MickLoxleyPhotography

Hyperspeed

I saw this technique used by a photographer a couple of years ago. While capturing the photo, you slowly rotate the zoom ring so the stars drag a trail through ...
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I saw this technique used by a photographer a couple of years ago. While capturing the photo, you slowly rotate the zoom ring so the stars drag a trail through the exposure. Noting that you have to touch the camera to do that, it can cause some wobble to that star trail.

I tried it by hand a few times, but was never really happy with the result. Striving for that perfect line, I decided to design myself some gear that would allow me to do it remotely.

The end product attaches directly to the lens with a Velcro strap and uses a geared reduction motor, speed controller, and a GT2 timing belt around the outside of the zoom ring.

The speed controller allows me to speed up or slow down the motor speed depending on the exposure length I choose.

In this image, I took a 30 second photo at f2.8, ISO 3200 and zoomed from 16 to 35mm.
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