Best Canon DSLR Camera and Lens for night sky photography?

Question

My Canon SX530 HS does a great job at getting photos of the moon. But, when I try to take night sky pictures or pivtures of lighting during a storm, I can't get a photo. I have tried so many different settings on the camera to get a good photo the last 2 years that I have had it and nothing seems to work.

I am looking for an upgrade to a Canon DSLR camera and lenses that will work best for pictures like: night sky (stars), portraits (animals & humans), lakes, bugs, etc.

Answer 1

Taking good pictures of lightning requires that the shutter be open Before the light flashes

and remain open until the flashing has stopped.



Read The Owner's Manual to find out how to set the shutter speed manually

and Hope it will be capable of a 10- to 30- second shot.

Answer 2

Unless you have very good reflexes and great intuition, you won t be able to make a lightning photo by reacting to the lightning. It s possible, but unlikely.



The way the rest of us do it is to set a camera on a tripod, or some solid surface, point where the lightning is striking, open the shutter for at least 15 seconds, probably longer. Repeat until you get lucky and lightning strikes while your shutter is open. A DSLR or MILC (mirrorless equivalent) has the controls to do that. You can control the Aperture and Shutter speed on all of them. They have those controls on P&S cameras, like the Canon G16, but not on yours. Even the most entry level of Canon DSLRs have the aperture and shutter speed controls, such as the EOS Rebel T7 and T7i. Either will be a fine camera for you and will get your lightning shot, with practice. While the T7i is more expensive, it has features that will help you such as time lapse recording, so I recommend the T7i.

Answer 3

Depends on what "night sky" pictures you actually want to get. Most of the pictures you see published are heavily processed - for astrophotography, that's usually summarized under the header of "stacking", i.e. you take a few hundred pictures of the same object and then "add them up" to get the final picture. Also, people who want to publish their night sky photos usually go to places with little stray light and very clear air.



For human portraits, you will need a portrait lens. Well, not actually need - but some lenses are better at portraits than others. For animal portraits, things get a bit more complicated since not all animals will be modelling willingly (humans, you can usually convince somehow).



Lakes is again a different issue - landscape photography.



And as for bugs - now it gets really interesting. A long working distance macro lens is a must, and a good illumination system highly desireable - a ring flash (real flash, not one of those LED lights) e.g.. Long working distance because most bugs (that are able to - deepfreezing them is commonly used trick to prevent that) will try to get away when you try to get close to them with your camera.



A lot of DSLRs and EVIL cameras will be up to that task. However, some Canon cameras have an advantage: for some of the DSLRs and some of the Powershots (including yours), you can get alternative firmware (Magic Lantern for the DSLRs, CHDK for the PowerShots) which will enable you to do a lot of stuff in-camera - like the intervalometer for time lapses or star trails.

Answer 4

I would actually strongly suggest that since astrophotography is such a big issue for you, that you should get a Pentax K-70.



Any DSLR will be a tremendous improvement over what you're using now. A Canon T series will be just fine. What you will need with a Canon or Nikon is a lens that has a maximum aperture of at least f/2.8 or better. Why? Because at f/2.8 you can now use an ISO of about 3200 and a shutter speed of 30 seconds to get a proper exposure of the night sky. You do not want to use a shutter speed longer than 30 seconds because then your stars won't be pinpoints but instead, they'll show up as smudges. If you want star trails, then fine, but if you want pinpoints such as when photographing the Milky Way, then you need an f/2.8 lens so that you can keep your ISO down to a tolerable 3200.



This is where Pentax not only excels but actually does things simply not possible with any other brand of camera. Pentax uses in-body image stabilization while Canon and Nikon use an in-lens solution. Because Pentax can move the sensor, it uses this to cancel out the rotation of the Earth which causes the stars to "move" during the exposure. What this means for you is that not only do you not need to spend a lot of money on an f/2.8 lens, but if you do you can now use much, much lower ISO and get vastly sharper, clearer images with much better color and contrast. This feature which is unique to Pentax is called AstroTracer. It allows you to use shutter speeds longer than 30 seconds and still have the stars show up as pinpoints.



You can achieve similar results with any other DSLR or mirrorless camera, but you will need to invest in a sturdy tripod and a motorized head that slowly moves the camera during the exposure. Personally, I'd skip this option if you aren't already invested in a specific brand. However, the cost is relatively high and the added bulk and weight can be a huge problem for some people.



As for lenses, when taking night shots you're actually taking a landscape of the night sky. And as with any landscape photo, you will want a wide-angle lens. The wider, the better. A 14mm Samyang at about $500 is a great lens. It's a manual focus only lens, but that's fine since you normally turn the AF off when taking sky shots anyway. You don't want the lens to shift its focusing for obvious reasons. So look for a super-wide lens with an aperture of at least f/2.8 or better. Or, if you go with a Pentax like their KR or K-70 (the K-70 is among the best APS-C DSLRs on the market today), you can get a used ultra-wide and not have to worry if its aperture is big enough.

Answer 5

You should still be able to take nice pictures with your current camera but as you have described, you are already finding certain limitations to it. Any dSLR will perfectly replace your old camera. Just be reminded that in photography, you get exactly what you pay for. Entry-level does not refer to skill - it's about budget.



What will you get with a dSLR? First is Bulb setting. It's a shutter time which is equivalent to "forever". Basically when you set shutter time to Bulb, you tell how long the shutter stays open so if you want to take a 15-minute shot then so be it. What can you do with such a long shutter time? Capture lightning, make star trails, do light painting, etc.



You can shoot almost everything with the 18-55mm kit lens that comes with most dSLRs. What you can't do with that lens is make far objects seem near and make small objects seem large. For the former, you will need a long telephoto lens like the 55-300mm and for the latter, you will need a macro lens. Avoid getting a super zoom lens that does it all unless that is critical to what you work with. Physics dictates that the longer the zoom, the poorer optical quality becomes.

Answer 6

If you have a telescope, try piggybacking it or getting a good tripod that is stable enough to withstand moderate vibrations. Try film that is made for low light conditions ASA 400 or higher and lastly shoot from a dark sky as to minimize light pollution. You should get some good pictures.

Answer 7

Here is a photo of the moon taken with my Canon SX530 HS