How do you take a picture of the milky way?

[cadabri]

Hello, I am looking to take a picture of something like this:: http://astrophoto.com/JonTalbotandMilkyWay.jpg . But I tried doing what some tutorials said, but they did not turn out as wanted. I am using the a7r2 and I was just wondering what settings and what the best conditions I should use. Thank you for your help!

[StackUnderflow]

Get out of the city, find a mountain.

[ben dover kid]

im not a photographer, but my friend does that and has taken some pictures from night sky and all the stars. he said big sensor, and long "light time" are the key things to get a good picture from a sky.

[theereal]

You cant, Its Impossible, the milky way Is a conspiracy.... A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU!

[ALwin]

You require a few things besides a camera, fast lens and long exposure.

If you live in the Northern hemisphere, travel South towards the Equator as much as possible.

You need to be miles away from any source of light pollution.

You need to wait for Astro Twilight, not Nautical or Civil. Even then it's best to wait for the height of Astro Twilight which is usually between 2300-0200.

Contact a local astronomy or star gazer club/society and ask them for good locations and time of the year to get the best chance for good photos.

Consult weather reports and weather stations.

Right now I am on my phone, I'll write a more detailed answer later.

[purooo]

It's not that hard actually. First of all, you need a tripod or something else where you can place your camera without it moving while facing into the sky. Then you want to use a wide lens with a fast aperture. It's always helpful to quickly calculate the clear aperture of your lens, meaning: Focal length / f-ratio, for example: 24 f/1.4 = 17.14. 

 

The higher that number is, the more light your lens can gather. Now in terms of settings: 

 

It all really depends on where you are and what lens you are using. If there is a lot of light pollution, the longer you expose, the more visible will it be. The next part is the lens, you also want to avoid star trails. A rough estimate on how long you can expose is by this: 500/focal length, or 500/24 ~= 20 seconds. Anything above that will result in star trails. 

 

I usually play around with ISO, but 1600 seems to be the sweet spot for me. You have a pretty good camera in terms of ISO performance, so you can go above that easily. f-ratio as low as possible. Focusing is a bit tricky at night, but just use live view, zoom in on a star and focus until the star is really small. 

[cynicaldriver]

You need an excellent lens which lets as much light through as possible.

You need a tripod.

You need to be in the middle of nowhere.

 

Set the camera up on the tripod, and ensure there is absolutely ZERO movement or vibration.

Experiment with exposure times, focus, and ISO to collect the right amount of light.

Profit... Eventually.

 

Do not expect to be able to get NASA shots, because you can't mount your camera in space.

[Master Disaster]

Buy Elite Dangerous, run the game at 8K DSR, disable the hud, launch the galaxy map, zoom out as far as possible then use alt + f10 to take a 16K screenshot.

[.spider.]

http://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=4&lat=6082730.00743&lon=1653607.78867&layers=B0TFFFFTT

The darker the map the better.

And if it is dark it is not that difficult.

http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

Improves the SNR a lot

[ALwin]

OK I'm in front of my computer now.

 

Equipment you need for taking photos of the Milky Way

• A camera (a large sensor APS-C or Full Frame is recommended).
• Wide angle fast lens (e.g. 16mm f/2.8).
• Tripod.
• Shutter release/timer (so you can accurately set a shutter interval without having to hold down the release in bulb mode).
• Set the camera to manual focus and use the focus indicator on the lens to set the focusing distance to Infinity.
• Boost the ISO to anywhere from 800-3200, I don't recommend going over 3200 unless you have a very good camera.
• Shoot in RAW.
• Experiment with different shutter speeds, I recommend bracketing the shutter speed.  Do not use Aperture Priority or any other Priority/Auto mode.  Shoot in Manual mode.

Location:

• Southern Hemisphere night skies are much more beautiful than what most people see in the Northern Hemisphere, however if you go to places like the middle of the Arizona desert miles away from any city/town or source of night time light pollution during the right part of the year you can get very good photos.
• If you cannot travel to such places, check with your local astronomy or stargazing society/club to consult with them which nearby places are suitable.
• You will most likely will have to camp out overnight.
• You need to consult weather reports/stations to see which nights the skies will be clear, the air will be cool and the humidity will be low.
• I recommend you download and install a program like Stellarium and enter your GPS coordinates.  The program will simulate which part of the Milky Way you can see and what constellations will be visible from your location.
• You need to wait for Astro Twilight, Civil and Nautical Twilight times are not dark enough.  At the peak of Astro Twilight, which is usually between the hours of 2300-0200 the skies will be the darkest and most suitable.
• If you can go to a high altitude it will be a plus, as the air is thinner there will be less atmosphere between the camera and Space.

