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Old 7th July 2018, 18:35   #111
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Thank you very much! You have to guess the focus so there's lots of trial and error involved.
The images I took were incredibly noisy as I had to use maximum ISO to get a short enough shutter speed.

Have you ever tried star photography?
Nope...... but I would put your camera on manual focus and focus to infinity with a nice big F stop number and you shouldn't have any problems with focusing
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Old 7th July 2018, 19:28   #112
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I went to Scotland last week, on the way back I stopped in a country hotel and as there was minimal light pollution I tried my hand at some star photography..

Stars in the sky, Morda. Oswestry. England by Philip Davies, on Flickr

For those with experience, the haze to the left, is that likely cloud, or more unlikely, have I managed to take a photo of some far away galaxy?!
Cannot be sure but the haze may well be a galaxy but not a far away one. If it is a galaxy it will be our own one, the milky way. Well I suppose they are all far away but that one is the least far away.

Here is one I took a while back showing Orion on the lower centre/right and the milky way in the centre.



Orion
by Paul Stickley, on Flickr
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Old 7th July 2018, 19:43   #113
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Your settings look ok. You need to up the ISO and use wide aperture to keep shutter fast enough to not allow the earths rotation the blur the stars. Some lenses handle bright pinpoints of light better than others. Modern camera sensors generally produce less noise than older ones. Maybe you could try the shutter at 20 sec, it will reduce noise a little but the stars may just start to streak a little. Your lens is set as wide as it can go but a lens with a wider aperture would help. With a wider aperture and longer shutter speed you could reduce ISO which in turn would reduce noise.
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Old 7th July 2018, 21:41   #114
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Cannot be sure but the haze may well be a galaxy but not a far away one. If it is a galaxy it will be our own one, the milky way. Well I suppose they are all far away but that one is the least far away.

Here is one I took a while back showing Orion on the lower centre/right and the milky way in the centre.



Orion
by Paul Stickley, on Flickr
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Your settings look ok. You need to up the ISO and use wide aperture to keep shutter fast enough to not allow the earths rotation the blur the stars. Some lenses handle bright pinpoints of light better than others. Modern camera sensors generally produce less noise than older ones. Maybe you could try the shutter at 20 sec, it will reduce noise a little but the stars may just start to streak a little. Your lens is set as wide as it can go but a lens with a wider aperture would help. With a wider aperture and longer shutter speed you could reduce ISO which in turn would reduce noise.
That is an utterly stunning photo Paul.

I'm using my travel lens (Tamron superzoom) for 96% of my photography, including this photo.
My camera is about 18 months old, but is a 2013 model. I will upgrade it when it wears out.
I'd really like an 18mm prime lens, most of my photography is done at 18mm.
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Old 8th July 2018, 07:45   #115
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As for focus. If I remember correctly, when I took that shot I was using a 16 mm f2.0 lens which only had manual focus with a proper fixed stop at infinity focus. The stops on manual lenses are not always 100% accurate but I knew if I rotated focus to infinity and then rotated back just a fraction the focus was good for stars.
Astro photographers tend to use prime lenses of 12-16mm with low lens aberrations particularly coma. These lenses would be around F2.0 or f2.8.

I think you have got a great result with the lens you have.

I must try my new gear on astro pics I would have to use my 16-35mm zoom lens. I just looked up the specs and I think it would be ok for star shots. Maybe when the nights draw in a bit
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Old 8th July 2018, 18:20   #116
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I will keep a look out for a better lens for this type of photography. I think it's really satisfying. I'd like to be able to get better, more defined shots, but as usual, budget will restrict what I can get!
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Old 8th July 2018, 18:24   #117
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I had another go at this photo, to try and get rid of the traffic light eyes:
IMG_9308-3 by Philip Davies, on Flickr

Here's the result! It took ages and overall I think I'm pleased. I think it looks fairly natural:
Bertie, retired Greyhound chilling in the grass at night. by Philip Davies, on Flickr
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Old 8th July 2018, 19:35   #118
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Well done sir!
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Old 10th July 2018, 21:45   #119
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I took this at a motorway service station. The clouds were stunning and it looked like it would rain at any minute, however it didn't.

Wind turbine spinning with heavy cloud looming. Abington services, Scotland. by Philip Davies, on Flickr



And a little further in my journey, at another motorway services I took this one. Lovely place.
View from Killington lake services, Cumbria. England by Philip Davies, on Flickr

Then when I reached my hotel, I was greeted by this:
Sunset at Sweeny hall hotel, Morda, Oswestry. England. by Philip Davies, on Flickr

Sunset at Sweeny hall hotel, Morda, Oswestry. England. by Philip Davies, on Flickr

Sunset near Oswestry, Shropshire. England. by Philip Davies, on Flickr
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Old 13th July 2018, 20:02   #120
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Last week I stopped off in Largs, Scotland.
Armed with my new filter and tripod, I decided to see what I could capture...
Largs, Scotland by Philip Davies, on Flickr
Largs, Scotland. by Philip Davies, on Flickr
Largs, Scotland by Philip Davies, on Flickr
Largs, Scotland. by Philip Davies, on Flickr
Largs, Scotland. by Philip Davies, on Flickr
Largs, Scotland. by Philip Davies, on Flickr
Largs, Scotland. by Philip Davies, on Flickr

In a few of the pictures I tried taking photos with the sun in a less than ideal place. I was "trying" to be artistic!
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