Gee Richard, your work is fantastic and getting better if it can. Really great video to explain this technique. I have had great success following your methods. Don't retire Richard!.
Richard, great video that gets into the nuts and bolts. These are the kind of videos I get the most from. One of my biggest struggles has been getting a sharp foreground. However, I don't think you adequately addressed the issue of exposure. If I stop down to 5.6 on my 24mm f/1.4 lens (Sony), I will have to either pump up my ISO (too much noise) or use light painting, a technique I know you use a lot (and I haven't yet). You did show that technique throughout the video, I just didn't think it was clarified. Up to now I have been using focus stacking, but I do see that breathing issue, even with my prime lens.
It all depends on whether you want to shoot the whole scene in a single exposure, or you want to use more than one. If using a single exposure then you're going to be limited to making sure your foreground subject is a longer distance away from the camera. If you're ok to blend more than one image then you get a good sharp shot of the stars then take separate shots of the foreground with lighting applied. You can take ambient foreground exposures . .when I do that I typically won't stop down the aperture as you lose too much exposure. In fact I'll generally lengthen the shutter speed for that as it doesn't matter if you get star trails as you've already taken the sky shot. You still need to work out the blending of these shots though. But the point of this video is to explain the focus and infinity question.
Great information -- I am certainly going to do this on my next night photoshoot! I was on the page of focus stacking and what you taught makes so much sense to me! Thanks Richard!
Another great practical video Richard, bring back great memories from your workshop. I do find that focussing to infinity on a semi-distant landscape object using the torch for illumination (ok semi distant being maybe 10 m 😂) has made my life so much easier than the continual struggle to decide if that single magnified star is as small as it can be. Thanks as always.
Excellent video, Richard. Your words “we just say it’ll be alright” very much resonated; how many times have I got home and found a focus issue or something unsightly in the edge of the frame that I suspected at the time might be there!! I’ve watched hundreds of nightscape tip videos over the years but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the hyper focal method discussed for Astro. It’s so logical and simple, and definitely a technique I forget to use. Thank you!
Thanks as always for watching Paul. There are so many little tips and tricks that we can use .. as they say .. Knowledge is a powerful thing, but understanding is king.
Kept pausing to take notes, and very keen to put this into practise. Not on astro but a photo I've been trying for, for a long time. I mean years. An in-focus long line of flowering orchids in our fernery. Richard, your explanations are so clear, and I never doubt you. Thank you so much.
Great Video Richard 🙂. Brought back a quick memory of the recent workshop with you and feeling happy about knowing some of these tips in person along with some of the best friends in the workshop 😍
Thank you Richard for this class, just by changing the aperture we can get the foreground in focus without losing focus on infinity, which is so fundamental for most nightscape photography that is done, it's good to see with the simplicity and ease that it conveys its knowledge. Thanks Richard.👏👏👏😀
Fantastic tip Richard! That really does sharpen the foreground and the image at the 7:00 min mark really is amazing and shows how well that technique works.
Fantastic video, Richard!! What a revelation. I always religiously focus on stars, and then refocus on foreground with a narrower aperture and lower ISO!! Now, I realise I don't have to, and the issue with lens warmers goes away! Brilliant. Given I always drop down to F5 for light painting (usually at between 18 and 20mm), this is probably not necessary if I stop down to F5.6. Thank you so much for this 🙂👍
Another fantastic video, mate! I believe this topic will provide value to many viewers. It also emphasises alternative methods to achieve sharp focus through various techniques. something that I too use. Thanks for sharing.
Another great video Richard! It's a simple technique but what a great difference it makes to the output images. I would love to see how you deal with focus breathing issues in post when you don't have option but to blend focus stacked images.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT …. I need to try it . Been scared to try thinking i cant possibly do this .. i am in Minnesota and the misquotes are BEYOND HORRIBLE HERE TO MAKE IT LESS APPEALING ! But absolutely in love with your videos!!
Hi Richard, I wish you had put this up a couple of weeks ago! I have just returned from Tasmania and would have found the method you described invaluable!!
Nice coverage of the focus issues. Once you achieve a good astro focus you do want it to stay put. It didn't take too long, due to mishaps, for me to learn to use gaffer tape to nail down the focus ring once focused. I keep several short pieces taped to my tripod legs and tracker for this use; among other uses. It removes cleanly and it saves time when moving/bumping the camera, or having lens heater attached. I still check focus occasionally in case there are focus fluctuations due to temperature changes.
