Prime-focus settings for DSLR (Nikon)

[prova]

i thought i'd start a fresh post in regards to the settings i should be using for prime-focus photography using a Nikon D50 DSLR

i want to take some test shots of M42 tonight and not sure what iso and exposure settings i should be using ..

i took 25 pics last night and all of them we're completely black, the correct exposure settings is the cause i think!?

any help is appreciated

[Ingo]

Probably ISO1600 and 30" in MANUAL (The "M" on the dial). If you have a mount, use it because the D50's sensor isn't very sensitive to light. Take a lot of images, stack with deep sky stacker, and do dark frames (put body, or lens cap on and take images while you're outside). Noise isn't too great on the D50, so use it wisely.