Astrophotography with Superzoom
Posted by Wesley on
Saturn, shot by Canon SX50 HS
These are untouched photographs of Saturn taken by my new Canon SX50 HS digital camera on a tripod without any additional equipment. The 50x optical zoom seemed to be just at the edge of producing some interesting photographs of the planets, which was the motivation for the camera's purchase. Saturn was the first candidate to test this out. One, it is up in the night sky for several hours these days, unlike the other planets which go down the horizon after early evening. Two, its rings made it easy to identify.
How it was done
As it turns out, it fared as expected. I used the following settings to get the photos.
Aperture: f/6.5
Shutter Speed: 1/30s
Sensitivity: ISO 80
White Balance: Daylight
Focus: Infinity
Focal Length: 1200mm (35mm Equiv.)
I took about 40 photos in the period of 11:15PM and 11:25PM KST, June 1, 2013. Among those, the twelve photos cropped and shown here in its original resolution are what I think were among the best ones. Using these, I was able to get a nice composite photo using a stacking software. Given the fact that the photos were taken against a light polluted city sky, I think the camera did a great job.