The formula is 500/the focal length of your lens = amount of seconds you can expose without getting star trails. There is a formula known as "the 500 rule" to calculate how long you can expose without getting star trails. If you leave your shutter open too long, the stars will appear to be lines instead of dots, and we don't want that. Setting your shutter speed is the most tricky because you need to let in enough light, but you also need to keep your exposures short enough to eliminate the appears of star trails.
Next, set your ISO as high as possible without introducing an unacceptable amount of noise. We're using a wide angle lens focused at infinity, so your depth of field will be deep regardless of what aperture setting you choose. Two of these things are easier to determine that the last. You do this with a wide open aperture, a slow shutter speed an a high ISO. First, you want to let as much light into your camera as possible to get a good exposure for the stars. When it comes to choosing settings for you camera, you need to balance a few things. You need to ensure your tripod is as low and stable as possible. Last but not least, you need a nice stable tripod. I strongly suggest shooting in RAW for maximum quality and post processing options. The card capacity depends of how long you plan to shoot and what format JPG or RAW. Just make sure to get one that works with your camera. Some cameras have these built in, but you can find many for around $30 online. Once you have your camera and lens, you need an intervalometer to automatically trigger your camera at specific intervals. The wide angle lens lets the stars stay in the frame longer allowing the viewer to really follow them.
If you are using a full frame body, a 16-35mm f/2.8 will do the job for you. The difference between f/2.8 and f/4, which is the widest aperture of my Sigma lens, is one full stop which is a lot when it comes to shooting stars. For example, the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 will be perfect for a crop sensor camera. If you don't mind having some noise, or you have one of the latest generation of crop sensor camera, you'll be in better shape than I was.Ī fast wide angle lens is also important.
In my example, I used ISO 6400 and the resulting noise is terrible. Full frame cameras handle high ISO settings much better than crop sensor cameras. I strongly recommend using a full frame camera body with fast wide angle lens.
I personally shot with my old Canon 550D using a Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6, but I regret it now. You can use a variety of gear for this shoot. Obviously, if you can't see the stars, your time lapse won't turn out very well. So look for a tree, a rock, an old house or anything that can help improve your shot when you put it in the foreground.Īnother thing worth mentioning is that you need to check the weather forecast to ensure that the night sky will be clear without any clouds. It also makes the movement of the stars more obvious. Having an object in the foreground helps to give more depth in the photo. Make sure that you have something in the foreground when you frame your shot. When you choose your location make sure to go there before sunset so you will have enough time to scout the place and choose the best spot for shooting the stars. You will have the best chance to capture a nice, clean starlapse sequence. I recommend going and shooting the sky from a mountain far away from big cities. If you try to capture the stars around all that light your images will be blow out because the sky is too bright. If you live in a big city, you'll have to leave it and go at least 40-50 km away because the city produce light pollution.
Shooting starlight time lapse video is really exciting and interesting, but unfortunately you can't shoot it everywhere.
Creating a Starlight Time Lapse Video: Preview