Thank you, Richard, for an excellent video, perfectly explained and demonstrated. I have an AFS Nikkor f/1.8. The focus ring is very ‘loose’ compared to my other lens. It is easily moved by just putting on a lens warmer. I bought a bag of assorted rubber bands. I found one that fitted snugly on the lens body, not too tight or loose. I place the rubber band on the lens so it sits half on the focus ring and half on the lens body. The rubber band is 6mm wide. II is now much firmer to focus but not easily moved like before. It can easily be slid off of the focus ring and left on the lens body if you don’t need it. Probably not quite as fixed as Gaffer tape but works fine for this lens.
Thanks, Richard. That is great information. We'll have to put it in use when we're back at home. Seeing that we are in Mexico right now and we have some big cities around us. We cannot stars.
I learnt what "focus breathing" was/does in this! I will need to convert to simply changing aperture - although I often do focus on smaller infinity distance objects using a strong torch which will perhaps be reducing the breathing problem. The Z 20mm has such a huge focus ring! p.s. I was up at a favourite local haunt of your's scouting the lay of the land on Saturday - I love the spot!
Great refresh vid for me Richard. Going out early April to do an old log carrying lorry not far from home. Explaining the DOF on photo pills was a penny drop for Deb.😊
DOF depends upon focal distance, distance to the object and aperture. Its usual forgeting distance to the object. With a telephoto it's common to step back to make a portrait and focus on an infinite landscape. I use the hyperfocal distance too. My zeiss lens presents the min max and focal point on a lcd of the lens. When max changed to infinity we are at the hyperfocal.
Great video Richard. It had never occurred to me that you presented. I guess some ( read few) of my images may have lucked being shot this way and I never twigged it was the reason why. Certainly will head out and give it a go.
Dear Richard, I would like to ask you if you use that focus indicator of the Nikon Z6II for focusing on the stars/infinity (I mean that red indicators in manual mode)? Best regards, Günter@@nightscapeimages.richard
I think you're referring to Focus Peaking . .No I don't generally use that because I find that the red glow actually hides the stars from view too much. @@gunterdeutsch4260
Thank you Richard. I am also not very happy with that feature for focusing stars. That's why I asked. But I use it often for the foreground and I think it is helpful for that. @@nightscapeimages.richard
Stopping down stops focus breathing too, i had been trying to teach people about both on twitter ever since learning about it on one of your earlier videos i watched about 4 yrs ago Oops: jumped the gun commenting before you mentioned focus breathing 😂
Great advice right here, bodged focus is easily my no.1 reason for coming home from a night of shooting with nothing to show for it. I wish I could say it is all on the past 🥴. Impressive lack of breathing on that Nikon 35mm. Can borrow my Sony GM 35mm if you want to see a prime do zoom. Incredible amount of breathing on that for what is otherwise a superb lens.
This is an amazing technique and it completely changes the way I plan for the shooting. It might be worthwhile to compare the hyper focus versus this technique by changing the aperture ring🎉
Thanks for watching. The results are almost identical .. it's more of a mindset thing. In landscape photography there is no requirement to have the extreme infinity part of the image sharp. Whereas in astro landscape, that is the stars . .and they do need to be sharp. In practice where we focus may end up being in the same place but we have to think differently to establish this.
Another excellent video Richard, I love watching these here in Scotland after walking my dog whilst having a brew. Hopefully we can enjoy some clear skies in a fortnights time when I’m off for a week lol Take care of yourself and keep up your great work as always
Wonderful tutorial Richard! Yep, Photopills is a great app and very useful for DOF calculations. Thank you for the great focusing tips. Taje care, Jerry
I think the main advantage of changing just the lens apparture and ISO (and not changing the focus distance) is that you will not have to deal with the focus breathing when blending the sky and foreground. Thank you for the tips, Richard! Best wishes!
I have experienced this focus breathing in post processing but didn't know what caused it until now! Thank you for explaining. Now to work on how to overcome it 🤔
@@nightscapeimages.richard that would be amazing and much appreciated. When I first noticed it I thought I must've moved the camera slightly, now I know what causes it I don't feel like such a dill.
