Took my telescope out to the desert near Barstow and the sky looked totally different

Eric Hayes · 2026-04-01T14:15:07.19515+00:00

I was trying to get a shot of the Milky Way, but the view through my camera's live view was way darker than what I could see with my eyes. I remembered reading about stretching the histogram, so I bumped up the shadows in my Canon's settings before taking the shot. Has anyone else found a good camera setting for that first test photo in a new dark spot?

hannaho526mo ago

That seems like a really high ISO for a test shot.

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the_max6mo ago

Actually, that whole idea of using a super high ISO for a test shot is a total waste of time. You're just adding a bunch of noise and blowing out stars before you even start. Just set it to a normal high ISO like 1600 and take a look, your eyes adjust to the dark screen anyway. The live view is always darker, you just have to trust your settings from past experience. All that histogram staring on a tiny screen in the field just leads to overthinking it.

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elliotr396mo ago

My Canon R6 does great with a test shot at ISO 6400, 15 seconds, f/2.8. You can see the histogram right on the back screen to check your exposure.

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