Something interesting I came across to share.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14792580
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14792580
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2011
- Thread starter Beserk
- Start date
coolthought
Senior Member
becos they have billion dollars budget and us.... at most thousand dollars budget....
and as well as a really dark and clear night sky....
Not really true. Don't need to sell your organs.
This was taken with a $80 webcam and a $800 telescope on a regular panning tripod:
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...745990058_100002309008617_80657_4091554_n.jpg
This was taken only with a 200mm lens:
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...729323393_100002309008617_80656_7706300_n.jpg
Both shot in sg with severe light pollution.
Of course, the results are not fantastic like those in the video, but there are tricks to further improve image quality.
This was taken with a $80 webcam and a $800 telescope on a regular panning tripod:
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...745990058_100002309008617_80657_4091554_n.jpg
This was taken only with a 200mm lens:
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...729323393_100002309008617_80656_7706300_n.jpg
Both shot in sg with severe light pollution.
Of course, the results are not fantastic like those in the video, but there are tricks to further improve image quality.
Wow! Cool. Are they taken in Singapore?
It'll be nice if you/someone could share techniques on how to get these.interested to learn in practical.
yea i am interested too. i have a 300mm lens.
When it comes to taking the night sky, you have to decide what targets you want.
If you are after constellations, you need wide angle lenses, maybe 30+mm. This is a shot of Orion at 70mm, and it's not enough to capture the entire constellation. http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...715990061_100002309008617_80655_1408972_n.jpg.
The image of Orion in the video was taken with a Takahashi FSQ, and FSQs are known to be 500mm focal length, F/5. The author used a reducer to bring it down to 380mm at F/3.6. This means he shot parts of the constellation and combined it into a mosiac. Very time consuming and difficult to execute well, but his efforts totally paid off.
The easiest start is to shoot moon and planets. Here focal length wins, but the smart thing to do is ditch your camera lenses and get a cheap telescope instead. A 1500mm, 6" aperture telescope cost $1.3k, which is about same as a good 200-300mm telephoto. A small 5 to 6" aperture cassegrain on a tripod with gear head beats even the most expensive telephotos hands down in this category. All you need is an adaptor to mate your camera to the telescope. There are rigs to hold pns cameras to shoot through the telescope eyepiece, so your camera don't need to be high-end. And of course there are adaptors for slrs. The adaptors are all standard sized and readily available.
If you are after constellations, you need wide angle lenses, maybe 30+mm. This is a shot of Orion at 70mm, and it's not enough to capture the entire constellation. http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...715990061_100002309008617_80655_1408972_n.jpg.
The image of Orion in the video was taken with a Takahashi FSQ, and FSQs are known to be 500mm focal length, F/5. The author used a reducer to bring it down to 380mm at F/3.6. This means he shot parts of the constellation and combined it into a mosiac. Very time consuming and difficult to execute well, but his efforts totally paid off.
The easiest start is to shoot moon and planets. Here focal length wins, but the smart thing to do is ditch your camera lenses and get a cheap telescope instead. A 1500mm, 6" aperture telescope cost $1.3k, which is about same as a good 200-300mm telephoto. A small 5 to 6" aperture cassegrain on a tripod with gear head beats even the most expensive telephotos hands down in this category. All you need is an adaptor to mate your camera to the telescope. There are rigs to hold pns cameras to shoot through the telescope eyepiece, so your camera don't need to be high-end. And of course there are adaptors for slrs. The adaptors are all standard sized and readily available.
