[slr_neophyte]

I turn it off on my camera because I don't like it destroying my night visions. Yes you can turn it off on the K-3ii and K-3. It is in the custom menu but I forget what menu option it is...

I've searched through all my settings to try and find it...there is an LCD screen setting which lets me adjust the brightness level, but no option to completely turn it off. I'll have a look through my users manual to see if I can find anything

---------- Post added 08-13-20 at 03:21 AM ----------

I've searched through all my settings to try and find it...there is an LCD screen setting which lets me adjust the brightness level, but no option to completely turn it off. I'll have a look through my users manual to see if I can find anything

After searching, I have found there is a way to turn on/off the TOP LCD panel (using the RAW/FX button customization options), but there appears to be no way to completely turn off the "monitor" (I guess I was incorrectly calling this the LCD display beforehand. I want to actually be able to turn off the monitor (which I guess does somewhat go off if using Live View mode - but is this the only way?)

[MossyRocks]

After searching, I have found there is a way to turn on/off the TOP LCD panel (using the RAW/FX button customization options)

The top LCD panel is one of the options in the custom settings tab (the one with the wrench) I forget what the option is called

I want to actually be able to turn off the monitor (which I guess does somewhat go off if using Live View mode - but is this the only way?)

Hit the info button twice (not while reviewing an image) and select off (it should be the farthest right option of 4 or 5) and will allow you to change how you want to rear display to function. It will still turn on in live view with it set to off, will still allow you to review images, and still turn on when in the menus but will remain off the rest of the time.

[Grimmus]

Push the info button twice then select the option to turn the screen off (assuming k3II is same as k3 and kp), cheers

[MossyRocks]

assuming k3II is same as k3

It is.

[jlev]

I followed some of the advice from this thread and went out last night to shoot the Perseids at peak around midnight. Didn’t love the results from star stream mode on my K-1, but I got a pretty decent capture with a big trail and Andromeda.



Looked best to me in B&W, too much color noise otherwise. 15mm wide open to f2.8 for 30s, ISO 6400.

[slr_neophyte]

Hit the info button twice (not while reviewing an image) and select off (it should be the farthest right option of 4 or 5) and will allow you to change how you want to rear display to function. It will still turn on in live view with it set to off, will still allow you to review images, and still turn on when in the menus but will remain off the rest of the time.

Yes, that did it. Thanks!!!

[steephill]

I had a go and mainly got satellite trails, there are three satellites and two meteors in this shot (possibly). K1 DFA15-30@15 f2.8 25secs.

Attached Images

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File Date

 

[MossyRocks]

I had a go and mainly got satellite trails

You can thank Elon Musk for that with all the star link satellites he has been putting up. Looks like the skies you have there are as good as my local dark spot skies.

[manishved]

You can thank Elon Musk for that with all the star link satellites he has been putting up. Looks like the skies you have there are as good as my local dark spot skies.

Agreed, however the lure of a more accurate GPS is far more greater
Not sure if the built-in astrotracer will be able to use the newer satellites - probably not since this is all new technology and may need different GPS chips

[Aaron28]

I had a go and mainly got satellite trails

may have gotten andromeda as well.....lower middle rightish......

[MossyRocks]

Not sure if the built-in astrotracer will be able to use the newer satellites - probably not since this is all new technology and may need different GPS chips

The star link constellations is not for GPS and even if the O-GPS1 was more accurate it really wouldn't matter for astrotracer purposes. East-West location won't affect it't tracking at all and North-South location would have to be way off (miles if not 10s of miles) for it to affect tracking. Being +/- 30 meters max won't make a difference.

There are a number of GPS satellite constellations available now like the USA's GPS, Russia's GLONASS, EU Galileo, and China's BeiDou. For the Pentax GPS built into newer cameras I would be surprised if it didn't support GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo as they are supported by almost all GPS module made now. They all use very similar frequencies as a method of ensuring that if one country attempts to jam the other's they will also jam their own. If you want more accuracy (down to a few inches) you can always pay for access to the correctional frequencies for Galileo that allow module to correct for atmospheric distortions but that requires having a receiver capable of getting them. Another option is to setup a RTK system with a local base station that broadcasts corrections but requires GPS modules capable of outputting pseudo range data for each satellite and phase information for the L2 carrier (encrypted military one that does the same as Galileo's correction frequency).

may have gotten andromeda as well.....lower middle rightish......

