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Took me 3 nights to figure out why my star photos were blurry
I got a used DSLR for cheap off Craigslist last spring to try astrophotography from my backyard in Tulsa. First night out, every shot of Orion looked like a smudge. I blamed the lens, the tripod, even the humidity. Cleaned the sensor twice with a kit I bought online. Took me three clear nights of frustration before I realized the mirror lockup feature was off. The vibration from the mirror flipping up was shaking the camera just enough during long exposures. Soon as I turned that setting on, the stars came out sharp. Has anyone else wasted time on a camera setting that seems minor but makes all the difference?
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gavin_allen481mo ago
Mirror lockup got me too when I started out, but my real headache was forgetting to turn off image stabilization on the tripod. The IS system was fighting itself trying to correct for movement that wasn't there, making everything soft. One switch flip fixed all my blurry shots after that.
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Mirror lockup is just the universe's way of reminding us that even cameras hate sudden moves. Better three nights than three years of fuzzy stars, right?
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