Testing ISO Settings for the Night Sky

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After chasing the Lyrids, I decided to create some test shots at different ISOs for my area. I shot my Lyrid footage at ISO 3200 and it was too high. Last night was clear, so I went out about an hour after sunset and took this series of 30 second time exposures starting at ISO 1600 and ending at 100. These were taken with my trusty Nikon D5300, Rokinon 16mm lens at f2 and Hoya Red Intensifier filter.

Exposure.jpg

ISO Test

 

From Top to Bottom:

ISO 1600

ISO 800

ISO 400

ISO 200

ISO 100

Light pollution isn't the only thing I have to deal with. You'll notice that I also have a lot of trees.

Although the Rule of 500 gives me a time exposure value slightly over 30 seconds, I can see elongated stars in those images. I backed the time down to 25 seconds and settled at ISO 200 (as I look at that now, I would probably step up to either ISO 250 or 320 at 25 seconds with this setup). My raw test shot at ISO 200 had to be lightened in Photoshop and surprise! A couple of meteor trails showed up in the image. 

The Lyrid Meteor Shower was a Bust

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I think I photographed more airplanes than meteors last weekend. I was using my f2.0 16mm Rokinon lens on a Nikon D5300 for this shoot. A Hoya Red Intensifier filter was used to cut the local light pollution.

I had the ISO at 3200, which I think was way too high for these 25 second time exposures. I had to give these images a good bit of Lightroom love. On my next shoot, I'll try test shots at ISO 1600 and 800 when I set up.

The Rokinon 16mm is proving to be a solid, wide-angle astrophotography lens.