Night sky basics

The constraint is gathering enough starlight without the stars trailing. Open the Sony to its widest 10mm and f/4, mount a tripod, and expose long enough to collect light but short enough that the earth’s rotation does not smear the points. A rough ceiling — the “500 rule” adjusted for the crop — puts you around 15–20 seconds at this focal length. Set ISO 3200–6400 to lift the faint sky, and expose manually since the meter is useless in the dark.

Watch out for focus, the classic night failure. Autofocus cannot lock on stars, so switch to manual, magnify a bright star on the screen, and turn the ring until it shrinks to the smallest point — do not just trust the infinity mark. Shoot RAW for the dynamic range, use a two-second timer to avoid shake, and check the first frame at 100% before you commit to the night.