Wish it was as easy as following a chart. Even with great lenses, for example, set the aperture to say F8 and set focus distance at 5 or even 15 feet, and stars will never be in in focus even though the chart states everything past a certain point up to and including infinity it should be. Focus breathing? Every lens I have, Nikon to Sony (20mm, 24 GM) can not be set to any predetermined "position" and have stars in focus. Of course, your main point of having foreground with death of field tables do have value. Thanks for the video and love your quick slide show of your images at end of video! Cheers
Thanks again for watching Kerry. There are two factors that I may not have emphasized in this video enough. Firstly, these tables are only relevant to ultra wide angle focal lengths .. maybe 14mm - 24mm. Beyond that the distances get quite long to attain accurate focus. Secondly is our ability to see properly to focus on anything. This is a very common problem for many people . .I even encounter this sometimes as well. As I showed in this video .. every image I shoot is done using these methods.
Thanks Richard. No, you were clear in your video about focal lengths. I'm just saying for example, if I set my 24mm GM lens to F8 and say, set lens focal to 20 feet, (any feet) stars will not be sharply in focus. Still need to adjust. Works on foreground objects of course. @@nightscapeimages.richard
That's quite interesting Kerry. You didn't mention which camera body you're using but even with a crop sensor camera you should be able to find infinity focus at 10 mtrs or so at f2.8. But I think it's good to hear real world experiences with this stuff. Thanks again.@@kerrykroberts7809
As usual lots of sound advice, well explained. Keep up the good work. On another note, I would be interested in an update of your thoughts on the Benro Polaris. I often consider gettng one but I am put off by the horror stories of problems. I just spotted that a spanish guy has a 4 video course on it's use and claims that 90% of all problems are actually user errors.
Thanks heaps David. I don't use the Polaris all the time as I think it's real strength is tracked milky way panoramas .. for most other tracking I prefer the Sky Watcher units. However, the last few times I've used it i had no issues at all. I think it was released a little prematurely and they have struggles to fix the errors that cropped up. That's Dan Zafra with the Polaris Video Tutorials. He's possibly right about the percentage of user errors but if the unit has a 10% error rate that's a very high number in my opinion. The other trackers I've used have zero issues in the units themselves.
I've also heard that weather conditions can affect focus, and by extension, focus breathing. This was mentioned, I believe, as a precaution to people who might prefocus their lenses during the day and even tape them off, to still verify focus before and during shooting. I'm wondering if, in your experience, using a lens warmer helps at least in some part to mitigate focus issues brought on by changes in temperature, humidity and pressure?
Yes that's a good point Derek. I like having the lens warmer on for a lot of reasons. I think it does make sense to often re-check the focus, as there are many reasons it can shift during the night. Regarding focusing during the day and taping the lens. This doesn't work for a lot of modern mirrorless lenses as you can turn them til the cows come home .. they tend to be "Focus by Wire" with no hard stops.
I had the black outline appear in a picture. I first took a night sky picture and then did a refocus on the foreground subject. When I stacked the 2, I ended up with a black outline of the subject. I could not understand what happened until I watched your video. Thanks for the explanation and how to prevent it in the future.
hi Richard. As I’ve only done single images with no light painting this has always been a problem.foreground always soft. I also use affinity photo for editing but I’m not great at blending photos together. Thank you for this
Hi Richard. Thanks once again for a fascinating aspect to add to the armoury of techniques for us. There was just one thing...about 5:12 when you said just by changing the aperture, I noticed that the image said a 10 sec exposure whereas the out of focus image at about 4:23 was 15secs. Was that a manual setting decision you had to make due to stopping down the Aperture, or did you use priority mode? Also, would that exposure time difference have had any noticeable effect on the focus AND light quality?
Thanks so much for watching. Sometimes I'll lower the shutter speed when light painting foregrounds because I don't need as long to capture the light. Remember I'm not trying to capture any stars in these foreground images so I only really need a shutter speed that lasts as long as the light painting does. Rarely would I use the full 10 seconds to light my subject. I never use any automated modes such as Aperture Priority for these type of shots. Shutter speed or iso has no relevance to focus or depth of field.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I have the same lens as you on a Z6ii. You can change what the focus ring does via the Custom Controls f2. That way you can focus, turn off the focus ring (or set it to another function like aperture control). So that way nothing you do to the lens ring will change the focus.
Thanks... at the 12:10 mark you mention using tree or something at an "appropriate distance". Would this be a far distance but not at infinity - as stars are at infinity - but far enough? If that makes sense.
