Camera settings

Mount Red Dot Finder to DSLR Hot Shoe - posted in DSLR, Mirrorless & General-Purpose Digital Camera DSO Imaging: Like the title says, I want to mount a red dot finder to the hot shoe connection of my DSLR. Recommendations, also would consider adding an L-Bracket to the DSLR and mounting there.

Dslr Hot Shoe Laser Pointer Mountain US$13.37 US$20.06 33% Off VIJIM VK-2 360 Degree Rotation Hot Shoe Cold Shoe Mount Bracket Holder for DSLR Camera 2 reviews COD US$5.99 US$7.99 25% Off Three Head Extend Port Connect Microphone Mount Hot Shoe Base Set Smooth Adapter For SLR Camera/Digital Camera/Micro Single Camera 0. Best Cameras For Astrophotography 2021 – Take The Shots You Always Dreamed Of. If you're looking to take stunning photos of the cosmos, you're going to need something a bit more capable than a simple point-and-shoot camera or smartphone. Lacerta adapter for reflex sights to the hot shoe of SLR cameras, Polarie. It is not easy to aim an SLR to an object of the nigth sky. But you also do not see much on the small display of the camera if the sun glares on it at daytime. Here, a compact finder, a reflex sight, which is attached to the hot shoe of the camera, is a relief. Camera Hot Shoe Mount to 1/4'-20 Tripod Screw Adapter Flash Shoe Mount for DSLR Camera Rig (Pack of 2). Got this to mount a red-dot sight to a Nikon camera for astrophotography. It works, but the hot shoe mount is not an exact fit. It is loose enough that, even with the lock ring tightened, it doesn't take much of a bump to twist the mount.

These settings are usually set with controls on the top or back of the camera, but depending on the model or manufacturer, may be set in menus. Your camera's controls may be different, but the basic settings will be the same.

Program Mode - Set to Manual.
Autofocus - Turn off, or set to Manual.
White Balance - Set to Daylight or use a custom white balance (especially if your camera is modified).
Drive - Set to One Shot.
ISO - This is discussed in detail in a following section, but generally should be set to 1600 or 800 for long-exposure deep-sky astrophotos.
Metering - Generally doesn't matter, but you can try setting it to Spot if you are shooting the Moon or Sun (with proper filtration).
Exposure Compensation - Set to Zero, no exposure compensation. Doesn't really matter because you are not using autoexposure.
Shutter Speed - Set to the exposure you want, up to 30 seconds can usually be dialed in directly. For longer than 30 seconds, set to Bulb. On some cameras, Bulb may be a separate exposure mode setting, or it may be accessed on the shutter speed dial past the 30 second setting.
Self Timer - If you don't have a remote release, you can use the camera's self-timer to trip the shutter so you don't have to touch the camera, which will help reduce vibrations and possible star trailing.
Mirror Lock-Up - For long exposures with a very solid mounting, it probably is not necessary to lock the mirror up before an exposure. For short exposures for high-resolution planetary or double-star work, it is a good idea to lock the mirror up before the exposure to reduce camera movement and vibration caused by mirror slap. Some cameras access this setting with a control on top of the camera and some through a custom setting in a menu. Some cameras like the 20Da require the shutter to be pressed once to lock the mirror up, and then be pressed again to actually open the shutter. Take care to learn exactly how your camera works for this feature, because you could press the shutter thinking you have opened it for a long exposure and go off to do something else, and then come back only to find that all you had done was lock the mirror up and that no exposure had been taken. Some cameras do not offer a mirror lockup up at all, but they may move the mirror up out of the way as the first thing when using the self timer. Read the camera manual to learn how your particular model works.

Other Settings

These are usually available through menu settings.

Quality: Raw vs JPEG

Most DSLR cameras come with the file format that images are stored in set to JPEG as the default. Most high-end consumer digital cameras also allow images to be saved in a proprietary 'raw' file format that offers the potential for higher quality.

Raw file format preserves all of the original data as it comes from the sensor in the camera. This is, unquestionably, the best file format to shoot. The raw format saves the data in the high bit depth (usually 12 bits) that comes out of the analog-digital converter as linear data. This is extremely important for astronomical images. High-bit linear data allows the most control over how the data is calibrated, manipulated and enhanced to produce the best images.
That being said, if you don't want to go to the trouble of calibration, and just want a quick image that you can show, you can certainly shoot JPEG formatted files. The camera will turn the linear file into a recognizable photograph, and you can touch it up later in an image editing program if you want to adjust the contrast and color balance. In fact, some new low-noise DSLR cameras as so good, that with brighter objects like M17, you can shoot a single 3 minute exposure in JPEG format and still get a good picture!
If you are a beginner, this may be the approach you want to take. Shoot JPEGs to get started and learn your way around the scope, camera, and astrophotography. Then as you advance to the next level, you'll want to start shooting raw file format.
Most cameras also allow a choice of image resolution. Suzuki diagnostic system software download. These settings can be called by different names, but usually go by something like 'Large', 'Medium' and 'Small', or 'High', 'Medium' and 'Low'. This setting lets you pick between the highest, true optical resolution from the sensor, and a lower resolution that is created by in-camera interpolation. You should always pick the highest resolution and quality setting. For example, the Canon 20Da offers 3504 x 2336 pixels of true optical resolution in addition to 2544 x 1696 and 1728 x 1152 lower resolution options.
The in-camera settings for contrast, saturation, color balance and sharpening are not applied to the raw file.
The raw file preserves all of the original data as it comes from the sensor in the camera.
Some cameras offer an in-camera compression for their raw file formats that is different than the compression used with JPEG files. This type of raw compression does not throw information away.
JPEG - DSLR Cameras also offer different JPEG compression settings, sometimes also called 'quality' settings. Higher quality means less compression which results in a larger file size. To fit more images on a card, for normal daytime snapshot photography, some people shoot with a lower quality setting that compresses the JPEG files more. Of course, you lose information when you use JPEG because that is how it achieves such high compression ratios, it throws information away.
Raw and JPEG - If you have a camera that allows you to shoot raw file format and JPEG file format at the same time, you should try this. You can do this with the 20Da. That way the camera applies whatever in-camera settings you have in terms of contrast and sharpening to the JEPG only, and it gives you a chance to take a quick peek at what the image looks like without having to process the raw file.
Native Optical Resolution - Many cameras offer different resolution settings. The camera's native optical resolution outputs the same number of pixels as the image is taken with. This is the setting you want to use. For example, the Canon 20Da offers a native optical resolution of 3504 x 2336 pixels, but also offers lower, interpolated resolutions of 2544 x 1696 pixels and 1728 x 1152 pixels.
White Balance - If you want to shoot JPEG, the common wisdom is to shoot daylight color balance because this is supposed to give correct color for everything based on the color temp of white from a Sun-like star. You will, however, find that the color of the sky background is not going to be neutral or very pleasing, even when you shoot at sites with no light pollution. For sites with light pollution, its going to be really ugly.
If you are shooting raw and JPEG concurrently, there is no reason not to experiment with different white balance settings since it doesn't affect the raw file. Try Tungsten for sites with a lot of red light pollution. Or try a custom white balance, Or di

Dslr Hot Shoe Laser Pointer Astrophotography