Astrophotographers!! Help quick!! Leonids!!

[GodBlessTheUSA]

I got my hands on a Nikon camera that may leave its shutter open.

I'm going to leave it on a normal tripod. (I couldn't find a bracket to place on my meade ETX to track. )

So the stars will trail in the time-lapse photos. No biggie.

The best I could do at last minute is a standard 35MM lens.

I got Kodak Gold 400 speed film.

What's the longest I should leave an exposure go for?

TIA!!!

Help!!

 

[BP]

It's been awhile, but I think they start trailing after about a minute. It's a shame you dont have equitorial mount.....

 

[Mungla]

Everytime I've been up to see the Leonids, they've never lived up to my expectations. I can't go to sleep and then get up at 3am to watch the meteors for just a couple of hours, or else I feel like crap the next day. If I have a free day, I enjoy staying up til sunrise sitting under the dome at the laptop taking exposures. I don't have control cable/video cable ran into the house yet.

 

[Moonbeam]

I heard this question asked of an astronomer who didn't know about photography, but he suggested anyway, that you open the lense and use the longest exposure you have. I would assume that if the sky is dark it doesn't matter if the lense is open.

I think I'll go to the Lick Observatory to watch, but I see lots of overcast in the bay area here.

 

[kyutip]

I got DC4800 DigiCam.
The longest exposure is 16 second (I think).
which f stop should I use ? 2.8 ? 5.6 ? 8 ?
How about ISO ? 100 ? 200 ? 400 ?

 

[Illusio]

kyutip:

the smaller the fstop number, the larger the opening of your lens will be. Since you will be shooting in pretty much no light, Id suggest going with the smallets f stop you have.

as far as film speed, the high the film speed, the better it shoots in low light and the more it is able to stop motion (kinda irrelivant). But the higher you go, the more grainy the picture will turn out. i think you will be fine with 400 or 800 speed.

Just put a camera on a tripod.

If anyone is using a camera with a B setting for the shutter, use that. That is the manual exposure time. if its on B, than as long as you hold the shutter button down, the lens will stay open. Thay way, you just guess, push the button for a few seconds, half a minute, whatever...just experiment and hope for something good.

my 2 cents as an EX photomajor...