davew

That's come out really well Mark. I take it all the calibration files worked ok and there were no surprises ? I'm also assuming the often mentioned focusing array ( On many mirrorless cameras ) isn't showing up under normal astrophotography ? I went looking for it and it wasn't until -7EV that it appeared. Are you using silent shooting and 14 bit ? So many questions ! Dave.

I hope this doesn't mean you're abandoning the static shots ? I look forward to seeing your starscapes. That lens does look quite good over all and I hope the part you're getting sorts it. Dave.

That area isn't bad at all. To the eye the horizon is quite good but the camera makes it look worse. I hope he gets to look up. Dave

Taking advantage of some clear skies recently I managed to get out on a last minute trip to Surprise View car park near Hathersage on Sunday. I wanted to go further afield into Wales but didn't have the time. There is another thread on SGL re this car park so it was at the forefront of my mind. The " Norm " would be to walk up to a gritstone outcrop called Mother Cap but I went further to Over Owley Tor. For those interested the views South are very good and only the North East is badly light polluted ( Sheffield ) Unfortunately the atmosphere decided not to play ball. The air was still, warm and thick as soup so the Milky Way was invisible to the eye for much of the time I was up there ! The camera picked up a few stars but once again I'm thwarted in my quest to get a decent British Milky Way centre 🤨 Here's my best effort of the night. I only came away with two photos ! Nikon Z6, Sigma 14mm lens, 10 x 25 seconds at f 1.8 and a 160 second foreground shot at f 2.8. Heavily processed. Dave.

To use an adaptor with that camera I think you just switch the camera to Manual settings. Dave

These ideas come and go. Some from quite a long way back too. https://www.dpreview.com/articles/8732455081/kodakhighsens Dave.

Stunning may be an over used term but these three are just that ... stunning. The level of detail is amazing and the drawing from acr is a step beyond my pay grade ! Thanks to all the entries as I think I learnt a few things, Dave.

Very artistic I like it. It looks to be nicely processed and as for the foreground, maybe stay where you are and Very Gently light up what looks to be a scope. It seems to be pointing at Polaris and I think it might look good. Dave.

That is a damn fine effort. It's a beastly beast I used 4 hours worth of 30 minute subs at f4 and still it doesn't leap off the screen ! ( 5nm ) Dave.

On the CCD cameras I've used there was no chip heater. Some cameras have a cover glass heater to prevent misting. The temperature rise on warm up was due to the Peltier voltage being ramped down in a slow and controlled way. I used Maxim and if you had nothing better to do at the end of the night, you could watch the cooler close down in the power output box Dave.

I've been static DSLR imaging round that area ( not from the car park ) and it's ok depending on which way you look. Towards Sheffield is just as you would imagine it ! but there are trees and a hill in the way. I've been there during the day and as far as I can remember the view south is fine. If it was me going then I'd walk north from the car park about half a mile and use the rocks and mill stones for some Starscapes and get car light trails going passed looking south. The road as mentioned gets busy ( ish ) and it's unlikely you'll be alone in the dark corners of the car park 😍 There are loads of dark spots around like the Ladybower valley but all the views are restricted in some way, from memory. Do you need dark skies for planetary ? Dave. I think I've just talked myself into going next new moon 🤨

Those sound like IR photography filters to me. Not astrophotography. Contact them and see what they say but be sure to tell them your photo intentions. Dave.

If you go full spectrum then you'll still need an IR filter somewhere when you do Astrophotos. ( For Astro we use IR block not IR pass unless that's your thing ) I think the LifePixel photos show an IR pass ! Be careful. Before you plan on LifePixel as a supplier, I suggest you contact them first and see if they still do a filter for this camera. Dave.

Hi Zynch As you already have the D70 and want to do it yourself then may I suggest you read these two links ? http://astrosurf.com/buil/d70/ircut.htm https://www.lifepixel.com/tutorials/infrared-diy-tutorials/nikon-d70-d70s Although the camera had a very good CCD ( Not CMOS ) chip, as used in a few OSC cameras, it was never popular as an Astro camera due to the in camera processing it did. As a result of that the main use it had as a converted camera was for IR. I think you won't find a replacement piece of glass anywhere, which hasn't changed much in the last 15 years since it was introduced ! I have used its sister camera ( D50 ) as an IR cameras and it's pretty good for its age. Be advised that there will be some Amp glow and the focus won't be accurate with no cover glass, nor will it focus to infinity with camera lenses. The same thing applies to all makes of course. Other than that, have fun, Dave.

