davew

Hi Niall, I had a quick look see and I have to admit, I'm not seeing the problems you're talking about but do see two problems you didn't mention. You have a Cyan and a blue green line across your image that needs sorting as a priority. There's no detail because I don't think you've taken a photo of anything. You have some vignetting but I've seen worse. Flats will help mitigate it but won't reduce the noise in the corners. I can't see much amp glow. I don't see any gradients worth worrying about. What does perplex me is how you could go from an almost black image to a white image with just one stop ISO increase. Doesn't sound right to me The lens you have looks to be pretty good. If it was my image I'd be quite happy that I was on track other than the banding. Dave.

Possibly. GB runs at 50 Hz. Change it over and have a test but it may make no difference. Dave. Edit. This normally affects video but you never know

Ah, I see. Regarding the panel ... I haven't got a clue what the cause of the banding is but I wish you the best of luck finding out. Does the banding still appear if you block most of the light with sheeting and expose for much longer ? Does the banding appear if you use a lens closed right down and also using a longer exposure ? Is the camera set to 60 Hz by mistake ? Questions questions ! 🤔 Dave.

The flat taken with the EL panel looks bad. Mainly for the banding which doesn't appear on the other one. Another thing bad about it is the fact you've done it through a red sheet. You may already know this but using that coloured sheet is not a good idea as the signal to the red pixels is way out compared to the green and blue. That means no matter what your light source the flat won't work properly. On the few occasions I've done flats with a DSLR, I've used a evenly lit white wall. I only used a light panel with a cooled CCD camera. Dave.

That's kind of you Jeremy. I've not processed too many others as yet but did do this grab shot. On one evening some cloud came rolling in from the North and I thought it looked good for a shot. Same camera and lens and 20 seconds at ISO 800. Dave.

Hi all, I was lucky to be at the Kielder star party just before the travel restrictions. In fact doubly lucky as the sky was pretty much clear enough on three of the four nights I was there. Some cloud passed through and there was a tiny bit of very high stuff but very nice for what I wanted. Here are two of my favorite images. One is Orion descending into the forest and to be honest I was almost too late ! The sky was so clear for a short while that the Milky Way came out quite detailed and bright. The bright patch to the lower right is the Zodiacal light and Venus muscling in. Details are Nikon Z6, Sigma, 14mm lens wide open, ISO 800 for 10 x 20 seconds. Stacked in Sequator as usual and tweaked in Light Room. The second shot is the usual Polar star trail shot that's really growing on me the more I do of them. I was definitely thinking of doing a little light painting this time but as I was surrounded by other people I thought it safer not to shine white lights round the place ! Nikon Z6, Sigma 14mm lens at f2.8, ISO 800 for 90 x 30 seconds. I was going to do 2 minute shots but my timer was on another camera. This was also stacked in Sequator due to the fact it doesn't try to lighten the overall shot as some of the other trail apps do. Then taken into Photoshop for many many tweaks 😘 So that's it for the foreseeable future. Dave.

Ooo, that looks cold 🥶 Lovely mosaic. It seems you've mastered the technique rather well. Dave.

http://dosandbox.astrodon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Astrodon-Narrowband-Filters_FAQ.pdf Look about half way down the PDF on page 4. Dave.

I'm really enjoying this thread Kat. I'm quietly rooting for you in the background :) Dave.

Hi Paul, I don't like disagreeing with the author but I do like the first image best. Like most of your starscapes it gives a sense of place and purpose. For me, I've just walked up the hill and have turned to look out over the valley and of course Orion. In the second I'm hovering in space. Buildings and ruins in some of your other images do the same kind of thing. Dave.

First off - lovely transition from dusk into night. You do that very well. Second - I didn't realize those satellites were as bad as that. I do now ! Dave.

Simply stunning. Just love it ! Dave.

Hi Nathan, If I was thinking along the lines of a good all round Nikon camera that would connect to just about any software for capture and processing or remote / tethered imaging it would be the D5300 or newer. A little bit more to purchase even secondhand but worth the difference. Depends what you mean by wide field but as far as lenses go then Samyang take a lot of beating, especially the 14mm and 24mm. The Tokina 11 - 20 f2.8 has a reasonable reputation and Nikon's own 20mm f1.8. With APSC that's an equivalent FOV of a 30mm on FF and so is still ok for static tripod shots. For a longer length then the Samyang 135 seems to please a lot of people. Dave. Just a thought - The Huddersfield Astro Society has a few DSLR imagers so perhaps drop in and see them. I think they meet in town.

You forgot to mention, a bit nifty with a BBQ ! Sad news. Dave.

I'm really impressed with this one ! Fantastic pano. I notice you're a long way from home too ! Dave.

That's worked rather well for a first attempt. We'll be seeing more I hope. I now almost exclusively use the Z6 for my widefield static shots and really like it. By far the easiest camera I've ever used as everything I want can be operated one handed and custom buttons set up just so. If you want another go then the 24mm end of the lens could be used for a bit longer. I've done 15 seconds at 24mm and it's ok as long as you don't view the image at 200% :) Sequator is an app just made for this stuff as you can then stack the sky to get a lovely smooth noise free image and the foreground doesn't go blurred. Windows only though. Dave

I'm with you there Gordon. I like having friends around me imaging but avoid " Strangers " and their chimping 🤔 I keep coming back to the video and I see a bit more each time. Thanks, Dave

That is an epic ! I love the whole thing and I also admire your puddle shots Andromeda and the Milky Way weren't just good, they were exceptional. How many other people were around when you were taking your shots ? I can't see you being alone on a clear night like that, Dave.

Nice colours, tight stars, loads of dust and well controlled Trap. Perfect, Dave.

It just occurred to me Rich, today is the last day of posting to this challenge so if you did a bit last night then get it in quick Thanks Nigella.

I thought you would There are a few around who really like this stuff and you're one of them. I'm glad you liked it, Dave.

Thank you Bob. Easy enough to do too. Cheers, Dave.

I hope you can get out. I tend to do my star trails with the same exposure time as a single exposure. That way I can make a timelapse as well if I want. If you increase exposure times then timelapses are out but you may get more star colour and better foreground. Choices choices :) I then tend to do at least an hour and often more. You can always leave subs out but can't add them afterwards. Dave.

Outstanding winners ! Some of the best images to date 😎 Dave

Lovely stuff. It just goes to show what can be done. The mugs are going to look almost too good to use ! Dave.