Michael1971

I finally was able to get some decent shots, had issues wih guiding. These are 38x180sec at 400 ISO with the Nikon D5300. Dithering, Flats, no darks and bias. I was/am very rusty in processing but it gives a good initial idea of what this camera is capable of. Cheers, Mike

Nigel, If I use dithering and only flats and no darks and bias, then flat fielding won't work? Did I understand that correctly? You had me puzzled there.. Thanks, Mike

I might have discovered a low budget solution for my problem so I would like to share that. If you take the bottom plate of your mount head off (when its taken of the pier) you can make it more frictionless with a piece of soap Just put it on the pieces where the mount head meets the plate. (you might want to use a drop of water on it) If I now use the az bolts it goes so smooth, just have to test it again under full load but it looks promising. Cheers, Mike

Hi, I know its an old topic, but I have some issues probably related to the pier extension. When doin PA with the AZ bolts, The polestar constantly jumps. Cant really move it to where I want. I thought maybe the top of the pier is to stiff? Been out 3 times now and could not take a shot of with decent guiding. Is this familiar for anyone? Thanks, Mike

Thank you both. In APT taking flats requires AP mode, but you can get around it by using manual and then, like bottletop said, making a few few exposures till histogram is in then middle and then use that exposure time for your whole flat set. I also discovered that if you put the manual video mode to off (in the camera setup) , you can set the live view to bulp which makes the screen brighter (other wise its stuck at 1/50) Hope I can test the camera again soon, the weather gods are against me lately.

Thanks for responding, yes my canon camera's could do this no problem. I guess its how the Nikon is build. Also AP mode doesnt work when no lens attached.. (for calibation frames) To bad since this is my "new" astro camera.. lol

Hello all, I recently got my modified Nikon D5300 and I am setting up as I type this. I got all my gear connected ok, got live view working in APT. But on the camera itself I am unable to activate live view while the USB is connected. If I take the cable out, then it works. (I use that for focusing with my bathinov mask) I don't like doin that, putting the cable out.. Is this how it should be working, or did I missed a setting somewhere? I could not find it, though I am not familiar with Nikon menus.. Thanks in advance, Michael

I guess that means I am not so lucky.. 😅

Yes I did actually..

Hi Kinan! Unfortunatly, I send my camera out for modification and haven't gotten it back so I havent been able to take images. I'm patient since the weather has been mostly couldy.. When I get it back and are able to take some shots, I will post the result. Cheers Mike

Hello all, I use the telescopius website often, but recently I noticed that images I took in the past were not the same in FOV. Funny thing is that when I slide my camera crop factor to just 1 on the site (instead to 1.6) it looks ok. Does anyone understand this? I have my DSLR, a coma corrector (that adds 0 FL), and neodymium filter. For some reason it seems my 1100D doesn't crop? lol.. Reason I ask, I am looking for a refractor with a certain FOV and the crop factor can change a lot in FOV. But now I am confused because of what I stated above. Any insights are appreciated. Cheers Michael

Thanks for responding, I just made some flats with the d5300 on my 150 and 200mm scopes and it looks ok so far. I do it with an extra monitor with notepad open and a t-shirt over it. My histogram is bit more left from the middle but I think they will do. Mike

Thanks Ciaran, I started to get a bit worried after reading that thread, but your comment gave me some peace of mind considering I am always at F5. I will ask JTW for a quote for a Ha mod in due time. May I ask at what speed you shoot your flats? Thanks, Mike

I missed the whole first half of France - Germany cause of that thread..lol Amazing what some people do, writing their own program to counter problems, because Nikon refuses to help. My d5300 comes tomorrow, hope I am lucky with my Nikon endevours..

Do you also have problems shooting flats in APT? I read that A wont work if there are no lenses attached and that you need to manually enter the settings and use M mode.