Milky Way lesson 2. (image added at end of post)

Ben Egbert

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Did some testing in a very dark room. I found two important lessons. F4 Iso1000 is far better than F5.6 at ISO2000. Stopping down is of very little importance, but ISO reduction is. I also did a shorter (192 seconds) at ISO2000 f4 to see if the length of the exposure mattered, it looked about the same as the f5.6 long exposure.

Finally I see that turning off lens correction in ACR is very important, it makes the biggest change of all.

All things considered, ISO1000 at 300 seconds f4 is perhaps useable but not great. A faster lens that is sharp wide open would make a world of difference.
 

JimFox

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At 6.2 mins, ISO 2000 seems very high. I would have thought it would be closer to ISO 800. I shoot my long exposure ground shots at ISO 400 or 800 max to make sure there is no noise as that's the main point of it.

Yeah, you shouldn't be out hiking in the dark. Find a place you can drive to and shoot from next to your vehicle. Especially as it gets colder, it's really nice to be next to your truck.
 

Ben Egbert

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Thanks Jim, glad I did these tests. and don't forget I am at f4. I am trying for two stops above my sky setting of ISO3200 f4 30 seconds. So if I had and f2.8 that same exposure works out to ISO 800 and 4 minutes.
 

Ben Egbert

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What happens when you go to 10 mins and ISO 400 or 800?
I have not tried that long, I could experiment. Not sure I need 2 stops over the base sky shot. What is your experience? This will be a totally dark moon night. I will try a few exposures while there now that I know how to set long exposures with a timer and bulb.


I can now see how important it is to have a faster (sharp) lens. I can also see how important high ISO noise will be.
 

JimFox

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When it’s dark out with no moon I probably shoot for closer to a stop brighter on the ground.

That kind of becomes a bit of a guessing game. I have an ExposureCalc that I use. So I take the settings I was using to shoot the stars, take the ISO down to 400 and then push up the fstop a bit. You are already at f4, so maybe to keep that alone, let the calculator decide how long your exposure should be, and make it a hair longer. Look at the result, and modify the length of the shutter speed based off how it looked, and shoot it again.
 

Ben Egbert

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Thanks Jim. I am using the same ex calc you use. I have been making all the calls in this thread using it. Going up only one stop would be a big deAl. I can get to 2 stops at iso 1000. I think I should leave the time alone and just keep dropping the iso, whatcha think?
 

Kyle Jones

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BTW - I'm looking at Saturday night as a great opportunity to shoot the MW with some low moon light. Out here, I expect to have great conditions at about 8:45 pm.
 

JimFox

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Thanks Jim. I am using the same ex calc you use. I have been making all the calls in this thread using it. Going up only one stop would be a big deAl. I can get to 2 stops at iso 1000. I think I should leave the time alone and just keep dropping the iso, whatcha think?
Hey Ben,

Can you give me an example? You did your test shots at? And you are thinking on shooting your ground layer at?
 

JimFox

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BTW - I'm looking at Saturday night as a great opportunity to shoot the MW with some low moon light. Out here, I expect to have great conditions at about 8:45 pm.
Saturday night will be a good start, I think I would prefer Sunday, but Saturday still gets you some moonlight on the ground.

Where are you thinking on shooting?

I am hoping I can get on the road Monday, that may be the soonest I can get out from under the smoke to see some clear skies to shoot at night.
 

Kyle Jones

Moderator
Saturday night will be a good start, I think I would prefer Sunday, but Saturday still gets you some moonlight on the ground.

Where are you thinking on shooting?

I am hoping I can get on the road Monday, that may be the soonest I can get out from under the smoke to see some clear skies to shoot at night.
I'm hoping to shoot Bowling Ball Beach - I'll be at my parent's house nearby this weekend.
 

Ben Egbert

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Saturday is supposed to be cloudy here. I will be starting my fall color stuff Friday Morning. This will consume my local travel and before or after daylight hours for a while. The session Wednesday night was chosen specifically to see what happens on a totally dark night. I already have a fairly decent image from The Temples when we had a partial moon, that was perfect other than my camera being too noisy.

Jim, here is a shot at ISO 1000 F4 6.2 min


200914-14181-5DS R iso1000 300 sec.jpg

And here is one at f5.6 ISO 3200 6.2 min
200914-14176-5DS R no lens correct.jpg
 

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
Late to the party to comment on these - very nice! I can see a nice skills progression just in this post, and you are already eclipsing my paltry efforts. I hope to use the 15-35 RF f/2.8 for this type of shooting, at whatever point I am able to procure both it and the R% (one back ordered, and one out of stock atm...)

ML
 

Kyle Jones

Moderator
Saturday is supposed to be cloudy here. I will be starting my fall color stuff Friday Morning. This will consume my local travel and before or after daylight hours for a while. The session Wednesday night was chosen specifically to see what happens on a totally dark night. I already have a fairly decent image from The Temples when we had a partial moon, that was perfect other than my camera being too noisy.

Jim, here is a shot at ISO 1000 F4 6.2 min


And here is one at f5.6 ISO 3200 6.2 min
These line up with what I've seen at high ISO. Underexposed, dark areas end up blotchy and noisy while areas with light on them (even dim) that get reasonable exposures actually look pretty good, even at ISO 3200. Yes you get some color shifting and less DR at 3200, but it is definitely useable in the brighter areas. One trick that I have learned it not to try to get shadow detail in the really dark spots. If you let them go black it hides the noise.
 

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
Great images here - and lots of great info on how to get these great results too. Thanks to everyone who posted here!

ML
 
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