Thanks for watching Guy. The infinity focus at these wide angle lenses will extend to a distance quite close to the camera. So that tree or fence post will be sharp as will the stars. The chart as shown in this video explains how close that infinity point can be with each camera and lens combination.
Gee Richard, your work is fantastic and getting better if it can. Really great video to explain this technique. I have had great success following your methods. Don't retire Richard!.
Haha, thanks Geoff. Well I certainly do feel like resting my weary bones sometimes that's for sure ... !!
Some times I pick up a tip. Sometimes you change the way I thank and plan. Thank you.
You're always very welcome Boyce.
Your video is full of enthusiasm that is contagious well done as always ❤
Very kind of you as always.
Didn’t listen to it yet. A ❤ and a comment filled with positive W O W S because you’re the B E S T ! ❤❤❤❤
Not done yet but I confirm that this is GREAT content as usual. Luv ya!!!
You are so kind as always Carole.
Richard, great video that gets into the nuts and bolts. These are the kind of videos I get the most from. One of my biggest struggles has been getting a sharp foreground. However, I don't think you adequately addressed the issue of exposure. If I stop down to 5.6 on my 24mm f/1.4 lens (Sony), I will have to either pump up my ISO (too much noise) or use light painting, a technique I know you use a lot (and I haven't yet). You did show that technique throughout the video, I just didn't think it was clarified. Up to now I have been using focus stacking, but I do see that breathing issue, even with my prime lens.
It all depends on whether you want to shoot the whole scene in a single exposure, or you want to use more than one. If using a single exposure then you're going to be limited to making sure your foreground subject is a longer distance away from the camera. If you're ok to blend more than one image then you get a good sharp shot of the stars then take separate shots of the foreground with lighting applied. You can take ambient foreground exposures . .when I do that I typically won't stop down the aperture as you lose too much exposure. In fact I'll generally lengthen the shutter speed for that as it doesn't matter if you get star trails as you've already taken the sky shot. You still need to work out the blending of these shots though.
But the point of this video is to explain the focus and infinity question.
I love photopills to visualize DoF. Greedings from Switzerland
Thanks so much for watching my friend.
Great information -- I am certainly going to do this on my next night photoshoot! I was on the page of focus stacking and what you taught makes so much sense to me! Thanks Richard!
Really appreciate you watching Gary
Another great practical video Richard, bring back great memories from your workshop. I do find that focussing to infinity on a semi-distant landscape object using the torch for illumination (ok semi distant being maybe 10 m 😂) has made my life so much easier than the continual struggle to decide if that single magnified star is as small as it can be. Thanks as always.
Always appreciate your comments Eric, thank you.
Hi Richard. This is game changing ! I always move the focus point with blending in mind. This will totally change my approach Thank you so much.
Glad it's helpful Tim
Excellent video, Richard. Your words “we just say it’ll be alright” very much resonated; how many times have I got home and found a focus issue or something unsightly in the edge of the frame that I suspected at the time might be there!!
I’ve watched hundreds of nightscape tip videos over the years but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the hyper focal method discussed for Astro. It’s so logical and simple, and definitely a technique I forget to use. Thank you!
Thanks as always for watching Paul. There are so many little tips and tricks that we can use .. as they say .. Knowledge is a powerful thing, but understanding is king.
Great video, Richard! This will be a game changer for me this summer. If anyone doubts your tips I have to assume they haven’t seen your work. 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Thanks for your kind words Jay
This is eye opening! Richard, you are the best!
Thanks for your comments, really appreciated.
Kept pausing to take notes, and very keen to put this into practise. Not on astro but a photo I've been trying for, for a long time. I mean years.
An in-focus long line of flowering orchids in our fernery. Richard, your explanations are so clear, and I never doubt you. Thank you so much.
That's very kind of you Joan, thanks for watching.
All practical and solid advice Richard. Get it right in camera and post processing is a lot easier. 😎😁👍
Thanks Geoff. Always appreciate your comments mate.
Great Video Richard 🙂. Brought back a quick memory of the recent workshop with you and feeling happy about knowing some of these tips in person along with some of the best friends in the workshop 😍
Thanks for tuning in Selva. It was great to meet you in person. We had a wonderful time out on the farm.
Brilliantly explained Richard. Thank you again
Always appreciate you watching Manjul. Thank you.
