Astrophography with the M240

[leFroy]

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Hi gang,

 

I'm new to Leica and to this group, so please be forgiving of my ignorance.

 

Whilst I realise the M240 has limitations with astrophography, does anyone in this group have experience of trying it?  I can't seem to find anyting other than 'you can't do astro' on the forum.

 

I was wondering whether fast glass might mitigate some of the limitations, and not having a star-tracker or the likes, how one fares with 10-30 second single exposures; what the outcomes with ISOs were etc.

 

If you've images, data, or advice on anything related to share, that'd be marvellous.

 

Thank you,

 

leF

 

 

[a.noctilux]

Simple answer is "M240 and other digital M" has "long-time-non-friendly-feature" not possible to disable by user :

Noise Reduction after exposure that takes same time as long as exposure.

When in this mode, the camera works (LED blinking) and photographer has just to wait that looong NR processus.

 

If user can live with that "waiting time" and max bulb time "B or T" of 60s, that's fine for the type of photos on M240.

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[darylgo]

For astrophotography the M240 is not ideal but can be used.  The limitations are the dark frame subtraction after each exposure. 

 

Using a 50mm Summilux at f1.4, iso 3200 and a 8 sec exposure the milky way can be photographed a section at a time and then merged in lightroom to give a beautiful vertical panorama.  The results are pretty decent and the image can be printed quite large.   The advantage is you will have a huge file and the detail is phenomenal.

 

Another possibility is to let the camera photograph for several hours and then convert the files into a time-lapse sequence. 

 

Star trails will have gaps due to the dark frame subtraction, I understand there is software that might fill these gaps, but the 240 is not the right tool, many Canon, Nikon and Sony's are better suited.    

[rpittal]

It's possible to use a M240 for astrophotography, but with the 8 sec limit (at 3200 ISO), it requires a very dark location. The following was from Bodie State Park (eastern Sierra, CA) with the Zeiss Distagon 35/1.4 (taken at 1.4), with minimal manipulation. It is also a single shot and not stacked. Normally, I use a Sony a7s and stack, and have lots to learn yet....

 

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Regards,

Bob

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobpittphotos/albums

 

[jmahto]

Be careful of coma if you are shooting with fast glass at widest aperture. Corner stars will not form a point but instead will form a coma shape. Size of the coma depends on the lens and your requirement to print large. Vignetting also looks pronounced in a wide open shot (with dark background). It can be corrected in PP but it exposes grain. I have shot stars with 28mm cron at f/2 with some success. The problem is that for milkyway shot you will need to keep exposure short in order to avoid point stars becoming a short streak. This means less than 30sec for 28mm which is not much light for lowest ISO. You may end up shooting at ISO800 or above and that invites grain.

 

I have shot Milkyway with M240 side by side 5DIII (my friend's) and my results are only mildly inferior. For my purposes (A4 print), it is acceptable and I won't hesitate to shoot milkyway with M240. At the end only you can decide whether the resulting quality is good enough for you.

 

As for star trails, it is very easy to shoot with M240. With 20sec multiple exposures (and 20 sec dark frame gap), it can create beautiful star trails. The gaps are not really visible in A4 size print. A run of 15 to 30 min is more than enough for beautiful looking star trail. Battery capacity of M240 is big enough that it hardly causes a dent.

 

Lastly, a less known secret for shooting star trail with M240. Set ISO 400 so that max shutter speed is 20sec. Set switch to "C", attach remote cable (screw kind) and lock the shutter. It will keep firing every 20sec )with 20 sec dark frame) till battery runs out. A very simple intervelometer.

[leFroy]

That's a beautiful shot Bob, and great to know these kinds of results can be achieved with an M240 (rather than the ISOtastic A7) using the Distagon on a single exposure.  Thank you. 

[JeTexas]

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I've only had success in one place -- at the Lick Observatory in California. Any other time I've attepted night shots with the typ 240, I end up with terrible underexposure and banding when I attempt to pump it up in Lightroom.

 

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[jmahto]

I've only had success in one place -- at the Lick Observatory in California. Any other time I've attepted night shots with the typ 240, I end up with terrible underexposure and banding when I attempt to pump it up in Lightroom.

 

bestof2016-20.jpg

That is cool. Do you mind sharing the technical details? This location is accessible to me.

[JeTexas]

We were there for a wedding reception. They had all the courtyard lights off and just had a few red lights around, so people could see enough to walk around safely and adjust the outdoor telescopes that were set up for the event. That's why the tree and the tower are that orange/red color.

 

I was using the typ 240 with a 28mm Summicron ASPH.

 

Settings were:

 

f2, 8 seconds, ISO 1600

 

I shot a few at ISO 800 with a 16 second exposure as well, but I couldn't see any real advantage in the noise difference. I had to push all the shots 2.5 to 3 stops in Camera Raw.