What Settings To Use For Night Landscape Photography Canon Sl1

I finally went out last nighttime. Armed with all the keen responses and information I gleaned from this thread and a few other places I gave landscape astrophotography a effort. Here are the difficult lessons learned from only 1 night under the stars:

• If a fog rolls into your valley when the conditions report said at that place wouldn’t be i, don’t sit there like me clicking abroad for 2 hours. Pack upwards your gear and become habitation!
• If fog rolls in, it will probably mean fog on your lens.  Y’all will suddenly get a lot of out of focus photos because A) you are taking pictures of the water on your lens and B) Wiping fog off the lens tends move the lens out of focus. (This is easily fixed, see below)
• A handheld red low-cal is a pain. Bring a headlamp with a ruby lens.
• The canon 50mm lens actually works poorly for shots that include the mural and the stars considering the DOF is going to always exit something out of focus.

Even if they are kinda funny, those were useful lessons I learned concluding night.  I as well thought I should try to summarize everything everyone has told me and then far. I oasis’t mastered any attribute of this yet, merely this might help another novice endeavor Landscape Astrophotography, especially if they are using the Canon SL1.

• If you don’t know how to get to your camera settings past memory, copy the SL1 Cheat Sail I created further downward this page. Add your own notes with settings y’all desire to try, impress it out and accept information technology with you.  While information technology’s possible to get a decent film if you just set your camera on a bean bag, bespeak it at the sky and keep the shutter open up for a few seconds, you will go better pictures of a starry nighttime heaven if you understand and alter your ISO, Shutter speed, Aperture (F-terminate), Long Exposure Dissonance Reduction, white rest, and image recording quality (Raw / jpg etc.). Learn what these functions do earlier you sit down to take pictures of the stars. Merely well-nigh every one of these items have been discussed somewhere in this thread.
• Employ a tripod.
• Use a remote. EOS Cameras tin can apply a wireless remote for [bulb]. One click opens the shutter, second click closes the shutter. The SL1 displays elapsed time on the screen. Or purchase a remote with a timer. I just ordered ane.
• Bring one or more flashlights with blood-red lenses. Red light will permit your eyes to stay adjusted to the dark. Normal flashlights will reset your night vision and it’ll be several minutes before yous can see in the dark again.
• Bring a heater pack and a rubber band.  If your lens gets colder than the air effectually it, the glass will fog over – ruining your photos.  Warming up the lens volition foreclose humidity from condensing on the lens.  Wrap the heater pack over the lens and strap it in identify with the condom band.  Make sure yous aren’t roofing any needed sensors.
• Pick your location and get set up while information technology’due south still light and so yous can go the landscape in focus. In one case it gets dark it may be impossible to frame the shot and keep your lens focused. You may desire to utilize tape to marker where your focus ring ended up, in case you accidentally bump it in the dark.
• If y’all want star trails, point towards the pole for circles, east-w for streaks.
• If you don’t desire star trails, web search the photography “Rule of 600” for your lens. You can’t keep the mural in focus if you lot are using a motorized tracking mount.
• If your landscape foreground is relatively close, you tin use a flashlight to “paint” it while the shutter is open up. Movement to the left or correct of your tripod and then you don’t cast a shadow of your tripod into the paradigm.

I created and laminated an SL1 cheat sail to guide me through navigating the Canon SL1 bill of fare system, and so for at present I’m posting information technology hither. I idea I would re-create what I could hither in the hopes it would assistance whatsoever other SL1 owners. Everything here is already in the manual simply this puts it in 1 place in case y’all tin’t call up how to practise it in the dark.

• ISO: Press the ISO button (located on the height of the camera). Use the minor dial next to the ISO button, or the arrows on the back of the camera, or the touchscreen to select the ISO you desire.
• Shutter speed: Movement the mode dial to Thou (Manual). You will see the shutter speed on the rear display. Rotate the dial in front of the manner dial to alter the speed or use the touchscreen/navigation buttons. Fourth dimension is designated in fractions of a second. For star trails you will need to exceed the built in timer limit of 30 seconds. Movement “left” to get to [Seedling]. Bulb allows you to hold the shutter open manually with a remote.
• Aperture (F-finish or f/#): Hold downward the push button on the back of the camera labeled Av, and rotate the punch side by side to the ISO button. Yous can too use the touchscreen. A lower number lets in more than low-cal. Plow the dial left for lower numbers, correct for higher numbers.
• Image recording quality: Printing the MENU push button on the back of the photographic camera. Nether the showtime menu tab, select [Image Quality]. Use the pointer keys or the bear on screen to select a storage blazon. If you lot take the ability to edit RAW images in a mail service-processing application, you lot want to make sure your photographic camera is using RAW. The colors your camera will choice up for the night sky are not the colors you would expect.
• White balance: Printing the Carte du jour button on the dorsum of the camera. Under the second carte du jour tab, select [White Residual]. If you aren’t shooting in RAW with plans to gear up your colors on a computer later on, you should either practice a custom white balance for the dark sky or select <tungsten>. Utilize the arrow keys or the touchscreen to make a selection.
• Long Exposure Dissonance Reduction: Press the MENU button on the back of the photographic camera. Under the third tab, select [Long exp. noise reduction] click <SET> or apply the bear upon screen to select ON or OFF. For astrophotography yous probably want this off.