Good to go back to the basics, thanks Richard for the awesome video
Always appreciated Chetan
Thank you Richard for this class, just by changing the aperture we can get the foreground in focus without losing focus on infinity, which is so fundamental for most nightscape photography that is done, it's good to see with the simplicity and ease that it conveys its knowledge. Thanks Richard.👏👏👏😀
You're always welcome Mario. Thanks for watching.
Very well explained and illustrated, thank you Richard
Thanks so much for watching Laurel
Fantastic tip Richard! That really does sharpen the foreground and the image at the 7:00 min mark really is amazing and shows how well that technique works.
Thanks for watching, really appreciated.
Fantastic video, Richard!! What a revelation. I always religiously focus on stars, and then refocus on foreground with a narrower aperture and lower ISO!! Now, I realise I don't have to, and the issue with lens warmers goes away! Brilliant. Given I always drop down to F5 for light painting (usually at between 18 and 20mm), this is probably not necessary if I stop down to F5.6. Thank you so much for this 🙂👍
You're very welcome Simon. Always appreciate your support.
Well presented Richard and "Oh so true".
Thanks as always for tuning in Tony.
Another fantastic video, mate! I believe this topic will provide value to many viewers. It also emphasises alternative methods to achieve sharp focus through various techniques. something that I too use. Thanks for sharing.
Always appreciated Al
Another great video Richard! It's a simple technique but what a great difference it makes to the output images. I would love to see how you deal with focus breathing issues in post when you don't have option but to blend focus stacked images.
Thanks Harsh. I'll have to try and dig up an old image at some stage to demonstrate it.
Thank u .
This is incredible!!!!!
Always something to learn.
LOVE YOUR TEACHING STYLE …. It’s the Best & it’s appreciated!!
Thanks my friend, glad you like my work.
@@nightscapeimages.richard
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT …. I need to try it . Been scared to try thinking i cant possibly do this .. i am in Minnesota and the misquotes are BEYOND HORRIBLE HERE TO MAKE IT LESS APPEALING ! But absolutely in love with your videos!!
Thanks for that Richard, great info loved the robot demo at the end.
Thanks for following along Paul. I have a soft spot for R2D2 ..!!!
Hi Richard, I wish you had put this up a couple of weeks ago! I have just returned from Tasmania and would have found the method you described invaluable!!
I hope it's helpful for future adventures Colin.
Nice coverage of the focus issues. Once you achieve a good astro focus you do want it to stay put. It didn't take too long, due to mishaps, for me to learn to use gaffer tape to nail down the focus ring once focused. I keep several short pieces taped to my tripod legs and tracker for this use; among other uses. It removes cleanly and it saves time when moving/bumping the camera, or having lens heater attached. I still check focus occasionally in case there are focus fluctuations due to temperature changes.
I'm pleased it was helpful Jim. You wouldn't like the new mirroless lenses . .the focus rings never stop turning on those.
Great info. I'll be giving it a try!
I hope it's helpful Philip
Thank you, Richard, for an excellent video, perfectly explained and demonstrated.
I have an AFS Nikkor f/1.8. The focus ring is very ‘loose’ compared to my other lens. It is easily moved by just putting on a lens warmer.
I bought a bag of assorted rubber bands. I found one that fitted snugly on the lens body, not too tight or loose.
I place the rubber band on the lens so it sits half on the focus ring and half on the lens body.
The rubber band is 6mm wide. II is now much firmer to focus but not easily moved like before.
It can easily be slid off of the focus ring and left on the lens body if you don’t need it.
Probably not quite as fixed as Gaffer tape but works fine for this lens.
That's a great tip Tony. Thanks heaps for watching.
Some amazing tips and the set of photos are so good.. Thank you Richard for another knowledgeable video.. you’re wealth of knowledge
Thanks as always for your kind comments Virat.
Thank you again Richard for an excellent video.
You're always welcome Dennis, thank you.
Learnt something today, thanks Richard, top vid.
Many thanks indeed.
Hi Richard, I learnt something new and interesting from this, Thankyou!
I appreciate you tuning in Tim.
Extremely well explained, many thanks.
Thanks so much for watching Richard
Very informative Richard, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. 🙂
You're always very welcome Julie
Excellent demonstration thank you for this very effective technique
You're welcome Freddy. Thanks for watching.
Thanks, Richard. That is great information. We'll have to put it in use when we're back at home. Seeing that we are in Mexico right now and we have some big cities around us. We cannot stars.
Well I trust you're enjoying yourselves down there Jeff.