Yes that is M31 (Andromeda). It is huge in the sky taking up an area about 6x that of the full moon.

[kwb]

I don't bother with the interval shooting option. Instead I put the camera into the high continuous shooting mode and with my release cable I just flip a switch and let it shoot until I am sick of being out. There is less of a delay between shots doing it this way and you don't have to worry about going and resetting things or interrupting the interval shooting process.

the on board intervalometer was a good selling point when i got the K-50 a few years back......the 2 seconds doesn't seem to cause much trouble when stacking with starstax....not even noticeable when using gap filling or comet trail.......generally take a few shots when setting up....first i take care of whatever i can do for a decent foreground shot and sometimes stop down to f5.6 but not often.......then take a few to set the exposure that will run the duration of the interval session.....usually around an hour or so (120-150 frames) depending how long i'll hang around....cap the lens and get 10-20 darks....been a long long time since i've done any over 35mm........typically 14, 15, 21, 28, or 35

Hi Aaron, on KP you can set your Standby Interval to "Minimal". This is certainly faster than 2 sec, it feels as if it's taking about a second between the end of exposure and the start of the next exposure. Maybe the same thing is available on K-50?
And Mossy, Aaron, I know you were not talking about Astrotracer, but when I use it, burst shooting is unavailable but interval shooting with Standby Interval setting is. The following shot (cross posted Post Your Best KP Shots - Page 166 - PentaxForums.com) was shot that way, of course stacking many exposures.

The "Mystery Satellite" turns out to be French military satellite CSO 1 BTW. I choose not to remove it and instead manually blended it in, together with the meteor that almost "hit" Andromeda.

[MossyRocks]

And Mossy, Aaron, I know you were not talking about Astrotracer, but when I use it, burst shooting is unavailable but interval shooting with Standby Interval setting is. The following shot (cross posted Post Your Best KP Shots - Page 166 - PentaxForums.com) was shot that way, of course stacking many exposures.

If you like going after deep sky objects astrotracer is very capable. As you get better at calibrating it expect to be able to get close to 1 minute or bett shots at 100mm. I really push it's capabilities and this is the results of just under an hour of shots and is the kind of framing you get with a 400mm lens and an APS-C format camera when you shoot Andromeda (M31):


I was using a 400mm lens and can reliably get 20 second astrotracer exposures. With a 300mm lens I have no problem getting 30 second exposures and I can get those numbers even shooting things along the celestial equator. I can get do better if I am shooting near the celestial pole but that is the nature of astro tracer. That image was the results of stacking 165 20 second exposures. The full details are:
165x20s (astrotracer)
ISO 3200
F/3.5
Camera: K-3
Lens: SMC A* 400mm f/2.8 ED [IF]

[kwb]

If you like going after deep sky objects astrotracer is very capable. As you get better at calibrating it expect to be able to get close to 1 minute or bett shots at 100mm. I really push it's capabilities and this is the results of just under an hour of shots and is the kind of framing you get with a 400mm lens and an APS-C format camera when you shoot Andromeda (M31):


I was using a 400mm lens and can reliably get 20 second astrotracer exposures. With a 300mm lens I have no problem getting 30 second exposures and I can get those numbers even shooting things along the celestial equator. I can get do better if I am shooting near the celestial pole but that is the nature of astro tracer. That image was the results of stacking 165 20 second exposures. The full details are:
165x20s (astrotracer)
ISO 3200
F/3.5
Camera: K-3
Lens: SMC A* 400mm f/2.8 ED [IF]

Great picture, and thanks for useful information! How often did you adjust the camera pointing?

[MossyRocks]

Great picture, and thanks for useful information! How often did you adjust the camera pointing?

Typically every 4 to 6 shots depending on how it is moving and where I re-positioned to but I did lose track a few times and have gone longer.