tier 1 - essentials

1. Camera body with /manual long exposure capabilities

2. Lens. Ideally a wide angle lens with an aperture of f2/8 or wider

3. Tripod. I’ve used rocks, ledges, backpacks, and many makeshift tripods to get the job done in a pinch! But a dedicated tripod is best.

tier 2 - impress your grandma

4. Intervalometer. Not to be confused with the almost useless shutter release button…

5. “Faster” Lens. With an aperture wider than f/2.8, typically prime lenses: the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 that allow tons of light in and are sharp in the corners

tier 3 - certified astro nerd

6. Camera Astro Mod. A camera mod is a one in done upgrade that requires no practice but yields great results by opening up your camera sensor to more light and color! I use SpencersCamera.com.

7. German Equatorial Mount or “Tracker”. A tracker is a device that compensates for the Earth’s rotation or perceived “movement” and allows you to shoot exposures longer than 30” without stars trailing, opening up the night sky to deeper focal lengths, more detail, less noise, and tons of fun and headaches.

1. camera

The first piece of gear to capture the beauty in the night sky is going to be your camera! A DSLR/DSLM with manual and long exposure capabilities is essential. I personally use Nikon Cameras including a Nikon D810, Nikon D810a, Nikon D750, as well as a Nikon z6 and z6ii. Typically your full frames sensors are going to perform better than crop sensor cameras for night photography. Both of my Nkon D810’s are astro-modified to include extra sensitivity to the hydrogen alpha wavelength, or rich reds and purples found in nebulae across the night sky- one is from Nikon itself (Nikon d810a) as well as a Nikon d810 astro-modified aftermarket by Spencers Camera out of Utah. Spencer astro-modifies tons of cameras and is a much more affordable than buying a limited astro-modified camera from a camera manufacturer. My Spencer’s Camera modded d810 does not include some extra features like built in longer exposures (past 30seconds) like the d810a from Nikon, however that’s easily remedied with an intervalometer. My Spencer’s modded d810 also includes his proprietary cooling mod that keeps noise lower while shooting multiple long exposures and in warmer climates like Moab and Death Valley in the summer.

If you didn’t know, I run night photography workshops/tours throughout the West and Southwest of the United States! So I have had lots of hands-on experience shooting with all different brands of cameras over the years, especially Nikon. Here are some Canon, Sony, and Nikon recommendations for camera bodies for various budgets that I have personally used with clients and liked. I made the “mistake” of going crop sensor, budget permitting, when I first got into night photography but very quickly switched to a better full frame sensor camera. I personally like using older Nikon DSLRs because I’m grandfathered in to F-Mount Nikons. I like DSLRs with less bells & whistles rather than mirrorless cameras, as I don’t like electronic viewfinders and newer cameras typically have worse battery life and more annoying lights in the night. With that being said, newer Mirrorless cameras have convenient features, like easier focusing options and articulating screens, and my z6 is hands down my best performer in lowlight and pretty easy to use. I’m just a boomer.

lens or “glass”

When budgeting out a camera set up for night photography, I’d say your lens is actually the most important piece of your set up that you should splurge on! However you can get a lot of bang for your buck with the budget friendly options, especially 3rd party lens makers like Tamron, Sigma, and Rokinon. A “faster” lens means the aperture opens up wide to let in lots of light to hit your sensor: f/1.4 is a very wide aperture that allows lots of light to hit your sensor, while f/3.5 is much slower and allows in less light, and f/2.8 is the standard fast aperture for a good night photography lens. When researching a high quality and “fast” lens (fast = lots of light) you will want to look at the sharpness, chromatic aberration, and corner performance. A wider aperture allows more of those faint photons from distant stars & nebulae to hit your camera sensor, while a quality camera sensor will amplify those photons electronically into luminance and color better. I started on a Nikon d3300 with a Tamron 10-22mm f/3.5 lens that was all under $1000, and still got solid shots of the night sky that got me addicted! Ideally you will want to start out night photography with at wide angle from 12mm to 35mm focal length range, aka a “wide field of view” (12mm has a wider field of view than 35mm) to frame up large swaths of the Milky Way galaxy. Prime lenses on average, can have wider apertures and better performance at the cost of no zoom versatility- I use a ton of prime lenses at deeper focal lengths (with a tracker) for timelapses, panoramas, and stacking (wide field astro). Here are some of my favorites I have used:

tripod & ballhead

Blowing your hard earned cheddar on a couple of rods bolted together, aka a tripod, just doesn’t have the same thrill as blowing money on a new banging f/1.4 lens... Technically speaking, you can always use rocks, a ledge, the spare tire carrier on the back of your friend’s jeep, etc etc… But having sturdy legs for your other expensive investments is crucial both for safety and stability during long exposures as well as shake free images. If you skimp and buy a dainty little tripod, you may get away with out any tipping accidents, but I can assure you setting up the $25 Walmart (no offense to Wally World) tripod in the dark of night, especially when your hands are cold, ain’t no walk in the park. When researching tripods for night photography, there are three main factors to consider: sturdiness, weight, price. You can get a sturdy tripod at a great price, but it’s probably going to be heavy- if you plan on hiking a lot with your camera gear, you may not have paid upfront but you will pay in another currency like calf cramps or knee abuse. If you want a sturdy tripod that doesn’t weigh a ton (typically carbon fiber), they’re going to be more expensive. I am an avid hiker and car camper, so I have both a lightweight carbon fiber tripod for hiking, as well as cheaper but beefy tripods I keep in the car. I really detest the “triple action” bullheads that add an extra screw lever thing, so now you have to turn two knobs to release your ballhead. It’s a small detail, but they annoy the shit out of me having to guess which one I didn’t unscrew, especially while the light is changing. Yes they make things more stable, but they’re stupid in my opinion. Here are the tripods & ballheads I use:

tier 1 - essentials

1. Lightroom - the standard photo editing software for things like color, tones, noise reduction, etc.

2. Photopills - essential for all photography planning with times of the day like golden hour, Milky Way visibility, and moon cycle.

3. Sky Guide - Excellent app for getting familiar with the night sky and astronomy.

4. Light Pollution Map - basically a map with an overlay of light pollution levels to help you plan your night photography shooting locations.

tier 2 - leveling up

5. Astrospheric - excellent Astro condition + weather app

6. Adobe Photoshop - more creative control and combining multiple images

7. Deep Sky Stacker - for stacking sets of night photos, more straightforward and easier interface than Pixinsight, however has a lower ceiling.

tier 3 - getting crazy with it

8. Skysafari - Like sky guide but. more features for deep space/widefield astro

9. Pixinsight - advanced stacking software for deep space astro, but also can be used for landscape and wide field astro. Very advanced but can yield great results.

10. Astro Pixel Processor - stacking night sky mosaics