Today’s digital cameras provide a huge advantage over the old days of film for night sky photography. High ISO capabilities and the immediate feedback of LCD playback allow for experimentation and dialing in your settings. The results are amazing compared to what I used to get, struggling with film.
I (re)discovered the joy of night sky and star photography several months ago during a trip to New Mexico’s Bisti Wilderness. My results were satisfactory, but I knew I’d do better with a faster lens. After doing some research and weighing the options, I compromised on quality vs. price and found a good deal on a used Canon EF 28mm f/1.8.
Last weekend I (finally) had a chance to really try out my new fast lens. I headed to the Colorado mountains for a family camping trip, far away from city lights. And although it wasn’t peak timing for the 2010 Perseid Meteor shower, Friday night still provided a good number of meteors. I didn’t capture many – there’s still that factor of having your lens pointed in the right direction and your shutter open 
, but I enjoyed the evening and got to experiment with the Canon 28mm.
Here’s an image showing a faint Perseid.
2010 Perseid Meteor
Here’s a close-up crop of the meteor streak…
2010 Perseid Meteor Close-up
Also hiding out in that first image is a faint showing of the Andromeda Galaxy (that little fuzzy spot) …
Andromeda Galaxy
So what did I find out when experimenting with my new-to-me 28mm? Focusing in the dark is still difficult, and LiveView simply doesn’t work – not enough light. But I found the best focus setting by taking a shot, checking focus on the LCD playback, tweaking, checking, etc. until it looked good. The exposure settings that worked best for this lens and sky conditions were the following:
- ISO 1600
- f/1.8 and 15-20 seconds
I’m quite happy with the performance of the lens. The corners are pretty sharp and the CA isn’t too bad. I’m sure the image quality of the Canon 24mm f/1.4 L is better, but its also considerably more expensive. I’m happy with my compromise and so far happy with the results. I can’t wait to get out and do some more night sky photography!
