nikon coolpix p500 is it possible? wide angle night sky photography?

[realflow100]

I got a new camera mainly for video. but im wondering if its possible you could take night sky photos with it. maximum exposure and iso lengths is 8 seconds and iso 200
lens characteristics is F3.4 at widest angle to F5.7 at maximum zoom.

You can sorta boost the sky brightness further by decreasing contrast as low as it will go in the options. and applying D-lighting option to the image.
I think it might be possible to boost it more by using some HDR option but i dont know where it is.


Would it be possible to take a bunch of photos stack them to reduce noise and a somewhat decent night sky photo with this camera?

or would there not be enough stars visible to stack or some other issue?

What about planets photos or video image stacking?

[Ed217]

8 seconds is pretty short for most kinds of deep sky pictures. The rule of 500 also kicks in depending on focal length. With a 100mm lens, 5 seconds is about all you can do before star trails set in.

With a rotator mount of some sort, much longer exposures are possible. I have a Sky Guider Pro mount and I can get 3-10 minute exposures without much issue. I use a Nikon D5600 for that.

Planetary images are different, as video is used there and the stacking works well. However for planets you need magnification to see any details. The Moon is fairly large and easy, but things like Jupiter and Saturn need higher magnification. For those I use a large 8 inch Celestron scope and a ASI24MC camera.

[realflow100]

the camera has a hard fixed max limit of 8 seconds exposure at iso 200.
Any other settings won't give a better result. if you try iso 400 it will reduce exposure to 4 seconds and not allow it.
iso 160 it will still be 8 seconds so wont be any better.
Not possible to get super long exposures.

The lens is a 4 to 144mm on a 1/2.3 sensor F3.4 to F5.7

using D-lighting option while taking picture can boost the image brightness a lot. you can apply it a second time to the picture too which further boosts the image brightness. probably closer to iso 3200 to 6400 or something at that point.

[realflow100]

heres a test photo of 4 stacked images. focal length somewhere in the range of 156mm i think if i multiply what's in the jpg focal length number by crop factor 5.6x

Its not that good but DSS was able to successfully stack the images somehow miraculously.

had to choose iso 400 instead of 200. to get shorter exposure time so stars don't trail too much.

[Groovy2]

Look and see if camera has Bulb Mode - On top dial -
also look for 2.5mm jack plug hole - looks like ear buds jack but smaller

If you have Bulb Mode you can take Photos as long as you want -
just hold button down for time then release -

if cam has 2.5mm jack you can attach remote Trigger - makes easier -

if limit is 8 seconds and Iso 200 limit - I dont know how to fix it - Jay

[realflow100]

There is no bulb mode on any dials or modes.
There is no 2.5mm jack either.
its not a full DSLR. its a bridge camera which isnt the same as a DSLR. just similar body style and sorta similar settings.

I also took a new photo with a wider angle including the big dipper.

first pic is cropped and basic edited gimp version of the bottom pic