The topic of the possibility of light from the viewfinder falling on your dslr sensor seems to be a topic that is either unclear/controversial or overlooked altogether. However, it is something everyone should be aware of! Light leaking through the viewfinder; Nikon D5100 When testing the thermal noise in dark frames on the Nikon D5100 vs Nikon D7000 vs Nikon D600 (more on that later ;)) I ran into the issue of having a clear…
Read MoreAuthor: chrisvdberge
Photographing the Aurora Borealis with Hafsteinn Kröyer Eiðsson
Interview 4: DSLR astrophotography with Hafsteinn Kröyer Eiðsson For this interview we will have an inside look into a different type of photography; Aurora Borealis photography! Hafsteinn Kröyer might be fairly new to astrophotography, he has been entertaining a lot of people already with his amazing pictures of the Aurora Borealis from Iceland. He knows how to capture the mesmerising effect of these dancing lights in the sky and turn them in to amazing pictures. Make…
Read MoreComposition in astrophotography: 5 tips for better astro images
Astrophotography in itself can be quite challenging, especially when you’re doing deep sky photography. Because of this we tend to focus on all the technical details and aspects of astrophotography; aligning your mount, balancing equipment, flexure, telescopes, guiding, camera’s, processing the image etc. For some people this is also what makes astrophotography fun, and they are less interested in the end result. For the majority however, the goal is to make an interesting and beautiful…
Read MoreAstrophotography with the Nikkor 50mm F1.8
Quite a while ago I wrote a short test on the little cheap gem amongst the Nikon lenses; the 50mm F1.8 D. This looked promising enough to test the lens for real under the stars. Let’s look at how this lens is performing with astro photo’s. Using the Nikkor 50mm F1.8 for astrophotography In the test I noticed that the lens seems to be sharpest when used at F2.8 so I used this setting to…
Read MoreDSLR astrophotography with Fritz Helmut Hemmerich
Interview 3: DSLR astrophotography with Fritz Helmut Hemmerich If you are an astrophotograhy enthusiast and are on Facebook you will know Fritz and his outstanding photography work. Being situated on Tenerife and having his own observatory and a travel kit to go up the vulcano to go above the clouds, he seems to be able to output new material almost on a daily basis. And amazing output that is. With the ideal combination of dark skies, excellent…
Read MoreNikon moves into astrophotography with the D810A
Update: Got a reaction from the press contact from Nikon on a view questions; “So far, the reaction I have seen has been generally positive for the camera, and for using the high resolution sensor.” “The H-alpha sensitivity is 4 times great than a standard D-SLR” “For future products, Nikon does not comment on any future products or speculation” —————- There were rumours for a few days already, but now it’s official; Nikon has made…
Read MoreComet LoveJoy and the Pleiades
INTRODUCTION It had been almost a full year since I last went out for some astrophotography, other than the trips to La Palma and Hohen Woos (Germany). Finally the circumstances looked to be good to capture the comet LoveJoy, that was making a spectacular show passing by the Pleiades. Clouds were coming in, but I was able to capture 40 frames of 2 minutes each which allowed me to capture the comet’s impressive tail. Photographing…
Read MoreDSLR astrophotography with AstroTanja
Interview 2: DSLR astrophotography with AstroTanja I love to just browse around on the internet and look at the work of other astrophotographers. Lately I got an increased interest in southern hemisphere objects and quickly stumbled upon the amazing work of AstroTanja. She produces some fabulous photo’s, amongst which there are a lot of amazing wide field photographs that immediately get’s you dreaming away with the beauty of the night sky. Make sure you visit…
Read MoreHow to add comets to Stellarium
With comet C/2014 E2 Jacques currently making an impressive tour through part of our milky way it is passing some very interesting objects. This creates great photograph opportunities to make some great pictures. But how can we plan a photograph session or how do we even know where comet Jaques will be at a certain date and time? Adding comets in Stellarium Luckily there is the great free open source program Stellarium and the ability…
Read MoreDSLR astrophotography interview 1 - Maurice Toet
Interviews with astrophotographers There are many interesting people all over the world that are photographing the wonders of the heavens with their camera’s and other equipment. Every astrophotographer has his/her own interesting story and I’m going to post regular interviews with them here. Because this blog is about astrophotography with DSLRs in particular, I’m going to focus on the astrophotographers that are using a DSLR to create their artwork. Interview 1: Meet Maurice Toet I’m…
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