First camera for photographing night sky etc

[NuckyThompson]

Looking to do a bit of wild-camping over the summer so looking for recommendations for a decent camera for night sky photos as i'm likely to be in places with little light pollution.

As i'm hiking durability would be a plus and perhaps one that can be linked to a decent telescope in the future tho.

absolute novice so any advice appreciated.

[Whoozit]

For astro photography, the bigger the sensor (=more light gathering) and interchangeable lenses with wide max aperture (=more light gathering) are the general rules of thumb. Maybe start with what is your budget?

And also, include in your budget the cost of a decent ish tripod (not thousands, instead £150-ish might be sufficient but don't be tempted to go for the £65 versions)

[NuckyThompson]

Budget is in the £1000 region.

[eltawater]

The summer isn't actually that great for astrophotography as the period of complete darkness between sunset and sunrise is quite short in England, even more so as you head into scotland and beyond. It can take a good couple of hours after sunset to go completely dark and don't forget the cloud cover may conspire against you.

If this is just something you'll want to dabble in, there's absolutely no need to go mad at £1000 with. Any second hand DSLR etc below £200 will be absolutely fine as they should all have the ability to be controlled by remote trigger and have their shutter set to BULB mode for fine control. Likewise, you'll get perfectly acceptable results from a kit lens on a crop sensor coupled with an inexpensive sub £50 tripod. You just need something to hold the body steady for the duration of the exposure, I've propped mine up with the lens hood against the floor before....

[SCEtoAUX]

If you do want to go for the £1000 option then I'd go for a used D700 (cheapest used DSLR with a full frame sensor):

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-phot...

Manfrotto Tripod and head:

https://www.jessops.com/p/manfrotto/190-go-alumini...

20mm AF-D:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-phot...

That will come in at around £350+£130+£170 so certainly in budget. If you want to spend a bit more then this lens is a bit wider (but slower). More useful for other purposes perhaps:

https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-35mm-g.htm

That would get you closer to the budget.

You need to be as wide as possible, wide open on the lens too. 30 second exposure and then spend a good amount of time in the likes of Adobe Lightroom to get the best.

This photo was done on the above kit, it's not too bad but there was alot of light pollution from the A303 (five miles south):

[Zirconia]

Mirror lock up (if there is a mirror) bulb setting and remote release and good stable tripod. Watch out for infinity settings.

Personally I would get something from MPB second hand.

SLR kits for scopes are quite good but not as good as a dedicated camera but the latter can be expensive but the aforementioned Mirror lock up is vital on a scope with a mirror SLR

[NuckyThompson]

SCEtoAUX said:

If you do want to go for the £1000 option then I'd go for a used D700 (cheapest used DSLR with a full frame sensor):

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-phot...

Manfrotto Tripod and head:

https://www.jessops.com/p/manfrotto/190-go-alumini...

20mm AF-D:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-phot...

That will come in at around £350+£130+£170 so certainly in budget. If you want to spend a bit more then this lens is a bit wider (but slower). More useful for other purposes perhaps:

https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-35mm-g.htm

That would get you closer to the budget.

You need to be as wide as possible, wide open on the lens too. 30 second exposure and then spend a good amount of time in the likes of Adobe Lightroom to get the best.

This photo was done on the above kit, it's not too bad but there was alot of light pollution from the A303 (five miles south):

Thanks mate, that sort of photo level is what I was aiming at achieving, although hopefully up in snowdonia I will be away from any artificial light.

I’m definitely not adverse to buying second hand.

For reference this is what I’d come across from my own quick research.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BHXMO3A/?coliid=I1H...

Wondering how much difference there is between those two

[Coolbanana]

NuckyThompson said:

Thanks mate, that sort of photo level is what I was aiming at achieving, although hopefully up in snowdonia I will be away from any artificial light.

I’m definitely not adverse to buying second hand.

For reference this is what I’d come across from my own quick research.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BHXMO3A/?coliid=I1H...

Wondering how much difference there is between those two

https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D700-vs-Canon-EOS-6D-Mark-II

https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-si...

The 6D Mk2 is a much newer camera, it is therefore 'better' in most areas. More expensive, obviously. Either camera body will benefit most from the quality of the glass you use, of course.

[NuckyThompson]

Cheers mate, I’m going to be quite limited in the amount of times I can really get out and use any camera I buy and the purpose I want it for is generally some good night sky shots and perhaps some top quality shots for when I’m hiking in Brecon Beacons etc.

So thinking the £350 used camera above will do me rather than a £1000 new one. Anybody able to show an example of the difference in picture quality between two cameras at those levels of specs? Is it extreme or negligible to an amateur?

