what to set for setttings for my digital cam to take pics of the stars?

[aUt0eXebat]

sometimes it gets really clear out, and i want to take some pics of it.... i have an HP 618 digital cam...

 

[glen]

no flash

 

[StageLeft]

Is that a good camera? I have a fairly decent digital camera and its 100% useless at taking photos at night

 

[aUt0eXebat]

yea its a great camera... it takes good pics at night, but i took one picture of the starts on auto with no flash and it came out ok, i was wondering if there were better settings to take clearer ones..

review on my cam

 

[DannyLove]

<< Is that a good camera? I have a fairly decent digital camera and its 100% useless at taking photos at night >>

 

[kami]

i have the same digicam. Put it on shutter priority, set the shutter to the maximum (4 seconds) and point it somewhere. Don't hold the camera..put it on a tripod or something sturdy. Either use the remote control or the 10 second timer for the shutter release so you dont shake the camera.

4 seconds might not be enough though...you should be able to get good shots of the moon though, but that doesn't require 4 seconds...you could use something faster like 1/60 of a second or so. you just have to experiment.

 

[GigaCluster]

No flash, try to get as high a resolution as you can, and USE A TRIPOD. Otherwise stars will look as small blurry dots. (as opposed to small dots. )

 

[aUt0eXebat]

thanks kami and GigaCluster, i will try it out when the sky is nice and clear again

 

[Mday]

use the tripod, and increase the exposure time.

if you have a telescope, use a make-shift adapter.

 

[RossGr]

To get a decent picture of the stars you need a motor driven mount. If you try to do a time exposure with out one you will get streaks not spots. In the long run star pictures are usually pretty disappointing, unless you have the proper equipment. You need a good celestial mount tripod with motor drive.