Peter Ellner Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 (edited) Shooting at night really shows the limitations of a camera and the amazing abilities of our eyes! Last week, I went up into the mountains on a camping trip and I brought my DSLR with me. Using an f/2.8 lens, a shutter speed of 1/50, and an ISO of 1600, I was unable to capture any of the stars in the sky... it all came out black. Meanwhile, I could immediately adjust from the brilliance of an iPad screen to the sky above and see the stars clearly. This got me thinking though: how in the world were shots like this one from Close Encounters of the Third Kind achieved using film (likely no faster than ASA 800)? evanerichards.com/wp-content/gallery/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind/closeencounters074.jpg I also recall shots in Lawrence of Arabia which clearly show stars in the sky. So what are they doing, shooting with the ultra-fast lens used in Barry Lyndon? Or is it all a special effect done through optical printers and compositing in post? Thank you! Edited September 22, 2012 by Peter Ellner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Jensen Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 No, that was all visual FX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Arandt Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Take the DLSR video, then take a long exposure still and mask in post. Voila... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 The exposure required is of the order of tens of seconds. Conventional video will not capture stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I am interested to see photos that you guys have taken.. :) I am pretty new in this, would love to see more! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Drysdale Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I am interested to see photos that you guys have taken.. :) I am pretty new in this, would love to see more! :lol: You need to use your full real name, it's one of the forum rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Reis Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Shooting at night really shows the limitations of a camera and the amazing abilities of our eyes! Last week, I went up into the mountains on a camping trip and I brought my DSLR with me. Using an f/2.8 lens, a shutter speed of 1/50, and an ISO of 1600, I was unable to capture any of the stars in the sky... it all came out black. Meanwhile, I could immediately adjust from the brilliance of an iPad screen to the sky above and see the stars clearly. This got me thinking though: how in the world were shots like this one from Close Encounters of the Third Kind achieved using film (likely no faster than ASA 800)? evanerichards.com/wp-content/gallery/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind/closeencounters074.jpg I also recall shots in Lawrence of Arabia which clearly show stars in the sky. So what are they doing, shooting with the ultra-fast lens used in Barry Lyndon? Or is it all a special effect done through optical printers and compositing in post? Thank you! In order to photograph stars at night, you will probably need to be somewhere around a 30-40 second exposure at f2.8 with 1600 asa. I would look into purchasing an intervalometer for this type of timelapse or long exposures. Most DSLRs are limited to 1 second exposures. However you may have a manual bulb mode which you could time with a stop watch, but your risk shaking the camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Anthony Vale Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.c...ed/3uj_RO_nqsI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Time lapse with 20-30 second per frame exposures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Compton Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 You CAN shoot long star exposures on FILM. 50 ASA, 100ASA FUJI VELVIA 100 and KODAK EKTAR 100: http://benhorne.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/fuji-velvia-100-vs-kodak-ektar-100-round-2/ and just for fun because it's FUJI VELVIA 50: http://benhorne.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/slide-film-tonality-fuji-velvia-50/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bartok Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 I think this topic has moved totally of what he was asking, but yes it's almost impossible, watch collateral for great low-light scenes. otherwise you'll have to go down the road of VFX. You CAN shoot long star exposures on FILM. 50 ASA, 100ASA FUJI VELVIA 100 and KODAK EKTAR 100: http://benhorne.word...ar-100-round-2/ and just for fun because it's FUJI VELVIA 50: http://benhorne.word...fuji-velvia-50/ I love the look of Velvia but to be safe go with 100. I would not recommend Velvia 50 RVP for long exposure because of reciprocity failure and color shifts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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