Many thanks for all advice so far

[SCEtoAUX]

NuckyThompson said:

Cheers mate, I’m going to be quite limited in the amount of times I can really get out and use any camera I buy and the purpose I want it for is generally some good night sky shots and perhaps some top quality shots for when I’m hiking in Brecon Beacons etc.

So thinking the £350 used camera above will do me rather than a £1000 new one. Anybody able to show an example of the difference in picture quality between two cameras at those levels of specs? Is it extreme or negligible to an amateur?

Many thanks for all advice so far

Nothing wrong with the image quality of a D700, I still use a pair to earn part of my living and nobody ever says the images aren't good enough. In fairness you will perhaps see better noise performance from a newer Nikon body like the D810 but not a huge amount and it will cost you at least three times the price.

[NuckyThompson]

SCEtoAUX said:

If you do want to go for the £1000 option then I'd go for a used D700 (cheapest used DSLR with a full frame sensor):

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-phot...

Manfrotto Tripod and head:

https://www.jessops.com/p/manfrotto/190-go-alumini...

20mm AF-D:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-phot...

That will come in at around £350+£130+£170 so certainly in budget. If you want to spend a bit more then this lens is a bit wider (but slower). More useful for other purposes perhaps:

https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-35mm-g.htm

That would get you closer to the budget.

You need to be as wide as possible, wide open on the lens too. 30 second exposure and then spend a good amount of time in the likes of Adobe Lightroom to get the best.

This photo was done on the above kit, it's not too bad but there was alot of light pollution from the A303 (five miles south):

I have gone with this setup, so thanks very much for the advice.

Hoping to get up to snowdonia at the end of the month and just checked to see the area i plan to camp at is a designated dark sky area.

We have a designated dark sky area close to where i live in south wales so will hopefully get out there beforehand to do some practice shots.

many thanks

[NuckyThompson]

SCEtoAUX said:

If you do want to go for the £1000 option then I'd go for a used D700 (cheapest used DSLR with a full frame sensor):

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-phot...

Manfrotto Tripod and head:

https://www.jessops.com/p/manfrotto/190-go-alumini...

20mm AF-D:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-phot...

That will come in at around £350+£130+£170 so certainly in budget. If you want to spend a bit more then this lens is a bit wider (but slower). More useful for other purposes perhaps:

https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-35mm-g.htm

That would get you closer to the budget.

You need to be as wide as possible, wide open on the lens too. 30 second exposure and then spend a good amount of time in the likes of Adobe Lightroom to get the best.

This photo was done on the above kit, it's not too bad but there was alot of light pollution from the A303 (five miles south):

Thanks for the advice got this kit and has all come this week. Hopefully be heading up the mountains for a wild camp in the next couple of weeks so if anyone knows of any decent websites or YouTube pages for beginner advice for night photography I’d be very greatful

[Evolved]

Following.

[vaderface]

NuckyThompson said:

Thanks for the advice got this kit and has all come this week. Hopefully be heading up the mountains for a wild camp in the next couple of weeks so if anyone knows of any decent websites or YouTube pages for beginner advice for night photography I’d be very greatful

Milky way in snowdonia?
This guys worth a watch if it helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGKM0IFb7ZY

[tonyb1968]

You just fall outside of your budget for a D750, these are now under £1070 new (camera only), or you are into D800 second hand money for about £650, even a D610 second hand would do the job quite well.

[NuckyThompson]

Right at the risk of coming across as a right idiot. I’m struggling to even take a photo on the D700.

No amount of googling is giving me the most simplified way of taking a photo so don’t even know what I’m doing wrong.

The memory card I got was to big for the current firmware of the camera so have updated that.

But beyond that I can’t take even a basic photo or at least get one to save. Any ideas guys? I’m at a complete loss.

[Zirconia]

Taken the lens cap off?


(sorry, canon user).

[NuckyThompson]

Haha I worked that much out.

[cherie171]

It's hard to diagnose the problem without seeing the camera. Does it turn on? Are there any error messages on the LCD screen? Have you reset to the factory settings? What's the memory card make and capacity? Is the lens fully locked into place?


If you're on Facebook, join the UK Nikon group, they may be able to help https://www.facebook.com/groups/161538360882036/ or go into a local camera shop?

[NuckyThompson]

It turns on with no error messages. The memory card is a sandisk extreme 32gb.

I’ve reset to factory settings. And as I type this I’ve finally got a photo. Checked to see if lense was fully connected which is was but twisted the inner section furthest left it can go and it’s now shooting.

So at least I’m getting somewhere.