How to take moon/night sky pics

[lagunarad]

Saw the most awesome moon with a very bright star next to it last night and wanted to take a picture of it. So I tried and it came out very grainy.

Does anyone know how to get a great night sky picture?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[goin_nil]

Saw the most awesome moon with a very bright star next to it last night and wanted to take a picture of it. So I tried and it came out very grainy.

Does anyone know how to get a great night sky picture?

Posted via the Android Central App

I saw that last night too and considered taking a picture but didn't.

 

[the tall guy]

I wouldn't think that the camera on it's own would be able to capture much better than what you have already got. It's a nice shot you got.

I would recommend using a telescope, I've seen some pretty cool pictures taken through a telescope. Also might be worth while looking into the clip on zoom lenses you can buy for smartphones.

 

[bertsirkin]

That's not a star - that's the planet Venus.

As far as getting a better image, you'll need a better camera. Until the technology changes (a lot), there is no way a phone camera can get good low-light image.

 

[jwt873]

I haven't had my Note 4 long enough to try night sky shots. (But I plan to). It's been cloudy and cold at night here since I got it.

One thing you'll need for sure is a tripod and some sort of mount to hold the phone perfectly still still when taking a picture.

Go into the camera settings and change the ISO to 100. Auto ISO is default and it will choose a higher ISO at night. The higher the ISO, the more grain you'll get in your image. 100 will give you the cleanest looking picture. But, when you decrease ISO, you have to increase the time the shutter remains open. Depending on the maximum shutter speed that the camera is capable of... You might just get a black image.

Finally, don't zoom-in too much. Zooming reduces the number of pixels used to capture the image and that will also cause grain to appear in the image.

 

[sthuss]

My Note 4 does not automatically update time zones, ATT just admitted it was a OS glitch. They say I have to wait an see if an update will fix it.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[SteelGator]

While a better camera (read DSLR) will likely give you a better photo, I am guessing you'd like a better shot with your phone. Getting rid of all the grain will be difficult because the ISO is likely getting pretty high, but balancing the light in the photo may help.

In the composition you showed, you can see there is a fair amount of ambient light. I would suggest not having too much light in the foreground, which will make it easier for the camera to meter the shot. Compose your shot to have the moon be the brightest light in the photo. Use the the finger focus point to move the circle around until you find a spot that gives good balance to your photo. Too close to the moon (light source) will result in a very dark picture everywhere else, to far and the moon will be "blown out" (too bright). Some trees or dark buildings in the foreground may or may not add interest to you photo as a silhouette -- there is no cost to playing.

An example of an exception to too much light in the foreground would e a cityscape. Those provide lighting balance problems that are normally dealt with by merging photos (HDR). I have not played with the Note 4 cam enough to see how the build in HDR handles such shots.

 

[GefH]

Taking a shot through one side of a pair of binoculars can go very well with the moon. Not so good for stars or planets.
...Geoff

 

[J Edwards]

I wouldn't think that the camera on it's own would be able to capture much better than what you have already got. It's a nice shot you got.

I would recommend using a telescope, I've seen some pretty cool pictures taken through a telescope. Also might be worth while looking into the clip on zoom lenses you can buy for smartphones.

I've actually done that with my Kodak EasyShare C195. Although I didn't have a special camera mount for my telescope. So I just held the camera to where the lens was in line with the telescope eyepiece.