Choosing between a wide field shot of Orion and a close-up on the Pleiades cluster

Last night I had a clear sky but only enough time to set up for one target. I went with the Pleiades at 200mm and got a decent 30 second exposure before clouds rolled in. It's tricky balancing detail with the risk of losing the whole session. What's your go-to target when you're racing against the weather?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylan_rodriguez6d ago

My old rule was to always go for the wide shot to guarantee something usable. Last winter I tried the Orion Nebula at 135mm during a short break in the clouds and the detail blew me away. Now I gamble on the close up more often because a single good frame feels more rewarding.

patel.leo6d ago

Totally get that. I used to play it safe with wide field shots too until I pointed my old 200mm lens at Andromeda. The extra detail made me forget about collecting more boring wide shots. Sometimes the gamble pays off big time.