R100 screen/viewfinder settings needed to help with dark sky photography

[Puma1973]

I admit, I am a total rookie/beginner in photography. I have the R100 and when attempting to do some dark sky images, I have a very hard time seeing much of anything on the screen and/or in the viewfinder. both seem pretty full of pixels and unless it is a very bright star or planet, I am just guessing at my aim. Could anyone give me some tips/settings to try and help seeing more? I have messed with brightness. Current settings are at screen and viewfinder brightness at 1, and HDMI resolution at Auto. 

[Hazel_T · Accepted solution]

Hi Puma1973,

If you want to turn up the display brightness it may help some, but it would also add more light in the area and may cause issues with your long exposures. Having the HDMI Resolution set to Auto should be fine. The other option for that setting is 1080p and that could potentially make your resolution lower.

One thing to do would be to turn off Exposure Simulation on the camera. By default the camera tries to predict how it expects your photo to look once it is taken. It isn't able to simulate long exposures, so it can make the rear LCD look darker in that case. Turning off the Exposure Simulation will cause the camera to keep a consistent image on the back of the camera and could help you see more detail while lining up your shot. In dark enough conditions it could still be difficult to see stars with Exposure Simulation turned off, but it could help.

To turn that off have the camera in either P, Tv, Av, or M and press the Menu button. Go to the sixth page under the red camera icon, select Exposure Simulation, and select Disable. Once you've done that the camera will show a consistent display on the back of the camera. This will not effect the exposure of your photos. It only changes how the camera displays while you are setting up your shot.

[Puma1973]

Thank you for the tips. It has helped a lot. Mainly turning up the brightness so the stars sort of pop. Only downside is that it really puts a hurting on the dark adapted eyes. If only there was a night/red light setting.

[stevet1]

Puma1973,

I wonder if you could go to the craft section at Walmart and buy some red film transparent wrapping paper and cut out a little 3" piece and lay it over your LCD screen. I've never done it myself, but I wonder if it would work.

Steve Thomas