Cygnus widefield help needed

[matt-c]

hi all finally got a decent night to use my skytracker for the second time and decided to focus on Cygnus.
Well i use focus loosely because im really struggling with getting what im shooting in frame, i have alot of LP here so its a sort of point and prey method at the moment .
Can anyone spare some tips on how to overcome this.
Also how can i bring more colour out in my image.
once again thanks.

20x2min subs 20xdarks 30xbias no flats
Nikon d3100 unmodded with 50mm lense
Skytracker v2
had to hammer the quality down on the image to upload  but hopefully still recognisable
 

[Psychobilly]

With shorter FL lenses I use a red dot finder mounted in the flash hot shoe - you can get adaptor brackets to do this but I just took a dremel to one of those cheap acyrlic finder mounted levels. I try and get co-aligned with the centre focus point in the viewfinder.

With longer FL lenses I use the RDF in combo with test shots at max ISO and compare the brighter stars with a chart - I use the Sky and Telescope Pocket Star Atlas.....

To drag a bit of colour out  one way to do it is to boost the saturation in the Post processing , this is best done is several small steps rather than one large one...

Peter...

[Knight of Clear Skies]

I've been shooting Cygnus recently through my 50mm lens. Deneb and Sadr are bright enough that I can easily see them through the viewfinder, so I've been using them as my reference when framing. The camera is mounted on a ball head joint, which makes pointing much easier.

Getting colour out of the image is tricky and something I'm working on. You've got some nice star colour there, and a touch of red from the North America nebula.

[JamesF]

Have to agree with the above.  I hacked an RDF mount so it would fit in the hot shoe of my 450D, and I use a ball-head mount fitted to a short dovetail (which in turn goes on the EQ mount).  Makes it far easier to get the camera pointed in the right direction and the image framed the way I want it.

James

[matt-c]

fantastic thanks for the replies going to get myself a rdf, any suggestions on something preferably light and small?

[Psychobilly]

I just had some old ones lying around you don't need anything fancy... Cheap and cheerful airsoft ones will do

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airsoft-1x20x30-Tactical-Red-Dot-sight-20mm-Weaver-11mm-Dovetail-Rails-/161364023338?pt=UK_SportingGoods_Hunting_ShootingSports_ET&hash=item25920b982a

or for something a bit more substantial have a look at  some of the metal ones on ebay...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metal-Holographic-4-Reticle-Red-Green-Dot-Sight-For-20mm-Picatinny-Weaver-Rail-/151331031785?pt=UK_SportingGoods_Hunting_ShootingSports_ET&hash=item233c084ae9

I used one of these to make an adaptor... just "dremeled" some slots for the dovetail on the sights into the  acrylic

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hot-Shoe-Two-Axis-Double-Bubble-Spirit-Level-Mount-For-Camera-SLR-DSLR-Canon-/380857099591?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item58acda2547

Peter...

[matt-c]

I just had some old ones lying around you don't need anything fancy... Cheap and cheerful airsoft ones will do

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airsoft-1x20x30-Tactical-Red-Dot-sight-20mm-Weaver-11mm-Dovetail-Rails-/161364023338?pt=UK_SportingGoods_Hunting_ShootingSports_ET&hash=item25920b982a

or for something a bit more substantial have a look at some of the metal ones on ebay...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metal-Holographic-4-Reticle-Red-Green-Dot-Sight-For-20mm-Picatinny-Weaver-Rail-/151331031785?pt=UK_SportingGoods_Hunting_ShootingSports_ET&hash=item233c084ae9

I used one of these to make an adaptor... just "dremeled" some slots for the dovetail on the sights into the acrylic

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hot-Shoe-Two-Axis-Double-Bubble-Spirit-Level-Mount-For-Camera-SLR-DSLR-Canon-/380857099591?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item58acda2547

Peter...

[matt-c]

Thanks so much mate. Heading up to Galloway early next month and this is going to make all the difference.

[Psychobilly]

Thanks so much mate. Heading up to Galloway early next month and this is going to make all the difference.

No worries...

Not as "Astro Active" as I used to be  -  I seem to spend most of my time crawling round in the undergrowth these days but to give you some ideas for Cygnus widefields...

Here's one I did earlier... shortish  total exposure with the Astrotrac...

Astrotrac Sadr by psmithuk, on Flickr

Or a proper job with an EQ mount...

Sky at Night CD Sept 2010 Cygnus Nebs by psmithuk, on Flickr

Peter...

[matt-c]

No worries...

Not as "Astro Active" as I used to be  -  I seem to spend most of my time crawling round in the undergrowth these days but to give you some ideas for Cygnus widefields...

Here's one I did earlier... shortish  total exposure with the Astrotrac...

Astrotrac Sadr by psmithuk, on Flickr

Or a proper job with an EQ mount...

Sky at Night CD Sept 2010 Cygnus Nebs by psmithuk, on Flickr

Peter...

Outstanding this is exactly what im hoping to get one day.

Ive tried reprocessing my image and came to the conclusion that the data is just not there

My finder will be here by tuesday so hopefully no clouds and a new image