Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 - First Light

[Ohan Smit]

Good day

I recently acquired a second hand AF-S 300mm f/4, after my result I got with my 24-70mm on my Advanced VX.

This is my results with the lens mounted on the Nikon D800(DCE)

This was unguided.

My alignment was very poor.

Astronomical seeing in Cape Town was a lovely 3-4.

Shooting towards the city lights brought about some undesired issues, thankfully easily fixed in PS.

Nikkor 300mm f/4 wide open, 50 x 40" second exposures at ISO 800.

This 8.5 Mp was cropped out of the NW region of the original 36Mp image.

Regards

Johannes

[fredman]

So using only a nikkor 300mm you have to be in a very dark(ish) place to be able to get this type of photo, right?

I have one for a D5100 but never got this kind of photos nor did i had been in a dark(ish) place also lol

Really lovely photo considering that you havent used a telescope.

Congrats [emoji3]

[Ohan Smit]

So using only a nikkor 300mm you have to be in a very dark(ish) place to be able to get this type of photo, right?

I have one for a D5100 but never got this kind of photos nor did i had been in a dark(ish) place also lol

Really lovely photo considering that you havent used a telescope.

Congrats [emoji3]

Yes, indeed and with the highly illuminated moon also about 30 degrees in the eastern horizon.

I would love to visit a dark site, but currently studies and work keep me within the confides of my home.

Setting the telescope up in cape town with the high humidity atm during winter is also the reason i would rather experiment with the wide field side. Takes 5mins to setup and then its ready for shooting.

Regards

Ohan

[kalasinman]

Really very good. I can only imagine the same with a stack of 30x 5 minute subs!

[Ohan Smit]

My image has seem to have vanished O_O.

If a mod could please replace the OP, image with the one below?



Thanks

[Psychobilly]

Done did...  and very nice it is as well

[kalasinman]

What is the name of this?

[Ohan Smit]

What is the name of this?

Eta Carinae(NGC 3372)

[wxsatuser]

What is the name of this?

Me thinks it's Carina Nebula

Opps bit late with that.

Pity we cannot see it here.

[Mr Spock]

Lovely image. So colourful, detailed and sharp.

[Robny]

Great image, how much did you need to crop out of the original image?

[Ohan Smit]

It went from 7378x4980 to 3133x2771. 

So I cropped out 76.4%, take into consideration that i was shooting towards a High Pressure Sodium light, about 20 degrees above it.

This caused a yellow glow in the middle of each frame, which I had to crop out and recovered the red tones at the bottom of Carina, from such a glow spot.

Below please find a preview of one of the raw files that came from the camera.

You can see on which area I chose to focus on.

Quite a lot of data discarded.

Regards

Ohan

[Ohan Smit]

I forgot to add a example of the glow, after integration and stretching in PixInsight I was left with this.

Which I then cropped and processed in Nik Color Efex to the final image you see above.

Regards

Johannes

[Robny]

It always amazes me how much data can be pulled from the raw files, that's some super processing and a great image - love it

[Ohan Smit]

It always amazes me how much data can be pulled from the raw files, that's some super processing and a great image - love it

Yes indeed it is rather amazing what these sensors can capture if exposed correctly.

Ever since my interest in landscape photography and my experience with the D800 in the field, I learned to make sure that all channels are exposed without clipping.

The Sony sensor in the D800 is legendary for retaining shadow details in landscape photography, I went from an avid HDR shooter with my Canon 5D mk2 to a single exposures at sunsets.

You can pull information from the shadows up to 2 EV stops without introducing noticeable noise, with the Canon I had to expose a extra frame.

Here is an example of the histrogram from that frame as it came from the D800(DCE).

I might make a tutorial about Nik Color Efex and Astro, if someone would be interested?

Regards

Ohan

[FranckiM06]

Wow, it is wonderful image. I like it.

Franck

[fredman]

Is that a single image or stacking?

[Ohan Smit]

Is that a single image or stacking?

The first picture is one raw frame. 

The one with the glow is the 50 frames stacked without flats or darks, I believe adding those would make this problem a lot less prominent.

[fredman]

The first picture is one raw frame.

The one with the glow is the 50 frames stacked without flats or darks, I believe adding those would make this problem a lot less prominent.

That's awesome for just a single shot.

Congrats, really [emoji3]

[DarkKnight]

Very impressive Ohan.

Is your D800 modded? How did you go with your SynScan kit? Mine should arrive by the end of next week.

I'm looking forward to using my Nikon D800 with my 300mm f4 and the 1.4T/C, and also trying two T/C's stacked, which I've done with some success for bird shots.

[Ohan Smit]

Very impressive Ohan.

Is your D800 modded? How did you go with your SynScan kit? Mine should arrive by the end of next week.

I'm looking forward to using my Nikon D800 with my 300mm f4 and the 1.4T/C, and also trying two T/C's stacked, which I've done with some success for bird shots.

Hi

No it is not modded at all, just the custom firmware that you get on Nikonhacker forum. 

My SynScan kit is on the delivery vehicle today, so I should have it by mid day.

I am going to strip the whole mount down to its very last gear and bearing, degrease and regrease everything and then reassemble.

I am thinking of doing either a timelapse or video of the whole strip down and upgrade... problem is I am a little camera shy

Kind Regards

Ohan 

[DarkKnight]

Just read in your other thread that your upgrade kit had arrived.

Looks like a fun time ahead. I also had thoughts doing of a strip-down, but as my mount is unused I decided to give it a run as is. It seems to rotate quite freely with no binding evident on either axis. I'll see what sort of grease is on the cogs when I do the motor change, although with gears turning at minimal speed on an unused mount, I really don't see the need to do a big overhaul. Not exactly like the wear and tear on a car bearing or cog spinning at 7-8,000 rpm is it.

Good luck with your installation.