meter...

 

I am using Nikon lenses with full metering capability but I almost always start out with a setting and then take an image to look at the exposure and the histogram.

[Merco_61]

You already have an excellent light meter, your camera. If you start test shooting in full stop increments, you will quickly find a ballpark setting. If you then bracket 5 shots in 1/3 stop increments around the best in the full-stop series, you have the best value for that situation.