I used to think the Andromeda galaxy was too faint for my gear

I mean, I have a basic DSLR and a kit lens, so I figured deep sky stuff was out. But then I saw a post from someone in Phoenix who got a clear shot of it with a 135mm lens and a 30 second exposure. I tried stacking 50 frames from my backyard last weekend and, idk, you can actually see the core and some dust lanes. Has anyone else been surprised by what you can pull out with just basic camera settings?

4 comments

4 Comments

julia_carter612mo ago

Wait, you got dust lanes with a kit lens? That's insane, I always thought you needed way more gear for that.

derek_lee2mo ago

My buddy Nate got a shot of the Milky Way core from his backyard with the basic 18-55mm. He was just messing around, a cheap tripod and a lot of patience. Found a dark spot, stacked like thirty long exposures. The final edit showed all that faint dust detail clear as day. It proved the gear doesn't always make the shot.

leob582mo ago

But is that really a big deal these days? Stacking software does most of the heavy lifting anyway.

phoenixk641d ago

I was reading an article from Cloudy Nights a while back, a guy there did a whole backyard project with just a stock DSLR and an old 50mm lens. He stacked over 100 exposures, something crazy like 4 minutes each on a star tracker he built from a barn door. The final image had the Rho Ophiuchi region with a ton of detail, way more than I'd expect from that setup. It really makes you realize the limiting factor is usually the person and their processing skills, not the price tag on the glass. So yeah, stacking software is a huge part of it, but the effort to get those raw files and spend hours in post is where the real magic happens.