shooting stars with Leica

[Scheelings]

Presuming that the conditions are right - is it possible to obtain long exposure images like this with either digitial or non-digital Leicas?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ref=LikeButtonBottom&fb_source=home_multiline

 

[alexnotalex]

No reason to think otherwise, folks have been shooting star trails for years.
You just need to set to B and keep the shutter button pressed down for 15 hours.

 

[Stelios]

off course?

especially with mechanical Leicas, which you can keep for hours on B without battery worries. Pretty sure you can do it with digital Ms too. In fact if a Nikon D3100 can do it, any camera can (well...more or less).

 

[karlori]

Yeah but what about reciprocity failure etc etc... How would one obtains such long times leaving the film intact? Negative stacking ?

 

[Richard G]

You can get very nice star trails with just a 1 hour exposure. Multiple star trails subtending 15 degrees still gives the appearance of innumerable concentric circles. For exposure I'd search the www and you're bound to find someone's research laid out for you. Those Eppalcok photos are impressive. The guy who put together my son's skateboard has a Hassleblad and spends all night out with that doing something similar.

 

[batterytypehah!]

Even easier with the T setting, if the camera has it. T for timed exposure. Screw-mount Leicas with slow speeds have it; so do Contaxes and many old leaf shutters. Instead of having to hold down the button on B (which is easier with a locking cable release), the shutter stays open until you move the shutter dial off T (Leica and Contax) or click the shutter again (leaf).

 

[robert blu]

Harrison's stars photos are really impressive. I would like to give a try but the night can be long and cold...
robert

 

[Chris101]

Yeah but what about reciprocity failure etc etc... How would one obtains such long times leaving the film intact? Negative stacking ?

You don't really need to worry about it. The stars are moving so the same part of the film does not get the entire exposure. In fact a star moves beyone it's original position on the film plane in about a minute or so. So apply the reciprocity failure correction based on a one minute exposure, and you will have it about right.

 

[karlori]

You don't really need to worry about it. The stars are moving so the same part of the film does not get the entire exposure. In fact a star moves beyone it's original position on the film plane in about a minute or so. So apply the reciprocity failure correction based on a one minute exposure, and you will have it about right.

Great reasoning ! Thanks !

 

[taylan]

I don't know if it was mentioned before but i think you may find below link interesting. It is about long exposure.

http://householdname.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/01/photographys-longest-exposure.html

 

[Denton]

Need very Dark skies

Need very Dark skies

I done a few of these. Most of my astrophotography was intended to NOT streak the emulsion!
You will need very dark skies and no sky glow to get shots like these. I don't think it's an accident these "worked" in Australia. Measure the angular rotation of the star trails and see what time it took him.

If you don't want quite as long trails, then you should be good.
Denton

 

[sojournerphoto]

These pictures look like composites, not photographs to me. I've done a few star trail pictures and these are not ringing true.

- The land exposure is too low for a 15 hour exposure

- The land is too still, but there is too much movement in the water for 15 hour exposures.

- I'm also not entirely happy that the trails curve in different directions in at least one exposure. I'll have to think about that.

To the OP - put your camera on a tripod at a lowish iso/slowish film and open the shutter on B with a locakable cable release. In some way's it's easier with an rf because you have a sporting chance of focusing. You'll get very shohrt trails at two minutes and longer ones from there up. Dawn will block it all out🙂

Mike

 

[Bobbo]

- The land exposure is too low for a 15 hour exposure

- The land is too still, but there is too much movement in the water for 15 hour exposures.

- I'm also not entirely happy that the trails curve in different directions in at least one exposure. I'll have to think about that.

-If there's no moon, the exposure is right. I've had exposures of buildings under streetlights last several seconds with super-fast ISOs (like 125,000)... add to that a slow setting and bupkus for available light, you're looking at many hours (the difference between 2 hours and 8 hours is what, 2 stops?).
-Only one pic has too much water blur, I think, but I am far from an expert. The rest look fine.
-Not sure about that one, either... Maybe closer to the equator than myself (about 42N)?

In some way's it's easier with an rf because you have a sporting chance of focusing. You'll get very short trails at two minutes and longer ones from there up. Dawn will block it all out🙂

You're worried about focusing at an object billions of miles away? You can use the planet's orbit of the sun as a rangefinder and still not get an accurate measurement of distance (look up the definition of parsec). SLR's have been considered superior for decades (precise framing, cheaper bodies), especially if you put it on a telescope at some point, with which many "star-trail" fanatics eventually get involved.

 

[sojournerphoto]

-If there's no moon, the exposure is right. I've had exposures of buildings under streetlights last several seconds with super-fast ISOs (like 125,000)... add to that a slow setting and bupkus for available light, you're looking at many hours (the difference between 2 hours and 8 hours is what, 2 stops?).
-Only one pic has too much water blur, I think, but I am far from an expert. The rest look fine.
-Not sure about that one, either... Maybe closer to the equator than myself (about 42N)?



You're worried about focusing at an object billions of miles away? You can use the planet's orbit of the sun as a rangefinder and still not get an accurate measurement of distance (look up the definition of parsec). SLR's have been considered superior for decades (precise framing, cheaper bodies), especially if you put it on a telescope at some point, with which many "star-trail" fanatics eventually get involved.

Yep, I'm 54N, so not sure about being closer to the equator. But, there aren't many 15 hour nights at 54N, so there'll be even fewer closer to the equator.

The problem I had in the past was focusing in the dark when the lens had no real infinity stop or accurate markings - most current af slr lenses. My slr has been on my telescope and that's a whole different ballgame and one I intend to repeat at some stage.

I'm happy to admit I could be wrong, but they don't smell right to me🙂

 

[CosmicCharlie]

Greetings from Maine. Need some advice, decided last min to shoot star trails tonight. Shooting m6 w/summicron 35mm, any advice on what fstop? is there a rule? also down to the oddball rolls of my film stash, so film base will be c-41 kodak traffic surveilance film. which most rate between 320-400asa. Sorry if this was already covered, was unable to find. kind regards and I thank you for your time.

 

[ChrisN]

Capturing startrails with a digital camera usually involves capturing a series of 30-second exposures, one after the other, for several hours, then blending these together with a program such as startrails.de. Most digital sensors can't handle exposures of several hours (but no doubt they eventually will) as the sensor heats up and causes lots of digital noise.

While it's possible to use a digital Leica for this, I'd rather wear out my Pentax dSLR which is much cheaper to replace. 🙂

EDIT: You also need to use a camera that allows you to turn off the digital noise reduction in the camera. If you can't turn that off, the camera makes another 30-second exposure with the shutter closed, measures the noise pattern, and subtracts that from the first image. Every time. So you'd end up with gaps in the star trails. I can't turn that off in the M9-P. The Pentax K5 allows me to turn it off.

Here's a sample made in my backyard, with the Pentax K5 and the multi-exposure technique. That's the moon and Venus setting in the bottom right corner.

Really cold nights can be difficult, with dew settling on the lens and misting the images. Keen practitioners use battery or chemical hand-warmers in a sleeve around the lens, to keep the dew away. I also use an external 12-volt battery pack to ensure that my batteries don't fail mid-way through a session. My basic settings are 400iso, 30s shutter, f/4 aperture, NR off. RAW capture preferred, but JPG is ok, with WB set to incandescent to give that electric-blue sky.