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Cuffbertt

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  • Website URL
    http://www.carlhallphotography.com

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Interests
    Have been interested in regular photography (specifically landscape and motorsport) for around 6 years now. Have always found astronomy fascinating and have decided that astrophotography is something that I want to persue.
  • Location
    Somerset, England

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  1. Hi all I'm looking to get a guide scope and camera to use with my set up (currently a 100-400mm telephoto lens, mirrorless APS-C camera and Skyguider Pro mount). I like the look of the 32mm William Optics guide scope, and the ZWO ASI120MM Mini or ZWO ASI120MM-S are frequrently recomended as decent guide cameras, but I want to check compatibility first. I use a MacBook as well as a windows laptop so I'd like a camera that works with both ideally. In ZWO's ASI120 manual it states that the USB 2 versions of their cameras (ie the 120MM Mini) doesn't play well with OSX so I should get one with USB 3 (ie the 120MM-S). However, I've read that the 120MM-S may not be compatible with the WO guide scopes but I don't understand why... I don't want to buy the 32mm WO guide scope and AS120MM-S camera only to find that I can't mount the camera close enough to focus etc. I've done a fair bit of searching on the subject but I think the WO 32mm guide scope is quite new so I've not had a lot of luck! Is there any reason that this would be a bad set up?
  2. This is my progress so far. They're not incredible I know, but each time I take a photo that slightly better than the last one it's such a great feeling of achievement! My first Andromeda photo. Fuji X-T2 with 100-400mm lens. 100 x 0.5 second subs taken at 400mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6. This was the image that I used a regular tripod for, hence the short subs. I used SiriL for Mac and it was difficult to use! The next was taken after buying the Skyguider. 31 x 60 second subs, at ISO 1600, 400mm and f/5.6 again. Using the skyguider made a HUGE difference. I also took some dark and bias frames this time. After digging out an old laptop I managed to get Deep Sky Stacker working on it, but it's a slow process. As a side note, Mac users don't really have many options for stacking software! This was my latest attempt. I parked up in a gravel car park in a nearby county park, which is pretty dark for somewhere that's only 15 mins from home. I tried to up the exposure time to 120 seconds and although there are definite star trails at 100%, it's not toooo bad. I think it's slightly out of focus going my the stars, so that's something to practice. This was 30 x 120 second subs, ISO 1600, 400mm, f/5.6. Stacked in DSS and processing pushed a bit futher in PS. This time I added flats along with darks and bias frames.
  3. Well, time flies doesn't it. It's been almost eight years since I made my original post asking for advice. In that time I've replaced my crashed car, changed jobs twice, bought a house, got engaged, and witnessed what seems like the beginning of the end of the world. But, still no telescope! I found myself geting curious about AP a few times over the years, but each time I start getting interested again life jumped in the way and it all got forgotten. I've spent the last few weeks learning all I can, and I think I've finally figured out what I'd like to do. It seems like the best option for me is to use a small refractor and go-to equitorial mount. I'm a bit older now so my budget has increased, and I'd like to end up with a 70-80mm apochromatic refractor with an HEQ5 mount. Unfortunately I work as a design engineer in the aerospace industry so I've no idea what the next 6-12 months have in store, so I'll probably invest in the equipment bit by bit rather than all at once. Because the HEQ5 is a bit spendy and pretty much impossible to get at the moment, I've tested the water by buying an iOptron Skyguider pro. I've also retired my ancient and battered Canon 5DII and replaced it with a Fuji X-T2 and 100-400mm lens. So far I've only taken photos of M31, but it's been awesome and I've learned a lot. I started taking 100 x 0.5 second subs untracked with a regular tripod (the same tripod I was using when I posted back in 2012!) and stacking them to make a muddy looking photo with a faint smudge in it. After getting the Skyguider I was able to take much longer subs; 60 seconds seems to be the sweet spot, I've tried 120 seconds and I feel like it's pushing it a bit far. Anyways, I just wanted to post an update to my original post. I am back and will resume asking lots of basic questions!
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