Pacman Neb

[Selborne]

Hi Guys,

I thought I would share an image I took last night of the Pacman Neb NGC 281, I am quite happy considering there was a little bit of haze in the air and the Moon was high in the sky. 

This is the first attempt using my new set up, gone are all the telescopes and in comes a new 400mm f2.8 Canon Lens for my 6D, mounted on my EQ6, 2min exposure, f8 at ISO 320,

thoughts ?

[Charic]

Just a camera! very nice.

I`m just browsing/ looking at external AC adaptors for my Nikon. Pretty faithful to the brand, so won't be cheap. Also,  I don't have  RA Motor for my old EQ2? I think a few Star trails at correct exposure will have to suffice.

[bendiddley]

Hi Selborne. Nice image. Can I ask why you have ousted the telescope for the 400mm lens? Are you just shooting with lenses now? I'm new to all this and just starting out with wide field.

[Selborne]

Hi Bendiddley,

I have been through so many different telescopes and tried so many different configurations (and spent a lot of money), and at the end of the day I realised that to get the perfect pictures you need to be totally dedicated, committing huge amounts of time to the search for perfection, but all I really wanted to do was to enjoy myself and obtain great images without to much fuss and setting up time.  One of my friends always produced great pictures from good quality camera equipment, so I started to spend some time with him observing, what I realised was a revelation (at least for me it was), within 10 mins from taking the equipment outside he was producing fantastic deep sky images, so I have followed suit, sold my refractors and purchased a second hand Canon 400mm f2.8 in great condition, complete with a 1.4x and 2x converter, which gives me 560mm at f4 and 800mm at f5.6, but with the Canon 6D full frame camera and its absolutely amazing light sensitivity, the images are fantasic.  

I have only just made the change, so I am going to see how I go, but the above image was my first attempt in a hasy moon filled sky, and I was very happy, its better than I was ever able to produce with my scopes.

I will be keeping my Celestron 9.25 for planets, as that is a really good instrument and to be honest with a 2500mm focal length at f10 it is perfect for the moon and planets.

One last image from last night, remember first attempt and not perfect conditions in suffolk, NGC 7000 the North American Neb

[pyrasanth]

I like your shot of the North American Nebula. If you want to be a smart cookie get a copy of GradientXterminator & run the JPEG through that. I think it will make a tremendous difference. If you can link me a copy of your original file I'd like to run it through for you & see if it makes a difference- I think it will!. I would also try & get some calibration shots for your camera. I'm not sure if JPEGS can be run through through Maxim in the same way as fits files but if you can calibrate that will make a substantial difference as well. 

[Pete Presland]

thats a great looking image, a very nice start!

[hjw]

Hi Selborne,

very nice shots indeed. Can I ask you a question? How well do you need to do the polar alignment to get shots like this? I am committed to buy a HEQ5 in the next month or two and I am worried about polar alignment (being south of the equator and all). And camera lenses is all I have for the time being with a scope planned for the future.

Again, I love your shots and would be happy if I could get to this level.

Cheers

HJW

[Astrosurf]

Nice images! I assume your DSLR isn't modded? If it was, it would pick up a lot more from emission nebs like these.

Alexxx

[Stargazer33]

Very nice start. With calibration frames and more subs stacked you should have something really impressive. Stopping down to f8 has caused the defraction spikes on the bright star; upper left in your Pacman image, which looks a little strange. Have you thought about an aperture mask instead?

[Selborne]

Thanks guys for the encouragement, this was my first night with the lens mounted on the NEQ6 pro mount, so I will progressing with practice.

In regard to the question regarding polar alignment, yes it is all in the alignment ! I will be adding autoguiding when I get the chance, so this should help further.

Also thanks for the offer to process the image for me, how do I link an image to you ?

[Selborne]

OK, I have had a second chance this weekend to use my new set-up, so here are some results, from the outing, remember single exposure, no stacking, 2mins f4 ISO 320 with noise reduction set to full and HDR on with my Canon 6D.

I am quite happy, as these are the best results I have ever achieved.

Comments welcome,

Best Regards

Jamie

[lensman57]

These are nice enough but how much did the 400mm F2.8 cost?

