My First Experience with Astrophotography (SONY Alpha 6000 with Kit Lens)

I have become more and more interested in digital photography

ever since I bought my first Nikon AW110 point-and-shoot camera back in December 2013. I have probably taken more than a few thousand pictures with my Nikon. That is how much I have used it for the past three years. 

Unfortunately, my Nikon AW110 suddenly died when I went on a month-long vacation to the Philippines in May 2016. I was using it to take underwater videos and pictures during a family reunion at Magnaga Waters Beach Resort in Pantukan when it suddenly died. More specifically, the LCD screen died. I attempted to revive it using a hair dryer upon my return to Canada to no avail. The camera's LCD surprisingly worked again after a few months (maybe due to the low humidity environment it was in). But it died again just two months after--a day before my trip to San Diego, CA. Ultimately, I think the gasket around the battery compartment might have been the culprit, allowing condensation to build inside the camera thus destroying the electronics inside. I was also abusive with that camera, using it in extremely cold temperatures (-20 deg. C and below) and bringing it inside a humid environment without taking the necessary precautions to prevent too much condensation from forming inside the camera (like putting the camera inside a Ziplock with silica gels in it; or allowing the camera to gradually warm).

After my AW110 died for good, I finally decided to purchase a replacement. I looked around YouTube and various websites to see which camera performs the best in low-light conditions, has an excellent autofocus, an option for interchangeable lenses, a great viewfinder, a camera that is small and light enough to carry almost anywhere, and a camera that is under $700 CAD. After hours of research, I finally decided on the SONY A6000.

I did ponder whether I should get something even cheaper, perhaps something that has a flip-up screen, like the SONY A5000; but I assessed what I am NOT doing with cameras and made my decision from that. I already have a GoPro for my videos and I am really not all that interested in cinematography (at least not yet). So I decided to buy a camera that is not rugged (since I already have a GoPro for this), does not take the best videos for its price range, but a camera that takes the best pictures even in the worst low light conditions.

The A6000 that I bought was not exactly brand new. It was from a BestBuy "open box" deal. This means that it has already been used by someone else who then decided to return the product for any other reason other than due to a defect in the product itself. BestBuy also inspects the products, cleans them, and certifies them. In other words, I am basically buying an "almost new" product. The "used" A6000s on eBay are even more expensive than the "open box" A6000s on BestBuy.

It took me a while to learn the basics of photography. What I was really interested in was the night sky, specifically the faint stars that are not visible to the naked eye. I did a number of experiments over the best combination of ISO and Exposure settings. Considering that it is winter, with the full moon, and the fact that I live in a city, I therefore did not have very high expectations as to the pictures I will be getting. I did manipulate the pictures in Adobe Lightroom using Lonely Speck's workflows.

Below are some of the pictures I took with my Sony A6000. Because of the sub-zero temperatures, I decided to take the majority of the pictures from the bedroom window. Unfortunately, the window has not been cleaned so you'll see some spots in the foreground that does not belong to the night sky. Description are at the bottom of the pictures.

1

Taken: 2-11-2017
Camera: Sony A6000
Lens: Sony E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6
Settings: ISO 1600, 16mm focal length, 10 sec exposure

2

Taken: 2-12-2017
Camera: Sony A6000
Lens: Sony E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6
Settings: ISO 1600, f/3.5, 16mm focal length, 30 sec exposure

3

Taken: 2-12-2017
Camera: Sony A6000
Lens: Sony E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6
Settings: ISO 2000, f/3.5 16mm focal length, 25 sec exposure

4

Taken: 2-12-2017
Camera: Sony A6000
Lens: Sony E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6
Settings: ISO 3200, f/3.5, 16mm focal length, 25 sec exposure

I am not completely sure what is causing the sky to look all that muddy in this picture, but I do know that the bright moon caused overexposure to many of my shots. I tried various ISO and exposure settings but I still got, more or less, the same results. I took the same picture from my window (with the moon behind the house) and the results are pretty good (in my opinion) compared to the ones taken from outside.

Above is a failed attempt at taking a star-lapse since the moonlight caused not only overexposure but also inconsistent flickering as it moves behind the tree in the foreground. But I did see some falling stars. :)
Taken: 2-12-2017
Camera: Sony A6000
Lens: Sony E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6
Settings: ISO 1600, f/3.5, 16mm focal length, 30 sec exposure