Is there a method/trick when focusing at stars or distant objects?

[Smoove910]

Here's a couple attempts at astrophotography for me... I was using a Celestron 6 with an attachment to add my (then) Pentax K7 to it. Wasn't too awfully happy with it, so traded all that gear for a Ruger mini 14.

 

[CuriousMike]

I'm going out Sunday night for my first time attempting to photograph the Milky Way.

We're driving about 2 hours outside the Bay Area, getting into a reasonably "dark area."

I did a practice run last night and found focusing WAY too hard.
While I could see stars with my naked eyes, I couldn't see shit thru the viewfinder.

(Let alone using Liveview + magnification to fine tune.)

I'm hoping the cityscape just makes it waay harder to see anything in viewfinder and getting "out there" will make the stars at least somewhat visible in viewfinder so I can then adjust focus.

 

[nettrader]

With my telescope i focus on a distant object on the land then on the stars and is ok. With my camcoder i turn off automatic focus and focus manually at infinity and then record. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAQZ6zxDfsA

 

[pontifex]

I'm going out Sunday night for my first time attempting to photograph the Milky Way.

We're driving about 2 hours outside the Bay Area, getting into a reasonably "dark area."

I did a practice run last night and found focusing WAY too hard.
While I could see stars with my naked eyes, I couldn't see shit thru the viewfinder.

(Let alone using Liveview + magnification to fine tune.)

I'm hoping the cityscape just makes it waay harder to see anything in viewfinder and getting "out there" will make the stars at least somewhat visible in viewfinder so I can then adjust focus.

I live out in the sticks and its difficult to find them in the viewfinder. They have to be really bright and even then its not easy.

 

[CuriousMike]

I live out in the sticks and its difficult to find them in the viewfinder. They have to be really bright and even then its not easy.

 

[blastingcap]

I'm going out Sunday night for my first time attempting to photograph the Milky Way.

We're driving about 2 hours outside the Bay Area, getting into a reasonably "dark area."

I did a practice run last night and found focusing WAY too hard.
While I could see stars with my naked eyes, I couldn't see shit thru the viewfinder.

(Let alone using Liveview + magnification to fine tune.)

I'm hoping the cityscape just makes it waay harder to see anything in viewfinder and getting "out there" will make the stars at least somewhat visible in viewfinder so I can then adjust focus.

If you have focus peaking some people say that actually works, esp. if you shoot RAW but turn JPG to black and white and peaking to red/yellow color.

If you don't, then try jacking your ISO to maximum in Live View and manual focus until you get it right, then keep focus there and crank ISO back down to something more realistic like 3200 or whatever you can get away with without too much star trailing.

 

[CuriousMike]

We were in a pretty dark area, the moon had set ... and I still couldn't see shit thru the viewfinder or in liveview.
I read 3 or 4 articles on the net ( in addition to what's been written here ) about how to focus on stars - and it ended up just being trial-and-error for me.

My kit lens doesn't have an infinity mark, but it does have somewhat of a "stop" when turned all the way in one direction. I moved the ring one "nub" at a time, and looked at the photos after each shot to see if I should keep going or not.

It's also difficult to know if you're sharp/focused because viewing the images up close on the LCD... looks noisy and globby. Some just look less "globby".

 

[blastingcap]

My kit lens doesn't have an infinity mark

Please tell me you weren't trying to shoot with a slow kit lens? Try reading this: http://www.lonelyspeck.com/lenses-for-milky-way-photography/

My a6000 + Rokinon 12mm f/2 would apparently be good for astrophotography but I can't seem to find the time to go during new moons lately to test it out yet. One really good thing about old MF lenses, or modern MF lenses like the Rokinons is how they have distance markings on the lens barrel. I know from experience that my Roki's infinity mark isn't quite accurate, so I just turn it to the infinity market minus a fraction of an inch and leave it there. Great for set-it-and-forget-it astrophotography where the distance to the stars is basically infinity. Distance marker also works well for setting hyperfocal distance.

 

[Red Squirrel]

None of my lenses have an infinity marker either, it's just a ring that you turn and it eventually stops in either direction. The point where stars seem the most in focus is around the middle. Hard to tell with the naked eye through the view finder if it's dead on though till you check on the computer.

Now that it's September probably wont see a cloudless night sky for a long time now to go mess around again and it's going to be getting too cold to be outside for long anyway.

 

[CuriousMike]

Please tell me you weren't trying to shoot with a slow kit lens? Try reading this: http://www.lonelyspeck.com/lenses-for-milky-way-photography/

My a6000 + Rokinon 12mm f/2 would apparently be good for astrophotography but I can't seem to find the time to go during new moons lately to test it out yet. One really good thing about old MF lenses, or modern MF lenses like the Rokinons is how they have distance markings on the lens barrel. I know from experience that my Roki's infinity mark isn't quite accurate, so I just turn it to the infinity market minus a fraction of an inch and leave it there. Great for set-it-and-forget-it astrophotography where the distance to the stars is basically infinity. Distance marker also works well for setting hyperfocal distance.

Yes, I was using a kit lens - I don't have a real use for a wide-angle lens, so it seems like a large investment for such a specialty application. The Rokinon 14mm f2.8 does come up as a possible good cheap option

My result ( posted already in "Shot of the day" thread )

 

[CuriousMike]

As a side note, one of the guys I went with had an A6000 ( with kit lens ). It was as frustrating for him as the others getting focus, but using the "try this mark... now try this mark" he was finally able to get some nice photos.

 

[CuriousMike]

None of my lenses have an infinity marker either, it's just a ring that you turn and it eventually stops in either direction. The point where stars seem the most in focus is around the middle. Hard to tell with the naked eye through the view finder if it's dead on though till you check on the computer.

Yep - my ring stops in a direction, but it's only a few notches off the edge where I got my focus.

I flat out could see NOTHING in the viewfinder.

 

[blastingcap]

Yes, I was using a kit lens

Well, you still got workable results at reduced image size, esp. if shot in RAW where you can tweak it more. Rokinon 14/2.8 gets good reviews, but if you won't use it, then you're right, you might as well put the money into something else.

 

[pontifex]

Full moon
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/pontifex/moon.jpg

Got a few quick photos of the moon tonight. That's probably the best one.
used a crappy tripod, used 2 second timer, and used manual mode with auto-focus. Didn't use the remote on it.


I was messing around with manual focus the other night with the moon and it seemed like every lens I used it focused all the way counter-clockwise, not clockwise. If I'm not mistaken, the infinity setting is almost all the way clockwise, right?