Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Realistic capture settings for Solar work advice please.


Recommended Posts

Hi,

Having had a few productive results with my Quark Chromo & reading quite a bit on the web & in SGL I really needed to ask a few questions.

I use IC Capture & my DMK""618 along with the Q for my solar imaging, i leave the tuner in the middle position as it starts to show the detail on the disc a lot better..........or is it my IC settings ?

I watched a solar tutorial & did as instructed, set my max frame rate to 60 (as normal), my exposure to 60, thing is my image regardless of the Gamma was way too bright to capture anything.

I have always used a Gamma between 35-50 & exposure until i could see surface detail, this always records at 60fps, now is this wrong ?

I get quite a full Histogram as well.

Having said that the video also states to use the Gamma slider until almost all 255 'shades of grey' are being captured as displayed at the bottom of the histogram, this always looks way too washed.

Is this the way i should be doing things then or does it really matter ?

Am i losing data ?

Can the Y800 capture be compressed & Uncompressed ?

A lot of questions i know but so far i have been happy with most of my captures but if i am doing it wrong i would like to correct this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Set the gain super low (I think ~20 may be as low as you can go with DMK and IC) set frame rate to 60 and then adjust exposure to get you a decent spread on the histo. I tend to aim for ~90% at the top as it fluctuates a bit and never want to hit 100%. For surface I tend to capture with the gamma at ~1/2 or slightly less of linear response (100 is linear on the DMK) and slightly higher than linear for proms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Set the gain super low (I think ~20 may be as low as you can go with DMK and IC) set frame rate to 60 and then adjust exposure to get you a decent spread on the histo. I tend to aim for ~90% at the top as it fluctuates a bit and never want to hit 100%. For surface I tend to capture with the gamma at ~1/2 or slightly less of linear response (100 is linear on the DMK) and slightly higher than linear for proms.

So you mean to set Gamma at the 'normal' level of 100 then exp to suit Freddie ?

I have done that but the captures & resulting stacks seem really 'white' to me.

The Gain's lowest point is 260 on the DMK, I only ever adjust it for planets so that stays off as it were.

I think I will also run a test on compressed vid as opposed to uncompressed.

I cannot check some of the following without setting the gear up but:-

I have my capture set to Y800 format which I assumed to be uncompressed as it's the default start when IC starts up.

A 1 minute vid is approx 130-150 Mb @ 60fps, I then changed the format option to uncompressed & the vid was well over 1Gb, now I can't say I noticed if it still said Y800 but I am assuming it did & that format can do both ?

If I am going to lose a lot of data in my captures then I will have to upgrade my drive as I sometimes grab upto 2 mins of data & that's going to be over 3Gb at that rate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, you can have compressed and uncompressed Y800. and yes - uncompressed comes in at about 1.5 Gb per minute @60fps

Here's a general article on setting up ICCapture. Hope it helps.

http://www.astronomycameras.com/blog/archive/20080517/colored-raw-data-uncompressed-y800-capture-registax-import/

I know it says its for Registax, but the setup works for me on lunar/planetary  using AutoStakkert

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Ewan, no, for surface set gamma to half of linear (normal) ie 50 or maybe a bit less, say 35. For proms I would set gamma slightly higher than linear ie 120 or something like that. With those settings and frame rate set to 60, adjust the gain to ~90% fill the histo. I wouldn't bother with a compressed capture as all that will do is lose data. Capture settings should be Y800/Y800. Hope that helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, you can have compressed and uncompressed Y800. and yes - uncompressed comes in at about 1.5 Gb per minute @60fps

Here's a general article on setting up ICCapture. Hope it helps.

http://www.astronomycameras.com/blog/archive/20080517/colored-raw-data-uncompressed-y800-capture-registax-import/

I know it says its for Registax, but the setup works for me on lunar/planetary  using AutoStakkert

I'll give that a look thanks.

Hi Ewan, no, for surface set gamma to half of linear (normal) ie 50 or maybe a bit less, say 35. For proms I would set gamma slightly higher than linear ie 120 or something like that. With those settings and frame rate set to 60, adjust the gain to ~90% fill the histo. I wouldn't bother with a compressed capture as all that will do is lose data. Capture settings should be Y800/Y800. Hope that helps.

Thanks Freddie, I only ever used Gain adjustment on planets as you know they can be pretty faint but ill gladly test anything.

Don't get me wrong with this topic though, I am massively impressed by the Quark & what it can do. The results can be fantastic but there is, as always, more efficient ways to get a better final image.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.