Barnjet

Thanks - I will try to use my Vixen Polarie for the next image capture to reduce the star trailing. I downloaded the latest Samyang lens correction data and have applied it to the the RAW Samyang image, shown below as a JPG I think it has improved? However, as I specifically bought the Samyang 14mm to take Milky Way shots, am I flogging a dead horse with this lens?

Thanks for getting back. I removed the CLS filter and tried again, but this time using Vega and not Jupiter as my focussing aid. This time the focus ring was pretty much bang on the infinity mark. I also took some shots with standard Canon kit lens (18-55mm/F.3.5) at 18mm. Here are the single shot comparisons, kit lens at 18mm F4 ISO 1600 25 sec first, then the Samyang at 14mm, F2.8 ISO 1600 25 sec. And now the Samyang Critical views welcome! BTW these are JPGs, but can I post photos in RAW (CR2) format? When I did, I didn't see a thumbnail, so not sure if they can be seen by others?

Some advice please. Last night was my first attempt at the Cygnus area of the Milky Way using my brand-new Samyang F2.8 14mm connected to Canon 70D with a Skytech CLS filter fitted. Settings were: 15 sec exposure ISO 6400 F4.0 and saved as RAW and JPEG. I used LiveView on Jupiter to achieve focus, but was concerned that the focus ring was nowhere near the infinity mark; it was between 2 and 3 feet! Is this unusual? I know the seeing wasn't that good last night, but I don't think the stars are particularly sharp either. JPEG attached. I'm a bit worried about the quality of new lens - should I be?

Excuse my ignorance, but what is "HFR" ? Yes - it's the f3.5 lens, so changing to f5.6 will remove the diffraction spikes? Ok - that will shorten the image capture period 😎 Wow! If I try increasing the exposure to 60sec for each light, then I need to spend 16.6 hours collecting light from M31 😲 I might work up to that one! Thanks - I can't wait to try again using the advice I've received from this very helpful and friendly forum 😃

Thanks for the encouragement!

Thanks Lee, something to aim for!

Thank you Paul, that is very kind of you and hugely encouraging for me to try to improve. This is a truly humbling hobby. When I really consider this image, I can scarcely believe that the photons that ended up on the sensor of my camera left Andromeda about 2.2 million years ago!

Yes in deepest, darkest Dorset, so autumn is a particularly good time to view Andromeda. I’ll fill in some of my profile details Thanks again.

Thanks, just to be sure does “integration time” means more lights and/or longer exposures? Affinity says it also does image editing, but that is a process I have yet to understand. I confess, I’m finding a lot of the image processing terminology a little baffling eg “stretching” “rasterising” etc But, I’ll get there in the end!

Thanks, polar alignment is a little tricky without Vixen’s polar scope, but I’ll certainly try, maybe use a spirit level to ensure the azimuth plane is level. And use RAW format.

I took some images of M31 last September on a dark night with reasonable seeing using the following set-up: Canon EOS-70D, Takumar 135mm prime lens, F3.5, ISO 6400, Exp 20sec mounted on a polar-aligned (visually) Vixen Polarie and Ravelli tripod. I took 14 x lights, 6 x darks, 22 x bias but no flats or dark flats ( I haven't figured out how to do that yet) in Large JPEG format. I recently acquired Affinity Photo and using the Astronomy Stack feature, and nothing else, I produced the attached image. I'm quite pleased with it but I can't believe all those dots are stars, maybe they are? Please could the more experienced members advise how best I could improve the image. Thanks in advance