I learnt what "focus breathing" was/does in this! I will need to convert to simply changing aperture - although I often do focus on smaller infinity distance objects using a strong torch which will perhaps be reducing the breathing problem. The Z 20mm has such a huge focus ring! p.s. I was up at a favourite local haunt of your's scouting the lay of the land on Saturday - I love the spot!
Good on you Les. I have quite a few favourite haunts ..!!!!
Great refresh vid for me Richard. Going out early April to do an old log carrying lorry not far from home. Explaining the DOF on photo pills was a penny drop for Deb.😊
Thanks so much Andrew. I hope your shoot goes well.
Thank you for sharing your secrets with us. Amazing revelation ... I shall try it out soon.
I hope you find it helpful Andrew.
Wow!! This video really open my eyes!! Im going to practice carefully this method, thank you as always for this. You are the Best!!!!
As always I appreciate you watching Luis.
Awesome!!!
Thank you so much for watching.
Thank you for this video, it really gave me a good understanding of this subject manner. It makes perfect sense and I truly do understand it now.
I'm pleased you enjoyed the video Mark, thank you.
Genius technique! And you don't have to mess with removing the lens heater to change focus!! Thanks for doing this!!
Thanks so much for watching Eirik
I can see so more clearly now. Happy Easter buddy
Haha, all the best to you as well mate.
Good tip mate !
Thanks so much for watching.
Another great video 😊❤
Thanks heaps for watching Brett
Really informative and helpful. Thanks Richard
Always appreciate you watching David. Thank you.
DOF depends upon focal distance, distance to the object and aperture. Its usual forgeting distance to the object. With a telephoto it's common to step back to make a portrait and focus on an infinite landscape. I use the hyperfocal distance too. My zeiss lens presents the min max and focal point on a lcd of the lens. When max changed to infinity we are at the hyperfocal.
Thanks for watching Raphael.
Very useful information Richard, thank you 🙂
Thanks for your great support Les
Thank you! That was enlightening.
I very much appreciate you watching Mike
Thanks again Richard for sharing these great tips!
Again a wonderful video
Many thanks indeed Calvin.
Thanks Richard! Good video
Thanks heaps for watching John
Good info - thank you!
Thanks again for watching Darrel
Great video Richard. It had never occurred to me that you presented. I guess some ( read few) of my images may have lucked being shot this way and I never twigged it was the reason why. Certainly will head out and give it a go.
Thanks so much for watching Alan
Very helpful! Thank you very much 😊
I very much appreciate you watching.
Thank you for this very helpful video. It does change how I will be going about with my field process now.
Thanks so much for watching.
Thank you Richard for this interesting video. Especially the topic focus breathing was new for me.
Always appreciated Gunter
Dear Richard, I would like to ask you if you use that focus indicator of the Nikon Z6II for focusing on the stars/infinity (I mean that red indicators in manual mode)? Best regards, Günter@@nightscapeimages.richard
I think you're referring to Focus Peaking . .No I don't generally use that because I find that the red glow actually hides the stars from view too much. @@gunterdeutsch4260
Thank you Richard. I am also not very happy with that feature for focusing stars. That's why I asked. But I use it often for the foreground and I think it is helpful for that. @@nightscapeimages.richard
Stopping down stops focus breathing too, i had been trying to teach people about both on twitter ever since learning about it on one of your earlier videos i watched about 4 yrs ago
Oops: jumped the gun commenting before you mentioned focus breathing 😂
Haha, no worries at all Rob. Always appreciate your comments.
Thanks Richard. I knew about the relation between aperture and dof but didn’t think to apply it this way.
I very much appreciate you watching Pat
I learn so much from you. (Timelaps on the nikon z6 2 and so on ). Thnks for sharing your skills ☺️🙏🏼
You're very welcome my friend.
Great advice right here, bodged focus is easily my no.1 reason for coming home from a night of shooting with nothing to show for it. I wish I could say it is all on the past 🥴.
Impressive lack of breathing on that Nikon 35mm. Can borrow my Sony GM 35mm if you want to see a prime do zoom. Incredible amount of breathing on that for what is otherwise a superb lens.
Thanks Dominic. Yes the old out of focus shots on a larger screen after we get home . .we all know what you mean there ...!!!!
I've been loving your videos, Richard. I learn something new in each one, and this is no exception. Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much for watching Dave
Can’t wait to test this method out! Thank you for explaining a complex subject so well.
