Here is another photograph made the same night as my previous panoramic version. In this case, I was focusing, pun not intended, on the actual core or heart of the Milkyway. It is fascinating to me how much detail can be captured with the latest generation sensors and how well they control noise.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any suggestions on improving my technique in camera as well as in post-processing are welcomed
Technical Details
Nikon D850, Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens, set at f1.8, 4 seconds, ISO 6400.
I had the lens wide open, and it was an untracked exposure so it limited the shutter speed to only 4 seconds to avoid any noticeable trails from the stars based on the NPF rule for determining shutter speeds. This forced me to use ISO 6400 and it was still very noise free. Compared to my old Nikon D2x the D850 still had less noise at 6400 than the D2x at ISO 800!
Again, it was captured as a TIFF since I am still using PS CS6 which cannot read the D850 RAW files, something I am working on remedying, but until then processing the TIFF files as I would film scans which I have been doing for the last 20+ years.
One thing I did need to deal with was the coma of that lens. With the lens wide open at f1.8, the coma was quite pronounced in the corners. I searched for any processing techniques that would eliminate or reduce the coma and only found one suggestion on the LonelySpeck website that showed how to create a brush in PS that would essentially clone out the flared portions of the stars while leaving the central portion as perfect circles. It was time-consuming but very reminiscent of cloning out dust from film scans, which I was very familiar with. If anyone is interested in that technique here is the link - HERE