Rustang

Thanks 😊 Steve (alacant) very kindly did me video tutorial to get me started with Siril but I haven't quite cracked it yet. I just can't seem to get a set of flats that work either so still currently stacking in DSS and processing in PS.

After pretty much giving up on my newly acquired astro modifed 6D for anything other than landscape, I decided to give it one last go with a new lens I picked up cheap. I sold a couple of other astro items recently and saw a Samyang 85mm f1.4 forsale for £100, it was worth a punt at that price. Friday night I knew I was going to be under good bortle 4 skies so took my Star Adventurer with me. Below is the result of an hours worth of data at 90 sec subs f2.8 iso 800. I had the data but again I was really struggling to process it until I got a tip off about the 'Astro flat' plug in for photoshop. To say it helped is an understatement and finally gave me a chance to process my data with out any gremlins appearing through the early stretching. My processing still needs improving on but I'm so happy with the result and the detail in the image.

This was my second project last night over the course of a 10 hr session, a few hours of which waiting for the clouds to roll over. I started this at 5pm with the foreground image then it finally started to clear around 9:30pm ish and the star trails & sky were taken at around 10pm. I wanted to go for the 'comet' look on this one.

No problem guys 👍

Cheers, it was a long night, started a couple of projects at 5pm, finished at 3am but worth it 😊

I had a ten hour session out and about last night, most of which was waiting for the clouds to blow over but I manged to complete this project at 3am this morning. The Secret Spitfire Memorial. Fuji XT2 with the Fuji 16-55mm f2.8 lens. About 1hour of 30 sec subs at f3.2, iso 800. I had originally planned to try and get the rotation of star's around Polaris, infront of the propellers but the plane wasn't positioned well for this so pointed south west ish!

Very nice mate, looking forward to the final result when ever that may be.

Yeah sorry its mono, I was only really trying to state that with my combo its also under sampling so not to worry about it. Keep the worms firmly in the can if your not ready for it or don't have the extra time and dedication! 😁

Noise has been my only gripe and that's a small gripe as its been a great camera, it just gets on with things with out fault (touch wood!). It needs pushing harder, longer subs etc than compared to the CMOS cameras. I will probably upgrad to something like the 294mm when I can but for now I've been more than happy with the QHY-9. As Lee has said, budget normally helps decisions, I managed to step into the dedicated camera world after buying a complete set up, camera, filter wheel and filters for a great price so took the jump. Future proofing yourself is something to consider aswell, if your doing this long term, buy right first time round if you can!.

Cheers, its the only image Ive taken so far with the new scope, its been packed away now for a while. Had issues with focusing the Z73 properly so I'm pleased I managed to get this image but I'm hoping to get back on it later in the year when our house renovation is nearly complete and I can use the garden properly again.

A dedicated camera is a big upgrade in quality from a DSLR, I have no regrets in doing so myself and I also upgraded from a 600D

I've been using the WO Z73 and QHY-9, so I'm under sampling too but its really not been an issue. This is the last image I took with that set up.

Thanks for this, really handy and probably why my flats arnt working with my DSLR 👍

Gorgeous 👏

You will be fine giving the arms a little tweak, place a small flat head screw driver in the gap and just twist alittle. It only takes a small adjustment. I did it on mine and it worked a treat.

Thank you. Auto white balance because I really liked the Star colours on the first one I ever did and forgot to change it so now just leave it on Auto.

Do it, it's a nice break from the complications of DSO imaging 😊

A couple more star trail images from this week while the moon's still bright.

I know how to take them they just never appear to work! Had some good advice again recently in regards to flats, tried it, still didn't work. I need to have a play around, see what I can do, maybe it's the Led panel.

Its definitely trial and error with these old lens but you can get them to work ok but also be realistic with what the results are going to be like. I just really need to find away to get flats to work as so far they just dont!

Yeah the Fuji XT-2 really shows off the Star colours beautifully, it's my go to set up for this type of astrophotography.

Nope, during the moon time! Taken last night as the full moon perfectly lights Pitstone WIndmill. I might have lost some star trails due to the full moon but I love how it looks still Fuji XT2 with the Fuji 16-55mm f2.8 lens. 1hr 45 minuets worth of 30 sec subs at f4, iso 800.

They won't win any awards but these were all taken with old lenses, mostly Pentax Takumar's and a Hoya 28mm. It should give you a rough idea of what to expect. Filters will really help ( i.e light pulltion) a couple of these were taken with the L - enhance. You will also certainly need good flat frames as these images were a nightmare to process because I didnt!

If its cheap enough, give it a whirl, they will be better if coated though (SMC on the Pentax Takumars stands for Super Multi Coated) and an apature of f2.8 - f1.8 to start with because I would imagine you will still need to stop down to F4 - f5. 6 with any cheap lens. Buy well enough second hand and you should make your money back anyway so it won't matter if its a slightly more expensive lens.

You can pick them up cheap so worth ago, I paid as little as £25 for one. I've tried the 28mm, 50mm, 135mm and 200mm Pentax Takumars but you have to stop them down and they suit crop sensors better in my experience so you should be ok with the 700d. You get what you pay for though but the're not to bad.