-=1DS Mark II Admirers, congregate! (Part 2)

You're the only one that ever does that Geek, everybody else fastidiously studies the manual and lens manuals committing every last detail to memory before ever picking the camera up and clicking the shutter. Or not!

I tend to forget where everything is on the 1DsMkII, and then find out new stuff I didn't even know about! And promptly forget that as well.

That picture of the stars up above? I was thinking I needed at least a 5.6, maybe an 8 for "depth of field". Duh, could of used 1.4 as the stars are way out at infinity and beyond in the first place! hahaha Like what, I was gonna get bokeh in the star field beyond my focus point? Oh Plllleaase!

You're not alone.

Playing with my new toy.

BFF's...

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Dale,
Stars aren't too difficult with a little practice. I'd do a lot more astrophotography if the 1Ds II had high ISO and LiveView. I've looked at the 6D but I'd miss so many other things from the 1D Series. Here's one from a few nights ago while watching for meteors with my dog.
17-40 at 17mm, ISO 1250, f/4.5, 25 sec., flash triggered manually with Cybersync.

I don't know how you guys can do astro with the 1dsII, mine has way too many hot pixels for that sort of stuff. In a normal image it doesn't show as much, but in a star shot its like eww ughhhh, clone clone clone... is that a star or a pixel... uhhh clone clone clone.

I read about dark frames? But i don't do it often enough to really understand how that works

Csae wrote in post #15375773
I don't know how you guys can do astro with the 1dsII, mine has way too many hot pixels for that sort of stuff. In a normal image it doesn't show as much, but in a star shot its like eww ughhhh, clone clone clone... is that a star or a pixel... uhhh clone clone clone.

I read about dark frames? But i don't do it often enough to really understand how that works

Forgive me for only giving you half the info, but I can't remember exactly how to fix those hot pixels. I had one hot pixel when I bought my camera a couple of years ago. IIRC you are meant to take off your lens, put on the body cap and set to bulb exposure for 2 minutes....... now I think there might be another step which I can't remember....... fixed my hot pixel for sure. Hopefully others will chime in.

A walk in a local park this morning produced this image from the 1DS2 and Canon 24-105. I had no tripod with me but managed this at 24mm, 1/4sec and f11 hand-held, thanks IS!

^ Nice, Rudi... Damn sharp for 1/4sec... Like you said, "Thank you 'IS'".... hehehehhee...

wannabegood wrote in post #15364757
I need someone to take me under their wing and teach me how to take astro photography...

fwiw, here are the few tips that i can remember, all learned on the astro section of this forum!
--do not leave the focus ring on the infinity marker, instead back it out to the "L" thingy just in front of the infinity mark.
--adjust exposure for max 30sec shutter speed. over 30 secs and you will start to get noticeable stair trails. the long exposures work better with wide shots.
--eliminate vibrations--use remote shutter release and mirror lock up mode. this requires two presses of the remote i think, but is well worth the effort. if you are playing with changing settings btwn each frame i would suggest adding 2 or 10s delay on shutter release but i forget how that works in conjunction with mirror lock up.
--as for f-ftop i would choose one you know will yield a sharp image.
--with 1ds2i have used iso800 + a little noise redux, no problem.
--you will also need time for your eyes to adjust to see the sky (30 mins??) thru the viewfinder. then there is staying awake, warm etc... read thru the astro forum section, good luck!!

I've actually acquired a T adapter for use with my dads 8" Celestron scope. The 1DsMkII is big for that, but I've tried it with Live View on my 5DMkII. No go. Seems the scope is out of adjustment, shame...it's barely been used over the 20 years or so he's had it! Fixed F10, hows that for speed! lol but it's also the 35mm equivalent of a 2032mm lens!

I almost took my 100L out the other night instead of the 17-40, but I like the wide look...need to go out and set up where there's acually some ground scenery to set off the night sky and get away from my neighbors relentless guard lights.

Doug, don't know if you noticed but that's the exact same set of stars I shot! Uncanny, that's what it is! I had seen the 7 Sisters just before moonrise a week or so ago and didn't know what that star cluster was, but was intriqued. So when I went out to take out the trash last Thurs and found a moonless night there they were....just had to run in and grab the camera to see what I could get. The 7 Sisters were in the E-SE section of sky for me, which is horrible because about 2 miles from my house just S of that general direction is a huge WalMart Distribution Center, as well as an even bigger HEB Grocery Distribution! HighPressureSodium lights galore! So the low sky off that way is aglow with that orange cast from acreage of warehouse style lights. I need to try to get the Milky Way, might have to camp out at the Lake or something, sleep in the fields, something!

Thank y'all for the tips, will give it another go with some hot chocolate in a vacuum bottle!

And Rudi, nice job! My 1DsMkII likes the 24-105 as well

I bought the 1DsII to photograph people.

Taken during a shoot setup, since the people photos are part of a private project.

Nice shot Ian, like that a lot!

Thanks, Dale. It was a good apple.

I am pretty much shocked and amazed at how good the files are from this body with regard to the human body. Nice freakin' camera, lol. B&W (my preferred medium for people) looks so cool. The 5dc was good for this as well, but not this good. The ~30% increase in file size is, well, appreciated when it comes to printing. I also find I leave to sharpening at zero in RAW and JPG. None needed.

Dale,
I love Pleiades.

I'm out 4 miles west of a town of 30,000 people. We're all on 5 to 10 acre lots so it's dark enough to see quite a few objects. I don't have a telescope but I use a big pair of Orion Resolux 15X70 binoculars on my tripod. They work great for stars not to mention I can identify bald eagles over a mile away (did that on Sunday ).

A great free program for learning the night sky is Stellarium. I find it very helpful for identifying night objects. Put it on a laptop and take it with you outside. It's great for figuring out where to point my binocs for dim galaxies since I don't use a guider.