This wide-angle shot shows brilliant Venus next to the Pleiades at right. Orion, the Hunter, is at left, and Taurus, the Bull, at right. The Hyades, an open cluster, lies between Orion and the Pleiades. It was shot with a Canon T2i (550D) with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit zoom lens working at 18mm of focal length at f/5.6 with a single 2 minute exposure at ISO 200 with the camera mounted on an equatorial tracking mount.

Most DSLR cameras come with the default camera settings all set to automatic. These generally don't work well for planetary photography. Change the exposure controls to manual for more control.

If you are going to be shooting single-frame still images, be sure to shoot in Raw mode as this preserves the most data in an image. I usually shoot JPEG and Raw concurrently in the camera so I can take a quick look at the JPEG without having to fully process the Raw image.

These settings are usually set with controls on the top or back of the camera and in the menus.

• Program Mode - Set to Manual with the dial on the top of the camera.

• Autofocus - Turn off, or set to Manual. This is usually done on the camera lens.

• Image Stabilization - Turn off if you are shooting on a tripod.

• ISO - Adjust the ISO to give the correct exposure when shooting video.

• Aperture - The aperture is fixed if you are shooting through a telescope so you can't change this.

• Shutter Speed - Adjust along with ISO to control the exposure when shooting video.

• White Balance - Set to daylight for an unmodified camera. For a modified camera, use a custom white balance set on a gray card in noon sunshine on a clear day.

• Drive - Set to Single Shooting. Doesn't really matter for video.

• Color Space - Set to sRGB if shooting JPEGs in the camera. Doesn't matter if you are shooting Raw, or shooting video.

• Quality: Raw vs JPEG - Set to Raw, or Raw + JPEG for single still images. Doesn't matter for video.

  Most DSLR cameras come with the default file format set to JPEG, however most DSLR cameras also allow images to be saved in a proprietary "raw" file format that offers the potential for much higher image quality.

  • Raw file format preserves all of the original data as it comes from the sensor in the camera.

  • JPEG file format creates compressed files that take up less space on the memory card but throw information away.

    The in-camera settings for contrast, saturation, color balance and sharpening are not applied to the raw file, and the raw file preserves all of the original data as it comes from the sensor in the camera.

• JPEG Compression - Set to the highest quality and lowest compression setting.

• Raw Compression - Set to none, or turn off.

  Some cameras offer an in-camera compression for their raw file formats that is different than the compression used with JPEG files. It may be lossy or lossless. This raw compression will be proprietary and you may only be able to access the file with the manufacturer's software. In general, I would advise against using raw compression. Memory storage is inexpensive enough to not have to use it.

• Native Optical Resolution - Set to the highest optical resolution.

  Many cameras offer different resolution settings. The camera's native optical resolution outputs the same number of pixels as the image is taken with. This is the setting you want to use. For example, the Canon T3i (600D) offers a native optical resolution of 5184 x 3456 pixels, but also offers lower, interpolated resolutions of 3456 x 2304 pixels and 2592 x 1728 pixels.

  You can always interpolate down to a smaller file size later in software, but if you do it in the camera to the original file, you can never get this lost data back.

• Shutter Release Without Card - Set to Disable. This will prevent the camera from shooting without a memory card present.

• Image Review - Turn off. The camera will display the image after the shutter closes. You can view an image after you shoot it by simply pressing the display button on the back of the camera.

• Peripheral Illumination Correction - Set to Off. You can correct later during image processing.

• Red-Eye Reduction - Set to disable.

• Exposure Compensation / Auto Exposure Bracketing - Set to Zero. We won't use this for video.

• Metering Mode - Set to Evaluative. For lunar or solar work (with the proper safe solar filter), set it to spot metering.

• White Balance Shift / Bracketing - Leave at the default setting.

• Dust Delete Data - Set to none, or turn off. We won't use this for video.

• ISO Auto - Set to default. We won't use this for astrophotography.

• Canon Picture Styles and Nikon Picture Controls - Set to Standard or Neutral for Canon, and Standard or Vivid for Nikon.

  • Contrast - Leave at the default setting.

  • Sharpening - Leave at the default setting.

  • Saturation - Leave at default setting.

• Auto Power Off - Set to off.

• Auto Rotate - Set to off.

• Format - It is a good idea to format your memory card once in a while after you have copied your images to your computer. Warning! Formatting your memory card erases all images on it.

• File Numbering - Set to Continuous.

• LCD Auto Off - Set to disable.

• Live View Function Settings - Enable Live View Shooting.

• Custom Functions

  • Exposure Level Increments - Set to 1/3 stop.

  • ISO Expansion - Set to off.

  • Long-Exposure Noise Reduction - If you are going to shoot just a couple of long-exposure frames at high ambient temperatures turn on "in-camera long-exposure noise reduction", otherwise turn off.

    Note that "in-camera long-exposure noise reduction" doubles the time it takes to take a picture.

  • High ISO Speed Noise Reduction - Like long-exposure noise reduction, if you are going to shoot just a couple of long-exposure frames at a high ISO, turn on High ISO Speed Noise Reduction. Otherwise, turn it off.

  • Highlight Tone Priority - Set to disable.

  • Autofocus Assist Beam Firing - Set to disable.

  • Mirror Lock-Up - For single frame high-resolution planetary images, turn on. Mirror lock-up requires one press of the shutter release to lock the mirror up, and another press to open the shutter. Use a remote release so you don't have to touch the camera to lock up the mirror and open the shutter. The mirror flapping up before the shutter opens in normal use can cause vibrations that will blur the image in high-magnification work.

  • Shutter / AE Lock Button - Set to #1: AE Lock / AF. This transfers autofocus activation from the shutter release to the autoexposure lock button on the back of the camera.

  • LCD Display when Power On - Set to #1: Previous display status.

  • Add Image Verification Data - Set to disable.

• Self Timer - If you don't have a remote release, you can use the camera's self-timer to trip the shutter so you don't have to touch the camera, which will help reduce vibrations and possible star trailing.

• Built-in Flash - Turn off, because it won't reach to infinity. It won't even reach to the Moon.

Not all of these settings will be available for every camera. Some settings may be called something slightly different from camera model to model.