METOR SHOWER PICTURE HELP!

[sars82489]

I just got a Canon Rebel XSI and I'm not quite sure yet how to change certain things (length of exposure for example) I want to try taking pictures of the meteor shower tonight. Any suggestions?

[DealsGapCobra]

First off, WELCOME!

I think your best bet would be to take a look at the owners manual. It should answer many of the basic questions. Once you have played with the camera a bit we will be able to help you more.

Go out and play with your camera tonight...have fun!

[Aeros]

I think I can be a little more specific with some help as I was in the same boat last night.

This site (http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/dslr/EOS300Dastro.html) really helped. The info is a little dated but still applies to all modern systems.

I don't know about everyone else but I am super excited to get some shots tonight. Even going out to the stix for less light pollution.

And awesome site, I stubled upon this site for the long processing time for 1" + exposures - glad I found it.

[tonylong]

I think you'll get the best results using the same approach as shooting fireworks:

A good tripod and a wide lens, use your cameras Bulb setting (your manual will tell you how to set that). To get the best results, you should use a cable release -- In Bulb, you are keeping the shutter pressed over several seconds. Short of a cable release (since you are new to this) and/or a good tripod, you will need to do everything you can to keep your camera stable while holding your shutter button.

And then, you have the choice of pressing the button as soon as you see a meteorite, or of just randomly pressing the button for a few seconds hoping that one will appear. Doing the first might "waste" less shots, but those suckers can move quickly. You can always delete a "wasted" shot.

Use a narrow aperture, say f/11, and a low ISO. Put your lens on MF (manual focus) and focus the lens at close to infinity (if you have a scale on your lens it is not the actual infinity mark but the sideways L that marks the infinity working range. Don't cross the vertical line.

If the moon is visible you can focus on it instead. But if you do that using Auto Focus, make sure you switch the lens to MF immediately afterwards or you camera/lens will uselessly hunt and uselessly take out-of-focus meteorites.

[Stüssy]

DAM I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE METEOR SHOWER !

Too bad Im still waiting on my 5D to come in :(

[sars82489]

Thanks so much everyone! We'll see how it goes.

[Aeros]

Did anyone get any good shots tonight?

Out of about 100 30" exposures I got one half decent one; was aiming at the wrong part of the sky and missed two amazing skimmers as bright as the moon.

My set-up was tripod, cable release. Was shooting at 200 ISO then kicked it up to 1600 to try and get fainter ones while doing 30" exposures for about an hour.

Hope you had better luck than me - still happy I got one.

http://imgur.com/VgbmU.jpg

[Adrena1in]

Nice shot, post that in the Image Posting Thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=736820), and add it to the collection. (Or start the collection, as I don't think there are any images posted in there yet.)

I got some last night, but totally out of focus. I was focussed for about 2 feet rather than infinity!! What a pleb!!

[hollis_f]

Did anyone get any good shots tonight?

Out of about 100 30" exposures I got one half decent one; was aiming at the wrong part of the sky and missed two amazing skimmers as bright as the moon.

You weren't in the garden next to me, were you? I also saw two really bright ones, and they were also in the bit of the sky I wasn't shooting because of the moonlight.

My set-up was tripod, cable release. Was shooting at 200 ISO then kicked it up to 1600 to try and get fainter ones while doing 30" exposures for about an hour.

Did around 1.5 hours of 30s @ 10mm exposures using ISO400. After having a quick (bleary-eyed after 4 hours kip) check it looks like I have one meteor. And a pic that ain't as good as yours.

http://www.frankhollis.com/temp/Perseid.jpg


What's really annoying is that this isn't even a Perseid - it's going in the wrong direction!

If it's clear again tonight (forecast is cloud) then I think I may try upping the ISO to 800

[Adrena1in]

If it's clear again tonight (forecast is cloud) then I think I may try upping the ISO to 800
Hope it is, because I want to try again, only focussing my camera properly this time! :rolleyes:

Plus this time I won't start until around midnight. Started last night at about 9:30pm and let the camera snap away until 1am. Only in the latter part did the Double Cluster rise, which I believe is roughly where the Perseids are eminating from.

[hollis_f]

Well, at least all the images weren't a complete waste. chucked them into StarTrails and came up with this.

http://www.frankhollis.com/temp/StartrailsSmall.jpg

You can see from the plane tracks that I had quite a long gap (5s) between images. Gonna have to figure out my remote timer to see how to avoid that. But this has made me determined to give it another go at Startrails when we next have a clear night. I'll get everything setup early then start shooting around 2am - when the Gatwick traffic will be quieter.

[Biffbradford]

I managed to get one ... but it's running north / south. Glow of the city lights on the right.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/biffbradford/MISC/Persieds0161.jpg