Stuf1978

Yeah filter removed and no clear glass installed. Can't say I've ever noticed bloated stars (still pretty new to astrophotography). Here's an image taken with my self modded 450d with the L-eNhance clip in filter

I've only ever used a Skytech CLS and Optolong L-eNhance (both clip in) and never had any issues 😀

When I modded the 450D I just removed the glass from the low pass 2 filter and put it all back together again. I didn't bother replacing it with anything else. The only caveat with this is you lose auto focus but you don't need it for astro anyway 😀

I self modded a 450D, it's pretty straight forward if you have a good set of instructions. As mentioned above steady hands, good eyesight and a bright light are definitely needed. Just keep tabs on where everything goes 👍

Lovely M31, I've always found this target hard to process but you've certainly done it justice 👍

Beautiful 👍

Thank you, yeah it was a fair bit effort for just 3.5 hours but with the way the weather is at the minute if you don't take your chances, you don't get any imaging in at all 😬

Sensational 🙏

Thank you, appreciated 😀

Due to constant cloud here in the north east this image represent a hard won 3.5 hours of data over several session from my bortle 8 garden. 105 x 120 lights with calibration frames Canon 80D Skywatcher ED72 with OVL flattener Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Skywatcher 50mm guidescope ZWOASI120MM guide camera Guiding in PHD2 Image capture in APT EQMOD Stacked in DSS, processed in Siril and Ps Critique welcome 😀

Looks great 👍

Stunning M45 👍

Wow, look at the detail in that. Nice to see it in this palette..... lovely

Outstanding work, beautiful 😎

Added another 7 hours integration time to this over the past few days, it's still not noise free but I can live with it. Time to move onto something else

Looks great 👍 I've got a few hours on this target with a similar FOV that I haven't even processed yet, may have to give it a look

Thank you. Yeah the 450D is pretty capable for what it cost. Noise is an issue with it, but it can be suppressed somewhat with dithering and plenty of integration time 😀

That's lovely for 1 hour, well done. If you persevere, another 19hours may take you to 2022 with the current weather 😂

Stunning, I love it. Great work

Heart Nebula taken from my Bortle 8 garden last week. I wanted this to be a bit of a project as I'd like 10 hours plus on this target (as I feel it's still a bit too noisy) but the great British weather isn't playing ball, but it's a start at least. 42 x 6 minute subs with darks, bias and flats Skywatcher ED72 with OVL Flattener SW HEQ5 Pro Canon 450D self mod Optolong L-eNhance SW 50mm guidescope with ZWO ASI120mm mini guidecamera Image capture in APT, dithering and guiding with PHD2. Processed in Siril and Photoshop Critique welcome

Something like the HEQ5 is still pretty quick to set up, in fact I've found that its actually quicker to get it all set up and running (and I have to strip it down every night) compared to the star tracker once you've took finding and framing your target into consideration

I guess it depends on what you are wanting to photograph and your budget? For widefield milkyway pics then a star tracker is the way to go. I started with a star adventurer and it is possible to photograph deep sky objects but to be honest it comes with a lot of faff and frustration. I moved on to a SW HEQ5 Pro and it's way easier to use after you initially get your head round setting it up. It's much more stable and a goto mount saves you loads of time. I found finding and framing objects with the star adventurer a pain plus I was constantly worried about knocking it and ruining my polar alignment.

Beautiful shot, well done

I second the 450D, I also bought a used one just over a year back from mpb and performed the astro mod myself. Best £80 I've spent in terms of astro gear, it's pretty capable for what it cost

Thanks 😂 Sounds good though