 

AND contrary to what some ignorant people might have said:

You CAN take NASA quality photos, your camera does NOT have to be in space.  It's all about being in the right place at the right time and knowing how to capture the shot and post processing it.  There are many fantastic photos taken by terrestrial based cameras and telescopes of the night sky.

 

You also don't need to download "gimmicky" software to help you edit, tools like Photoshop and Lightroom are more than enough to edit your photos to bring out those beautiful night sky details.

[ALwin]

Oh and FYI, there are some camera models which are designed specifically for astrophotography.  Such as the Canon 60Da.  Of course you can also do the modification yourself on your camera, if you dare.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/853491-REG/Canon_6596B002_EOS_60Da_DSLR_Camera.html

 

And here's a video of how photos taken by NASA are edited.

 

And check this forum out for Astrophotography enthusiasts and pros.

http://forum.timescapes.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=17&sid=ae176aecd24e1f5fbffc2079098a8dd2

[.spider.]

Set the camera to manual focus and use the focus indicator on the lens to set the focusing distance to Infinity.

This won't work at all. It is much better to use the AF on a light source far away or live view.

You also don't need to download "gimmicky" software to help you edit, tools like Photoshop and Lightroom are more than enough to edit your photos to bring out those beautiful night sky details.

That's totally wrong.

Stacking with advanced astro software is essential.

Pros are taking thousands of pictures and the software averages them which improves the snr and it corrects errors caused by the atmosphere.

http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html <-How to create better images

[d3sl91]

This won't work at all. It is much better to use the AF on a light source far away or live view.

 

Actually it likely will. But depends on the lens, camera, etc. It's a good recommendation, because often its hard to focus on a light source like that. Infinity is a good starting point. I doubt @ALwin is talking about hard stop all the way to the end of the focusing range - in that case yeah, that's not going to work very often. But that is also not infinity. 

 

When I AF to something very obviously infinity. My 50 f1.8 and 24-120 f4 is right on the infinity. 

 

But he should test himself in daylight and mark the lens or something of that nature just to be sure. Getting out there and having the AF freak out or have the live view be hard to read/see is tough. 

 

 

Edit, I just picked up my brother's D3000 with a 35mm 1.8. I realized the 1.8 does not have any infinity markings. So, @cadabri , if you do not have an infinity marking, you pretty much do need to autofocus something obviously infinity and mark your lens. If your lens focus ring keeps moving when in manual focus (aka, spons and spins and spins) you may also want to just tape the ring once focused on infinity. Take a chunk of pictures like that, then pull off the tape and try auto focus or live view and see if those work better. 

[.spider.]

It's a good recommendation, because often its hard to focus on a light source like that.

It is not it will never be as sharp as using LV and focussing on Jupiter...or just a light in the distance.

[ALwin]

snip

 

Yes, I'm talking about using the Infinity symbol on the lens's focusing distance indicator.  I've done tons of astrophotography, with lenses and telescopes.  I've also edited them in Photoshop using layers.

 

Of course it has to be a lens with a focusing distance indicator.  Standard kit lenses and certain cheap lenses do not come with that ... which is too bad.  What a focusing distance indicator looks like.

 

 

[.spider.]

If your lens focus ring keeps moving when in manual focus (aka, spons and spins and spins) you may also want to just tape the ring once focused on infinity.

Why should it focus on manual?

[d3sl91]

Yes, I'm talking about using the Infinity symbol on the lens's focusing scale.  I've done tons of astrophotography, with lenses and telescopes.  I've also edited them in Photoshop using layers.

 

Of course it has to be a lens with a focusing distance indicator.  Standard kit lenses and certain cheap lenses do not come with that ... which is too bad.  What a focusing distance indicator looks like.

 

 

 

Yeah, it is unfortunate. I looked up some of the sony lenses (what OP might be using, as he has an a7R2). And many do not have Infinity indicator or the distance indicator, It does look like Zeiss (actual Zeiss, not sony with zeiss) do, as do rokinon etc. 

[ALwin]

Edit, I just picked up my brother's D3000 with a 35mm 1.8. I realized the 1.8 does not have any infinity markings. So, @cadabri , if you do not have an infinity marking, you pretty much do need to autofocus something obviously infinity and mark your lens. If your lens focus ring keeps moving when in manual focus (aka, spons and spins and spins) you may also want to just tape the ring once focused on infinity. Take a chunk of pictures like that, then pull off the tape and try auto focus or live view and see if those work better. 

 

Astrophotography is a good excuse to get rid of a kit lens and buy a very decent one.  Even a good Rokinon/Samyang 14mm 2.8 full manual lens comes with various indicators.

[d3sl91]

Why should it focus on manual?