I'm pleased you enjoyed it Kate
Just watched this video. I am blown away with the information you shared here. Thank you. Don
I'm really pleased you enjoyed it Don, thank you.
Hugely insightful. Thanks. Much simpler than hyperfocal distance particularly at night.
Thanks my friend. Glad it's helpful.
This is an amazing technique and it completely changes the way I plan for the shooting. It might be worthwhile to compare the hyper focus versus this technique by changing the aperture ring🎉
Thanks for watching. The results are almost identical .. it's more of a mindset thing. In landscape photography there is no requirement to have the extreme infinity part of the image sharp. Whereas in astro landscape, that is the stars . .and they do need to be sharp. In practice where we focus may end up being in the same place but we have to think differently to establish this.
Excellent video
Thanks heaps for watching.
Mate still playing with my photo pills DoF, interesting. Excellent video thanks
Thanks Phil. Always appreciate you watching.
That's an interesting technique I've never really thought about. Will definately come in handy. Thanks for sharing Richard!
You're always welcome Jeroen. Hope you're enjoying clear skies my friend.
Very interesting video
Thanks again for watching Tony
Hello Richard and thanks for supplementing my education. It is important for everyone.
I always appreciate you watching Peter
Another excellent video Richard, I love watching these here in Scotland after walking my dog whilst having a brew. Hopefully we can enjoy some clear skies in a fortnights time when I’m off for a week lol
Take care of yourself and keep up your great work as always
Thanks for your great support Alasdair. I hope your time off is well spent.
Wonderful tutorial Richard! Yep, Photopills is a great app and very useful for DOF calculations. Thank you for the great focusing tips.
Taje care, Jerry
You're very welcome Jerry
Great video and subject Richard, but as you say you need to add light to be able to lower your ISO and f stop for close up objects.
That's correct Keith .. otherwise the shutter needs to be open a very long time. Or it would work well in slight moonlit conditions.
I think the main advantage of changing just the lens apparture and ISO (and not changing the focus distance) is that you will not have to deal with the focus breathing when blending the sky and foreground. Thank you for the tips, Richard! Best wishes!
You are very welcome Rafael
I have experienced this focus breathing in post processing but didn't know what caused it until now! Thank you for explaining. Now to work on how to overcome it 🤔
Thanks for watching Julie. I'll have to work on a video showing some workarounds.
@@nightscapeimages.richard that would be amazing and much appreciated. When I first noticed it I thought I must've moved the camera slightly, now I know what causes it I don't feel like such a dill.
You're not a dill at all .. we have all touched the tripod unnecessarily but as you can see it's probably focus breathing.@@juliem8116
Wish it was as easy as following a chart. Even with great lenses, for example, set the aperture to say F8 and set focus distance at 5 or even 15 feet, and stars will never be in in focus even though the chart states everything past a certain point up to and including infinity it should be. Focus breathing? Every lens I have, Nikon to Sony (20mm, 24 GM) can not be set to any predetermined "position" and have stars in focus. Of course, your main point of having foreground with death of field tables do have value. Thanks for the video and love your quick slide show of your images at end of video! Cheers
Thanks again for watching Kerry. There are two factors that I may not have emphasized in this video enough. Firstly, these tables are only relevant to ultra wide angle focal lengths .. maybe 14mm - 24mm. Beyond that the distances get quite long to attain accurate focus. Secondly is our ability to see properly to focus on anything. This is a very common problem for many people . .I even encounter this sometimes as well.
As I showed in this video .. every image I shoot is done using these methods.
Thanks Richard. No, you were clear in your video about focal lengths. I'm just saying for example, if I set my 24mm GM lens to F8 and say, set lens focal to 20 feet,
(any feet) stars will not be sharply in focus. Still need to adjust. Works on foreground objects of course. @@nightscapeimages.richard
That's quite interesting Kerry. You didn't mention which camera body you're using but even with a crop sensor camera you should be able to find infinity focus at 10 mtrs or so at f2.8. But I think it's good to hear real world experiences with this stuff. Thanks again.@@kerrykroberts7809
As usual lots of sound advice, well explained. Keep up the good work.
On another note, I would be interested in an update of your thoughts on the Benro Polaris. I often consider gettng one but I am put off by the horror stories of problems. I just spotted that a spanish guy has a 4 video course on it's use and claims that 90% of all problems are actually user errors.
