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DavidAMWA

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I am in the process of getting back into astro-photography again inspired by some of the incredible pics I have seen on this forum. (I used to do film , but that was really a pain in the neck.) I bought an "Astrotrac" from the UK for my 5D Mk2 and attached is my first attempt. Firstly, I have got to say the Astrotrack is a beautifully engineered piece of kit, especially the new wedge they manufacture.

As my first attempt I was very conservative with my settings. I took 6 frames each at ISO 1600, 15sec and f/4.0. They were stacked with "Deap Sky Tracker" and PPed with CS5. I was quite pleased with the result for my first attempt, especially when you look at the lack of apparent information in a single frame, an example of which is attached.
As always I look forward to constructive comments.







 
Not being familiar with the light pollution in the UK (other than I know it's less than ideal), I'd say these aren't bad for 15s sub frames. It looks like you've not removed any of the vignetting since your processing has removed the details on either side of the frame . . .? Looks like you're just starting to pick up some of the nebulosity in M8.

The larger, patchy chroma noise is really starting to show up and dominate the outer areas, so I'd suggest some longer sub frames that can be useful if you then remove the background colour and brightness gradients. Focus looks good (I don't EVER want to focus on stars without LiveView again). Even unmodified, the 5D2 can do some nice astrophotography, so keep up the work!
 
Many thanks for your observations and feed-back on my astro-pic. I am very much on the start of the learning curve on how to process this sort of image and I appreciate your comments.
 
agavephoto said:
The larger, patchy chroma noise is really starting to show up and dominate the outer areas,
Click to expand...
Nice shot, we are so insignificant. Not that I think you have a noise problem
but a while back I stumbled on a site that sold cooling systems for astro work.

The results were incredible, I'd say a 90% noise reduction on the test frames.
Just something to ponder depending how into this you are.

I love night photography, it's another world.

--

In the beginning was the rhythm but I had forgotten and was waiting for the beat.
 
I appreciate the pointer to that incredible astro photography site, but that is a very serious and expensive set up he has. Quite different to what I am working with. Also I can imagine it has taken quite some time for him to build up his image processing expertise to achieve those remarkable results. Having said that, it is truly remarkable the images he has taken compared with the enormously expensive equipment that was the norm in the days of film.
 
David,

I agree with agavephoto's comments. I think this is a really good result for 15-second subs and moderate processing. Things sure are different than in the film days. Even my 5D Classic does a stunning job compared to film.

I think there's a world of great night-sky stuff that can be done with nothing more than a DSLR, a couple good lenses, and tracking system. I've been looking at the astrotrac for some time, and they keep on improving it. I think I will have to move on it soon, and ditch my big ol' equatorial mount!

I see you were at 55mm; can I ask what lens you were using? You have nice, crisp stars out to the corners, that's really good performance.
--

'Life is pleasant, death is peaceful; it's the transition that's troublesome' - Isaac Asimov
 
The lens was the 25-105mm set to manual focus, of course, and the stability control turned off. Focusing was done using live view and making use of the X10 zoom function.
 
Oops, should have been 24-105mm!
 
wow...this looks fantastic....how does this astro trac works...it really tracks the starts 'movment' or...?
 
Always look so crappy compared to other more distant planets? What is Nasa trying to hide?

Thanks for sharing the your friends site, everything else other than moon shots are spectacular!
billythek said:
You might consider getting a bigger lens :-). Here are some astro pics from a friend of mine. I have no idea how much that telescope cost him.
http://www.skyimagelab.com/imofricr.html
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  • Bill
Click to expand...
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Camillo
 
Awesome collection, Specially the second one.
I am also amazed with this tiny dropped beauty.

Off Topic:

would you please have a look on my gallery, your valuable looks and opinion could bring even an evaluational next.
Thank you.
 
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