Why are my Milkyways so dim?

[ourkind (Carlos)]

Originally Posted by iceman

The answer:
14mm Samyang f/2.8 and post-processing.

Thanks Mike! That's a reasonable price tag.

Originally Posted by obsidianphotos

As Mike has stated a lot of it is in the post processing to really make the MW pop. As an example look at my youtube vid here http://youtu.be/ZJpNkXBvPjs In the very last sequence I show the raw unedited images that went into my "Midnight Rainbow" image and then the 'after' version.

The 50mm F/1.8 'nifty fifty' is a great lens and should be in every Canon users kit but it is not very wide for landscape Milky way shots. You would also be limited to about 8 second exposures with it before the stars trail too much.

The 14mm that Mike also mentioned is probably the best bang for your buck astro landscape lens. It will give you all the goodness of F/2.8 but on your crop sensor 60D I wouldn't push your exposure times past 20-25 seconds. 30 seconds is a fraction too long for that lens/camera combination.

Having said that, your 10mm at F/3.5 certainly isn't a slouch and is more than capable of producing the goods. Thats what I used to shoot with before I went full frame and the 14mm F/2.8. Some examples of my earlier work at 10mm and at F/3.5 http://500px.com/photo/5419839 http://500px.com/photo/5224879 http://500px.com/photo/3584589 http://500px.com/photo/3979581 http://500px.com/photo/6101196
Cheers
Greg

Thanks for your comments Greg I'm still a novice to photography and only at the tip of the iceburg with post editing. I've seen some youtube tutorials on creating masks to highligh certain areas of the image without blowing out areas you want untouched. I need to set some time aside to go through these tutorials and practice these techniques. The good thing is that all my images are taken in RAW so I can definately go back, practice and tweek them.

Also thanks for restoring the faith on my 10mm The 50mm sounds very good too, currently have a bid on one, just under $100 looking forward to picking it up this week!

Originally Posted by LewisM

Carlos,

I took the liberty of fiddling a little bit with one image in PS 5. Being a jpeg, I cannot stretch it too far at all without pixellating it, so tweaked contrast, tones etc, but still a low res jpeg limits the processing ability (post up a TIFF or even a PNG)

The first image was unworkable because of jpeg artifacts and the light in the lower right.

Not much difference, but enough,but you can really see the jpeg artifacts coming through. Do ALL processing on RAWs and TIFFs (even png or dng). I know you know this, but never even think of processing a jpeg - usually not worth it (I take it you always shoot in RAW?)

Thanks for that Lewis! Yep I appreciate the jpeg issue, good thing I have them in RAW too. I'm going to check out some post editing tutorials and have a play with masks. I only have PS6 (no pluggins - that kinda goes over my head at the moment), that should be good enough for a start?

Originally Posted by mithrandir

Or for a bit more than twice the money, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

Thanks Andrew

Originally Posted by Poita

+1.

Carlos, just buy one of these, it is perfect for what you want to do.

If you have the money, go to the Tokina mentioned.

Yep definately food for thought!

[RB (Andrew)]

Carlos, I like the 10-22mm and have used it a few times.
Here's a shot I did in 2005, when I was just starting out in Astro.
At the moment I have limited internet access but when I'm back online I'll post a bit more info.
There's the link to the original thread if you want to read it.

The photo looks dated now but just wanted to share what can be done with just a cheap mount and the 10-22mm.

I like the specs on Mike's suggested 14mm though, might look into one myself.