Stuf1978

I'm still completely undecided to be honest, although it is between the 294mc pro and 1600mm pro. I can see the benefits to going mono but I'm not sure I want to jump into or in fact if I'm ready for this just yet. It's a tough decision 😆

Yeah I can completely understanding that thinking. I've also considered a newer dslr as well but then I honestly don't know how much better it will be over what I already have. I think OSC is the way to go as I'm already capturing in APT so it's not going to be so much of a change as it would be going mono. If I could effectively get shot of the noise that's inherent with dslrs I'd be happy 😃

Yeah me too, just not sure whether to go mono or OSC.

Nice image. I completely feel your pain with regards to banding. I'm using a very similar setup (Heq5 pro, ED72 and 450Da) and banding is a complete pain. Sometimes it's there and sometimes it's not. However, I do believe it's very much dependent on ambient temperature. I've also noticed that it's not (as) apparent when using fast lenses which I have found odd (maybe has something to do with capturing relatively more useful signal than noise with the faster optics). The banding reduction tool in Siril generally does a good job of removing it by the way (but not always haha).

Thanks just had a quick look and it looks to be an interesting bit of software. Not badly priced either 👍

Thanks, to be honest as long as I can combine channels in Siril and process in Photoshop I'll be happy 👍

Thanks, really nice images 😎

That's what I thought to be fair. I'd stick with with my current workflow for the minute as I don't want to take too much on at once.

Thank you @Xsubmariner that's good to know. Yeah the cost of certain filters are mental so it would be good to just buy a complete package initially and then upgrade if I ever felt the need to In terms of using a mono camera as far as I understand, I can image in: 1. Solely LRGB to build a full colour image of my intended target 2. Solely in Ha/S/O narrowband and assign each wavelength to the corresponding colour channel 3. Use LRGB plus Ha/S/O to bring out even more detail Is this correct? Additionally I don't have pixinsight so everything would need to be stacked in DSS and processed in photoshop so not sure if it would be worthwhile throwing pixinsight into the mix as well (I just don't want to deal with new processing workflow along with mono imaging at the same time). I have processed LRGB datasets using the colour composting within Siril then processing in photoshop so I'm guessing I could do the same.

I've been doing at bit more digging on this and mono is starting to win the race 😂 I've been looking at the ASI 1600MM Pro kit from FLO with the EFW and LRGB, Ha/OII and SIII filters, however I have read very mixed reviews on the ZWO filters ranging from rubbish to useable. Has anyone any experience with the ZWO filters and is it worth buying the kit or just buying everything separately and choosing a different brand of filter? Thanks

Nicely done, looks great 👍

I completely agree, I wouldn't want to spend 40 hours on an image. I'd only manage about 2 images per year at that rate 😂

Yeah I've seen some very good OSC images from under heavy light pollution with a decent amount of integration time and using the likes of the Radian Triad Quadband (stupidly priced) and Optolong L extreme filters. I'm currently using an L enhance with my dslr and to be fair it's pretty effective 😃 This was about 3.8 hours integration with the l enhance from my bortle 8 garden with a dslr

Yes we will unfortunately. However it does have it's advantages as enforced working from home means it's not so problematic staying up all night we get the occasional clear night 😁

That's very true 👍

Yeah bortle 8 at home, although I do have a caravan in a bortle 4 zone about 45 minutes away but it's not always convenient to go to, especially at the drop of a hat. I guess I just have to weigh up what is important with regards to image quality and make a decision from there. I definitely have a lot to think about over the next month or so 😃

Plus filter wheel and filters and it all becomes very expensive 😬

Sounds good, but at what cost? I won't be buying until after Christmas anyway so I can always hold out to see what's coming out 😃

Thanks, that's good to know. I'm guessing you can build up your darks library at any time as well so once you have it no need to do it again? That's an immediate gain in imaging time straight away as I'm shooting darks every session at the minute which is time consuming. With which filter would you shoot flats with or doesn't it matter? I've been looking at the ASI 1600MM pro package from FLO with filter wheel and LRGB, Ha, OII and SIII filters.

Thanks all, nobody is making this choice easy 😂😂. All the info is appreciated though. I have a little while to think about it yet as I'll probably not be buying until after Christmas. I'm not concerned with the processing of mono data as I've already had a go at this and it wasn't any harder than OSC data to be honest. It's the though of shooting different calibration frames for each filter that puts me off... daft excuse I know.

If I had a permanent setup I'd 100% go mono. However, as it is I have to set up and strip down every night or transport my gear to our caravan in a bortle 4 area so not sure I want all the associated faff...... but the option of shooting narrowband in full moonlight is hard to ignore. This is such a hard decision!!

Must admit that's a very nice image 👍

Wow those are some very very nice images, it looks like an impressive bit of kit 😲. It's on my list but it's very expensive so I would likely have to wait a bit longer for that one and then justify whether it's worth double the 294MC Pro.

Mono is probably the right way to go but the simplicity of OSC is hard to ignore. I'm sure the mono v osc debate has been discussed to death but it's still a difficult decision to make. Do I stick with OSC and get up and running straight away or go mono and have a couple of months of pain but with much better image quality in the long run. This is hurting my head 😂

Thank you, just watched that review and read through the CN thread. There is a lot of food for thought in there. The 533 does sound very very good especially as I do most of my imaging from a bortle 8 zone. Sadly the FOV is a deal breaker for me. Additionally it seems a lot of the issues with the 294 just need careful consideration over the calibration frames. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and go for the 2600MC Pro...... but for that price I could have a full mono set up with all the filters needed 🤪