18
I think the whole 'use a star tracker or don't bother' thing is overblown
I was at a star party in Big Bend last October, and this guy kept telling everyone that any shot over 15 seconds without a tracker was basically trash. But I was right there with my tripod and got a crisp 30-second shot of the Milky Way core that I still have framed on my wall. He looked at it and just said 'well, you got lucky with the lens calibration.' I mean, maybe, but isn't half this hobby just working with what you've got? Has anyone else had someone dismiss your work based on gear instead of the actual result?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
kevinw9416d ago
Man that reminds me of something I read on CloudyNights a while back, this guy was getting roasted for stacking like 200 10-second shots with a kit lens on a cheap tripod and his final Milky Way pic was honestly gorgeous. The tracker crowd was trying to argue it was just luck with the polar alignment or something lol. People get way too hung up on gear when half the battle is just getting out there and practicing with what you have.
6
Read a post once from a guy who used a $50 tripod and his phone to shoot the Andromeda galaxy, and it looked better than some $5,000 setups I've seen online. Gear snobs forget that light pollution and timing matter way more than a tracker. I've had a neighbor tell me my moon shots were 'sloppy' because I wasn't using a remote shutter release, but the image was sharp enough to count craters. End of the day, a clear sky and a steady hand beat a fancy piece of kit any time.
2
jana50916d ago
That tripod shot sounds solid. Gear snobs forget that technique and conditions matter more than a $500 tracker. I've seen people with entry level gear produce better results than someone with a full astrophotography rig because they knew how to work the settings. End of the day, a sharp image proves itself.
1