|
Forum: Photographic Technique
02-18-2019, 05:45 AM
|
| |
Great info. I subscribed to your other thread for all the information (and to see how the pano turns out). Might give Capture One a try - or stick with LENR for my foreground shots. The latter would likely be fine unless I'm stitching a long row that requires many exposures. I have LR, PS and Autopano Giga, but I've heard good things about PTGui.
Amazing how much color and detail you're able to pull from the foreground. I'm right with you on the risks of making the foreground too bright - to my mind, a night image should look like it was shot at night, even if that means some detail gets sacrificed to shadows. Also with you on the " Chancellor of the Exchequer", but for @ $50 I can't turn down that 50mm 1.7 as a pano lens. My bigger $ issue is that 15-30 and the fact that I will need a whole, new filter system to go with it. I generally don't use a lot of filters, but need my ND filters for long exposures, waterfalls, etc.
Thanks for all the great tips - look forward to seeing that pano when it's done!
---------- Post added 02-18-19 at 05:56 AM ----------
Thanks - I actually have the same Bower version of the lens, but always call it a Rokinon/Samyang b/c a lot of people have no idea what I'm talking about if I say "Bower". That Promaster was on my list to look for (along with the Sigma or Tamron versions) - I need something in that range to tide me over until I can buy the 15-30. I also like the fact that it's a lot lighter and can take screw-in filters.
My post-processing skills are also on the lower range - thank Dog for the internet. Depending on where I end up and the foreground, I think I'll try something similar with stacking several astrotacer exposures for each sky frame, separate exposures for the foreground and stitching in PS. I hit Batsto a couple years ago but need to head back there - also Lake Nummy, East Point Lighthouse and Turkey Point Bridge. Those are @ 1 1/ to 2 hours away. Otherwise, to get somewhere fairly dark I'm looking at 3-5 hours (Catskills, Montauk, Assateague, Block Island). Not sure what it's like near Huntsville, but I'm very jealous of anyone who lives in the southwest or Maine coast.
Clear skies!
|
|
Forum: Photographic Technique
02-17-2019, 10:36 AM
|
| |
That's good to know. I was thinking the smearing on the edges/corners (as opposed to trailing) was a function of the sensor shifting with the astrotracer function on. I generally don't print larger than 16X20, but it looks like I'll need to experiment and see how much smearing there is and how far it extends into the frame. I previously used Ian Norman's shutter speed calculator to get a ballpark range for untracked images on my Canon 80D, but the astrotracer function on the K-1 adds a whole, new variable. Not to mention the ISO invariance on the K-1 sensor.
Advanced Astrophotography Shutter Time Calculator – Lonely Speck
Thanks!
---------- Post added 02-17-19 at 10:57 AM ----------
Wow! Had no idea you could go that long with a lens that wide! Looks like one MORE reason to start saving $$ for that 15-30. Here in NJ I'll probably be more limited by light pollution than the time/exposure limits on a wide focal length, but it's good to keep in mind for those times when I can go on on a road trip somewhere dark.
That windmill/desert shot is VERY cool! I'm curious if you've finished the 21 frame stitch @ 30mm and whether you thought the effort was worth it compared to the 3 frame vertical shot you posted. I will definitely take a look at that M50mm 1.7 - looks promising.
Thanks!
|
|
Forum: Photographic Technique
02-17-2019, 08:02 AM
|
| |
Making the jump to a K-1 since I mainly shoot landscape and would like to shoot more astro/nightscapes. After doing some research on the astrotracer function on the K-1's full frame sensor with wide lenses, it seems like the astrotracer work well in the center of the frame but the edges and corners will be smeared due to the physics of wide/ultrawide lenses. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on whether it would be better to use astrotracer when shooting in the ultrawide range (i.e. 10-20mm) or just leave astrotracer off and stack multiple exposures to increase details and reduce noise? Right now my only FF astro lens for the K-1 is a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8.
Another option would be to shoot at a longer focal length (50mm?) which would allow the use of astrotracer without much distortion and stitch together multiple frames for a wider view. A lot more work in post processing, but could yield some great detail. I was thinking of the Rokinon 50mm f/1.4, but I'm wondering if there are any native, Pentax 50mm lenses that have low coma (looking at a Pentax A 50mm 1.4)? Between the legacy lenses and the current lenses, it seems like there are so many variants in the Pentax 50mm group.
Any thoughts?
|
|
Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
12-08-2018, 04:00 PM
|
| |
The geared head looks interesting and probably along-the-lines of what I was thinking, but $$$. My Skyguider has a wedge and I have a tilt/pan head already, so I think I'll give those a shot, first.
Thanks for the help!
|
|
Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
12-08-2018, 10:04 AM
|
| |
Thanks - I actually have a Skyguider Pro mount/tracker, but there are certain times when it's difficult to take it with me (hiking, traveling). I'll probably use the K-3II and astrotracer mostly for wide angle nightscapes, but thought I might as well try some DSOs with it.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
12-08-2018, 08:53 AM
|
| |
Just purchased a K-3II, primarily for astrophotography with its astrotracer function. I took it out last night to shoot the Orion Nebula and didn't have much luck. I think I've figured out most of the issues I was having (mainly shooting in manual rather than bulb mode), but one thing I noticed was how frequently the camera needed to be re-centered at longer focal lengths (300mm). I was using a gimbal head and the method I improvised was to "nudge" the camera after every 4-5 exposures (30 seconds each) until my target was re-centered, but this seemed very imprecise and took some time to perform every couple of minutes or so. Does anyone have any suggestions for a method that would be faster/more efficient? Perhaps a different type of tripod head? Any help is much appreciated.
|