 

I was talking about when the lens is in manual mode, making a mark on the focus ring to associate with "infinity" may not work, as the ring keeps moving and moving - there is no hard stop on some lenses, so, that marking would become useless. So, instead of relying on that, he can tape it into position as a test to see if that works out for him. 

[bob345]

Hello, I am looking to take a picture of something like this:: http://astrophoto.com/JonTalbotandMilkyWay.jpg . But I tried doing what some tutorials said, but they did not turn out as wanted. I am using the a7r2 and I was just wondering what settings and what the best conditions I should use. Thank you for your help!

first thing you will want is a nice and wide lens. For your camera, the a7s, having a fast aperture isn't quite as necessary. You will also need to take a long exposure between 15-30 seconds depending on the iso you choose. The main thing that is more important than any gear though is your location. If you are in the middle of a city, there is no way ypu will be able to get a shot like that, just too much light pollution. You need to get far away from any kind of light pollution to get the best results.

[ALwin]

Yeah, it is unfortunate. I looked up some of the sony lenses (what OP might be using, as he has an a7R2). And many do not have Infinity indicator or the distance indicator, It does look like Zeiss (actual Zeiss, not sony with zeiss) do, as do rokinon etc. 

 

Yep, quite a number of mirrorless lenses do not come with those indicators.  I guess because:

• makes the lens compact to keep the price low
• assume people rely on the camera to take care of things

[ALwin]

first thing you will want is a nice and wide lens. For your camera, the a7s, having a fast aperture isn't quite as necessary. You will also need to take a long exposure between 15-30 seconds depending on the iso you choose. The main thing that is more important than any gear though is your location. If you are in the middle of a city, there is no way ypu will be able to get a shot like that, just too much light pollution. You need to get far away from any kind of light pollution to get the best results.

1. The OP is using an A7r II.
2. Even if the camera can go up to 1 million ISO, it is still better to have a wide angle fast lens.  Because post process noise reduction could accidentally remove some faint stars, thinking they are noise.  So a faster lens might mean 1-2 stops lower ISO and less noise.

But yes, in astrophotography location is very essential.  Without the right location, no matter how good the camera...

[.spider.]

After all it is shocking to see that people believe that the infinity mark is correct.

Even at normal temperature it is problematic, some people are stuck in the 90s where they got their prints on 10x15cm paper. Yes the infity mark is OK for small prints.

[cadabri]

OK I'm in front of my computer now.

 

Equipment you need for taking photos of the Milky Way

• A camera (a large sensor APS-C or Full Frame is recommended).
• Wide angle fast lens (e.g. 16mm f/2.8).
• Tripod.
• Shutter release/timer (so you can accurately set a shutter interval without having to hold down the release in bulb mode).
• Set the camera to manual focus and use the focus indicator on the lens to set the focusing distance to Infinity.
• Boost the ISO to anywhere from 800-3200, I don't recommend going over 3200 unless you have a very good camera.
• Shoot in RAW.
• Experiment with different shutter speeds, I recommend bracketing the shutter speed.  Do not use Aperture Priority or any other Priority/Auto mode.  Shoot in Manual mode.

Location:

• Southern Hemisphere night skies are much more beautiful than what most people see in the Northern Hemisphere, however if you go to places like the middle of the Arizona desert miles away from any city/town or source of night time light pollution during the right part of the year you can get very good photos.
• If you cannot travel to such places, check with your local astronomy or stargazing society/club to consult with them which nearby places are suitable.
• You will most likely will have to camp out overnight.
• You need to consult weather reports/stations to see which nights the skies will be clear, the air will be cool and the humidity will be low.
• I recommend you download and install a program like Stellarium and enter your GPS coordinates.  The program will simulate which part of the Milky Way you can see and what constellations will be visible from your location.
• You need to wait for Astro Twilight, Civil and Nautical Twilight times are not dark enough.  At the peak of Astro Twilight, which is usually between the hours of 2300-0200 the skies will be the darkest and most suitable.
• If you can go to a high altitude it will be a plus, as the air is thinner there will be less atmosphere between the camera and Space.

 

AND contrary to what some ignorant people might have said:

You CAN take NASA quality photos, your camera does NOT have to be in space.  It's all about being in the right place at the right time and knowing how to capture the shot and post processing it.  There are many fantastic photos taken by terrestrial based cameras and telescopes of the night sky.

 

You also don't need to download "gimmicky" software to help you edit, tools like Photoshop and Lightroom are more than enough to edit your photos to bring out those beautiful night sky details.

My current gear is the a7r2, and the sony 24-240.

[ALwin]

My current gear is the a7r2, and the sony 24-240.

 

Any plans to get a lens wider than 24mm?  Preferably something with f/2.8 or faster.

 

More importantly, do you have any idea of where you want to go to take photos of the Milky Way?