Stuf1978

That may be true, but you also have less space to play with especially for bigger targets

Double quoted, see below Thanks, yeah it's a non issue with the correct calibration frames Yeah I've seen some very nice images taken with the 533 but that can also be said for the 294. I'm just not keen on that square sensor, you've got way more framing options with a rectangular sensor and the 294 fits in with what I want to image much better. In what way are the 533 images easier to process?

Thanks that's good to know, the 183 FOV looks a little tight for my liking which would mean I'd have to resort to mosaics for larger targets. I've also read about amp glow on the 294MC Pro, but good calibration frames make it a bit of a non-issue. I think in a money no object world I'd have a range of cameras to cover all eventualities 😆

Wow!! Thank you, that's great information It confirms my suspicion that I was procrastinating over nothing and that the ASI 294MC Pro is going to be a massive improvement over my 450D.

Hi All, Apologies for the long post and I’m sure this has probably been covered numerous times but I’m trying to get it clear in my head (I'm still relatively new to this so it’s taking me a while to get my head around it). I’m looking to upgrade my dslr (450D mod) to a cooled astro cam in the next few months. I’m currently imaging with a SW ED72 with OVL flattener (so 420mm FL) and a range of Canon EF lenses ranging from 24mm up to 300mm focal length. These are all used on a SW HEQ5 Pro running EQMOD and APT so image capture will remain the same. I’ll probably be going down the OSC route as I like the simplicity of it, and it isn’t such a massive change from what I’m currently doing. I’m already using a ZWO ASI120MM Mini for guiding so was looking at sticking with ZWO for compatibility reasons as I like the idea of being able to connect the guide camera to the main imaging camera to simplify cable management (not sure this could be done if I used a different brand of camera?). At some point I also want to add a couple more OTA’s to my collection for more focal length (e.g. SW ED80) and more widefield (e.g. Redcat) in order to be less reliant on camera lenses. I was just going to order the ZWO ASI294MC Pro and be done with it as the field of view isn’t too dissimilar to my current dslr which I like. However, I then got reading about under sampling/oversampling and this got me concerned over image quality at short focal lengths. So, I started looking at other options (183 and 533 MC Pro). As far as I can see these will still under sample at short focal lengths but are likely to fair better than the 294MC Pro. However, I don’t like the square sensor on the 533MC Pro and the FOV is too narrow for my liking on the 183MC Pro. I’ve tabulated all my options and simulated the FOV and keep coming back to the 294MC Pro. I guess what I’m asking is how much impact will under sampling on the 294 have on widefield image quality (24-200mm). It should fare fine if I add the scopes outlined above to my collection. Part of me thinks I’m just overthinking this as all options will fare better than my current camera and I’m fairly happy with the images it can produce. So, if anyone else has had this predicament please let me know what you decided on 😊 Thanks, Stu

Stunning image 😍

I'd stay away from the ED80 on a star adventurer as personally I think its's way too much for that mount, the WO is a much better match imo. Have you also considered the ED72? I used this on a SA for while and with guiding I could get 5 minute exposures no problem, however without guiding I struggled to get anything over 60 seconds consistently

Thanks for the compliment Adrian, appreciated Yes I can see the slight green cast now you have pointed it out. Thank you for having a little play with the image and removing the cast, there's a definite improvement I think it's always worthwhile sitting on an image for a little while once you think you are done with the processing as I find there are always slight improvements you can make.

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. I can see what you mean. I think one of the issues is that this lens shows some slight coma even when stopped down so you really need to sharpen up the stars in post to clear it up a bit 😃

Looks great to me 😎

Stunning work 😃

Taken over the last three nights while dodging cloud and sorting out dithering issues. Stars are a little funky as focus on the sigma lens is really difficult to nail down. Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Canon 450Da Sigma 150mm F2.8 macro at F4 Optolong L-eNhance SW 50mm Guidescope ZWOASI120MM guide camera Pegasus pocket power box EQMOD/APT/PHD2 46x5minute light frames with calibration Stacked in DSS processed in Ps Bortle 8 garden Critique welcome 🙏

Have a look at the Sharpstar EDPH II, it's cheaper than the redcat too 👍

I'm not 100% sure to be honest so I'd have to check the next time I run it. The graph definitely hasn't settled when the next exposure starts. However, this doesn't seem to be effecting image quality as far as I can see.

The dithering distance is set to 5 within APT which as far as I can gather equates to 5 guide camera pixels as the dither scale is set to 1 within PHD2. I've just stripped and regreased the dec axis as it was running a bit stiff however I encountered this issue both before and after the strip down. For what it's worth the dec axis is running more smoothly but nowhere near as freely as the RA axis. There is no play at all in the dec axis so there should be minimal backlash.

Hi All, Lately I have been having issues with dithering timing out. I'm using: HEQ5 Pro via EQMOD Canon 450Da SW ED72 or a range of lenses SW 50mm guidescope with ZWO ASI 120mm mini Image capture in APT with guiding via PHD2. I haven't changed anything in my setup or any settings within APT or PHD2. The last few sessions dithering would start but then timeout and APT would continue with the next exposure. I'm dithering after every exposure and the timeout is effecting maybe 80-90% of the individual subs. Looking at PHD2 the dithering is taking place but not sure why it's timing out. This is frustrating as hell considering I haven't changed anything. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks Stu

I'm also looking at the same camera as an upgrade to my dslr and as has already been said the amp glow is a non issue with calibration frames. I also don't like the idea of a square sensor as seen on some other cameras.

Thanks, that's something to start from. Can always download the trial version of APP and see how I get on. 👍

Thanks I'll take a look, I have the photoshop action set as well so I'll have a play around. Is the splitting of the channels done on the linear data?

Looks great I have a similar set up (ED72/Canon 450Da/L-eNhance), how did you split the channels and assign the colours? Don't say in Pixinsight...................... it was in Pixinsight wasn't it? 😂

Outstanding, love it

Lol, fingers crossed you get something out of it 😃

I also had a shot at M31 last night but haven't had a chance to look at the data yet. I can tell you that every time I've tried it in the past I've given up as I find it a really difficult target to process and my images just look terrible 😂

Thanks, yeah it's marginal at best. I'm on the outskirts of Sunderland South so I'm generally shooting away from most of the light pollution from the city centre which I suspect helps slightly.

Oops missed the Optolong L eNhance filter 😄 Additionally I'm taking the Bortle 8 from Clear Outside although I have a suspicion my sky is slightly better than that