CaptureBeginner

Best Gain and Exposure Settings for Planets

Dial in exposure, gain, and histogram targets to freeze seeing without clipping highlights.

How It Works

Aim for exposures short enough to freeze seeing. Start around 5-20ms for Jupiter and Mars, 20-40ms for Saturn, and 1-5ms for the Sun, then adjust for brightness.

Set gain so the histogram sits around 60-80% without clipping bright areas. Clipped highlights cannot be recovered in stacking.

Use ROI to raise fps while keeping exposure short. Smaller ROI increases frame rate and improves your odds of sharp frames.

Record a short test capture and inspect for noise, clipping, and motion blur. If noise is high, lengthen exposure slightly before raising gain further.

Balance for filters and camera response. IR-pass and color filters often need longer exposure than unfiltered captures.

Re-check settings as altitude changes. When the planet climbs you can lower gain; when it drops you may need the opposite.

Pro Tips

-Avoid max gain because it increases noise and reduces dynamic range.
-Keep gamma neutral while setting exposure so brightness is not misleading.
-Use 16-bit capture when possible to preserve highlight detail.
-If you see banding or color artifacts, lower gain and increase exposure a little.
-For smartphones, lock exposure and white balance to prevent drift.
-Record your settings per planet so you can repeat successful captures.