I'm really impressed with the detail you've drawn out of M82. The wonders of the modern camera in tandem with imaging skill ! I wouldn't even attempt these three as I doubt you'd see anything 🤨 I said on the main page that 30 seconds sounded easy but wasn't. Too long for static shots and too short for tracked shots. Dave.

Hi Francis, I don't know the answer to your question as posed but I did think the 800E was controlled via USB and not serial. All it requires is the USB cable in the box ? I can't help much with the 5100 either but it's not a setting in the camera is it ? I vaguely remember the older cameras could be set either mass storage or P2P but don't know if that's relevant. Dave.

It works ! Both shots look good but the second shot, around Jupiter, is really good. More details of the shot would be nice such as single / multiple shots, time and lens settings etc. I hope to see more, Dave

Now that is a beauty ! Not only is the arch as good as it gets but the colours are gorgeous. I like the few clouds that have sneaked in and the sky glow. Dave

I think the D5300 is a good deal secondhand. The D7000 is also very good but a great deal heavier. It can take the Nikon hack though and that makes the sensor very good for night shots. Another pro I forgot was the lack of AA filter in front of the chip on the 5300. Good luck with your musings and perhaps bring yourself and your camera to Kielder one day, Dave.

Hi Louise, I think it unlikely that you'd get much help re Nikon cameras as most people round here use Canon. There is quite a following over the other side of the Atlantic for the D5300 and the Cloudy Nights forum has a number of threads. I believe Jerry Lodriguss uses the D5300 when he shoots APSC ( If you've heard of him ) I have only used a 5300 series camera in passing and as it wasn't mine and I couldn't alter too many settings. It worked like a charm under the stars even with the kit lens The Pros seem to be the very good Sony chip on board with very low read noise for those short exposures and the swivel out screen. Oh, and the fact that there are loads of capture programmes that work ! The Cons are that the film back register prevents the use of most other non Nikon fit lenses. Although there are plenty of Nikon APSC fit clip filters made, not many are advertised over here. I think a retailer very close to this site may in fact be able to help if requested. Think before you change systems because if you already have lenses and other bits for the Canon then you'll be buying twice. If it was me and I wanted a cheap and very good APSC camera then I'd chose the Nikon. If I wanted a cheap and good FF Canon then I'd go for the 6D. If I wanted a more expensive FF camera I'd be back to Nikon. Interestingly, chip advancements seem to be slowing down somewhat so an older chip, as in this case, isn't necessarily a bad thing. Another thing is that Nikon have in camera timelapse and have for many years. That too works a treat. This may or may not help but ask if you think I could help any further, Dave.

In my case I'm certain it would. There's another aspect I forgot to mention about the pull of the belt towards the focus motor. There has to be some tension on the belt, especially for damp winter nights, and therefor the lens needs holding steady. I didn't go wild on the tension but if I slackened off the scope ring for any reason the lens pulled over. I did find that it was easy enough to centralise the lens but if I didn't take some care in the initial setting up the bad focus on one side or corner would show. Modern fast camera lenses are now built with very large and heavy front elements so I would support the lens even without the focus motor. Using the scope ring also gets you round another slight problem in so far as you can use adapted lenses and have no movement. The lens you see here has a Moravian / Nikon adaptor and then a Nikon / Hasselblad adaptor. Think of the sag that would introduce ! Dave.

I've been down the route of connecting camera lenses to the Moravian and I can say it's very easy to do and can be quite successful. If you can make out what's going on from the photo all becomes fairly self explanatory. The camera body is bolted down quite tightly so it remains solid no matter what. The scope ring centres the lens and stops any sag *. The skywatcher motor is bolted to a garage door mount adaptor ( Like you do ) and I bought in the belt and pulley wheel ( Can't remember where from now ! ) * The lens is roughly centred by pointing the camera and lens at zenith with the scope ring adjusters slightly loose. Waggle the lens about a bit to settle it and VERY carefully tighten up the adjuster bolts. If it turns out a corner is a touch out the scope ring is easy enough to adjust and get the lot dead straight. I didn't automate the focusing as using a Bahtinov mask and the hand controller on a long cable was accurate enough. One thing I did discover that helped no end was to use the focus motor at 5v instead of 9v. Dave.

Have you tried silent shutter mode ? Dave

The background story has brought the image alive. I too like the red rocks. You'd best find those imagers and thank them 😀 Nice use of Sequator, Dave

That should inspire new DSLR owners to get out there and try. It's almost unbelievable what can be done with a bit of skill ! I quite like the colours too, Dave.