Thanks heaps David. I don't use the Polaris all the time as I think it's real strength is tracked milky way panoramas .. for most other tracking I prefer the Sky Watcher units. However, the last few times I've used it i had no issues at all. I think it was released a little prematurely and they have struggles to fix the errors that cropped up.
That's Dan Zafra with the Polaris Video Tutorials. He's possibly right about the percentage of user errors but if the unit has a 10% error rate that's a very high number in my opinion.
The other trackers I've used have zero issues in the units themselves.
I've also heard that weather conditions can affect focus, and by extension, focus breathing. This was mentioned, I believe, as a precaution to people who might prefocus their lenses during the day and even tape them off, to still verify focus before and during shooting. I'm wondering if, in your experience, using a lens warmer helps at least in some part to mitigate focus issues brought on by changes in temperature, humidity and pressure?
Yes that's a good point Derek. I like having the lens warmer on for a lot of reasons. I think it does make sense to often re-check the focus, as there are many reasons it can shift during the night. Regarding focusing during the day and taping the lens. This doesn't work for a lot of modern mirrorless lenses as you can turn them til the cows come home .. they tend to be "Focus by Wire" with no hard stops.
I had the black outline appear in a picture. I first took a night sky picture and then did a refocus on the foreground subject. When I stacked the 2, I ended up with a black outline of the subject. I could not understand what happened until I watched your video. Thanks for the explanation and how to prevent it in the future.
Thanks for your comments Bradley. Yes the dreaded black outline ..!!
R2-D2 in the house making a guest appearance. 😂👍🏼
Yes I thought it might add to the production value David ..!!!
hi Richard. As I’ve only done single images with no light painting this has always been a problem.foreground always soft. I also use affinity photo for editing but I’m not great at blending photos together. Thank you for this
That is always a problem Chris. Appreciate you watching.
Richard does this also apply to zoom lenses, once again another great informative video,thank you
Yes it does apply to zoom lenses David. But is most useful to wide focal lengths.
Hi Richard. Thanks once again for a fascinating aspect to add to the armoury of techniques for us. There was just one thing...about 5:12 when you said just by changing the aperture, I noticed that the image said a 10 sec exposure whereas the out of focus image at about 4:23 was 15secs.
Was that a manual setting decision you had to make due to stopping down the Aperture, or did you use priority mode?
Also, would that exposure time difference have had any noticeable effect on the focus AND light quality?
Thanks so much for watching. Sometimes I'll lower the shutter speed when light painting foregrounds because I don't need as long to capture the light. Remember I'm not trying to capture any stars in these foreground images so I only really need a shutter speed that lasts as long as the light painting does. Rarely would I use the full 10 seconds to light my subject. I never use any automated modes such as Aperture Priority for these type of shots.
Shutter speed or iso has no relevance to focus or depth of field.
No glazed look here.....well except for the part of calling R2D2 a robot. R2 is a 'Droid!!! ;-)
Oh dear .. I must check my droid details more closely next time ..!!!!
Very interesting video Richard are you in manual??
Yes every setting is in manual.
Richard, with regards to focussing on the stars (star?) do you use a Bahtinov Focusing Mask?
No Grant, I have never had the need to use one. I think they are most useful on longer focal length lenses or telescopes.
Here is a tip for removing the danger of moving the focus ring on modern lenses: Turn off the focus ring after you have focused.
Not exactly sure what you mean by Turning off the focus ring Andy, but I appreciate you watching.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I have the same lens as you on a Z6ii. You can change what the focus ring does via the Custom Controls f2. That way you can focus, turn off the focus ring (or set it to another function like aperture control). So that way nothing you do to the lens ring will change the focus.
Thanks... at the 12:10 mark you mention using tree or something at an "appropriate distance". Would this be a far distance but not at infinity - as stars are at infinity - but far enough? If that makes sense.
Thanks for watching Guy. The infinity focus at these wide angle lenses will extend to a distance quite close to the camera. So that tree or fence post will be sharp as will the stars. The chart as shown in this video explains how close that infinity point can be with each camera and lens combination.
Just seen on twitter(2.50am) that Alyn Wallace has passed away, thought you would like to know if you didn't already
I'm just hearing that myself Rob. Really sad news indeed.
Crap! Now I understand why I get the annoying thick black line along my subject when I refocus for light painting! Thanks Richard, you are the master
Appreciate you watching Gonzalo