A.G

[Selborne]

Hi A.G,  I got the Lens mainly for Wildlife photography and then realised through my friend what you could do with astronomy, the lens cost me £2500 second hand.

What I love is the 10min set-up time and then into photos, great ! mind you, I still have to learn to get the alignment spot on, and then I can start to multi image and stack etc, but that is to come !

Jamie

[lensman57]

Hi A.G,  I got the Lens mainly for Wildlife photography and then realised through my friend what you could do with astronomy, the lens cost me £2500 second hand.

What I love is the 10min set-up time and then into photos, great ! mind you, I still have to learn to get the alignment spot on, and then I can start to multi image and stack etc, but that is to come !

Jamie

Thought so, incredible lens for wildlife or sport even wide open. With a front mask doesn't do too badly for AP either. Great price for the lens BTW, new ones are in the £7000.00 region. Get your self a modded 1100d or 1200d and you'd very happy doing fast DSO imaging.

Regards,

A.G

[Selborne]

I have asked the good lady for a Canon 60Da for Christmas, as the seem to be getting to a reasonable price now, is this the right route to go ?

[lensman57]

I have asked the good lady for a Canon 60Da for Christmas, as the seem to be getting to a reasonable price now, is this the right route to go ?

60Da is a fine camera , the only reservation that I have is the price. A moodded 1100d will be less than 1/2 of the price and a 1200d just over 1/3 cheaper. Have a look at this link and see what you think. I got mine from here and he provided excellent service.http://cheapastrophotography.vpweb.co.uk/Available-Cameras.html

Regards,

A.G

[Selborne]

OK, quick up date, got the Canon 60Da today for Christmas, just been outside and had a crack at the Orion Nebula 2min exposure f8, 400mm canon lens ISO 200, really happy with the results, looking forward to having a go at some other objects, over the next few days.  Also for information I had a EOS clip CLS filter fitted, as the street lighting pollution is quite high where I live.

Merry Christmas

Jamie

[DaveS]

Why are you stopping down to f/8? With that lens I'm sure you could run it at f/4 or is it still too soft? Also you could well increase the ISO to 800, which seems to be the break point for sensitivity above which you lose dynamic range.

[Astrosurf]

Cracking shot, Jamie. Ditto DaveS.

[Selborne]

Hi DaveS,

The lens is super sharp wide open at F2.8, so good question why use f8, well the truth is, I love the star diamond effect  on the brightest stars, and the ISO is kept low just to reduce noise as I am not into stacking, this was just a single exposure.  It is true what you say that ISO800 could be used but, my EQ6 mount is so accurate for tracking I am not limited by exposure time.

As we know the Orion Nebula is a nice bright subject, so I am looking forward to trying the camera and lens on some much dimmer subjects, then the f2.8 and higher ISO's will be very useful.

The one thing I am very impressed with is the EOS Clip CLS filter, it cuts out all the street light pollution, really good !

Speak soon

Jamie

[Aussie Dave]

Nice. So jealous of these shots Jamie. Why am I wasting money on scopes and their bits and bobs? *sigh*

[Selborne]

managed this one last night, so again very happy, have to have a play with the white balance, as this is a little to purple,

[Selborne]

Hi Aussie Dave,

I was much like you, lots of telescopes and the same amount of hassle !! then my firend convinced me to buy a Skywatcher EQ6 mount and just use cameras and lenses, for the deep sky objects it is just great, as all I ever watched was a quick set up, and pictures straight away, I never wanted to win any competitions, just to get some results I was happy with.  I did spend quite a bit of money on my 400mm f2.8 second hand lens, but I love wildlife photography as well, so it was a good investment, however the key has been having a super stable mount that really tracks well and the EQ6 does just that, I can manage upto about 4 min exposures without any drag, so this means that I can use f8 on any lens, so I get the star diamond effect, which I like, but this also means that I can use my 70-300mm F4-F5.6 lens which works just as well.  So all in all I am happy.

I still have my Celestron 9.25 for the planets, as then it is all about focal length, so to get great pictures of the planet I have 2800mm with a 2x barlow, so around 5600mm at f20, which is really good for the planets.

Speak soon,

Jamie