mattjanes100

For various reasons (primarily weather), I haven't been out for a session for quite a while. Over the course of the day in Bournemouth we had rain, sleet and wind so I wasn't holding out much hope for the evening. Fortunately, the clouds parted! I knew I wouldn't have long for a session as I had to drop my wife off and pick her up 90 minutes later, but having bought a DSLR in the new year and spent many rainy nights since poring over Covington's book, I was determined to get out and look at/photograph something....

The problem then was that I had set up the scope and camera but with no plan or specific target in mind I ended up trying to look at everything and then was moving back and forth between scope and camera without really taking any time to do either thing properly!

First stop was of course M42, followed by M45. Didn't spend long here before targeting Sirius - no joy with the Pup. I tried for Neptune but then had started trying some snaps with the camera.

Initial attempts at some long exposures with the kit lens provided some promising results of Orion and Taurus. I then tried to capture the Moon/Venus conjunction over Bournemouth but could not quite get the settings right for a good image unfortunately.

By this time it was time to pack up and head back for pickup.

This was a rewarding session in as much as it was just good to get out and be observing, but lesson learned that a session plan is definitely needed to avoid wasted time and a scattered approach.

I've recently acquired a DSLR so am starting to look at the next steps for image processing. As a Mac user it looks like my options are relatively limited, but Nebulosity seems to be a good one stop shop for pre-processing. I just wondered if there were any users here that could provide a bit of a review?

I do love my Macbook so would be loathed to end up having to buy a Windows machine!

Thanks in advance to all.

Superb!

My thoughts are that it must mean good luck because it brought us the first clear skies in ages!

Brilliant, I saw this in the magazine actually! I always wonder if any of the featured images were published by members here so great to have it confirmed.

As a general point sports clubs are a good place to start - cricket clubs are usually out of town and have plenty of clear unobstructed space to observe from.

On 23/01/2020 at 09:15, Jiggy 67 said:

Consider identifying an area with dark skies and speak to a local landowner or farmer for permission to use their land

+1 for this. I am lucky enough to work for an organisation that has a location out of town, so was able to speak to the facility manager and agreed I can access overnight. They've even given me a key so I can pop inside and make a brew!

Nice, you're right it is impressive how good the smartphones are now. Did you find the Google astrophotography mode added anything to the process? I have a Pixel 2XL at the moment but due an upgrade soon so looking at the 4. Otherwise I might try hacking the feature as you've mentioned!

Nice shots

Great work!

Quite right!

Sorted - I found an app on the App Store called ShutterCheck - £4.99 to confirm I only have just over 6,000 actuations.

4 hours ago, Shimrod said:

If you don't have any luck with gphoto try 40D shutter count (it also works with the 450D). It runs on the mac although the software is old (2008) so I don't know if you will have compatibility issues:  40D shutter count

Thanks - I tried this and did have the compatibility issue with OSX Catalina!

4 hours ago, alacant said:

Hi

gphoto2 will do it: http://www.gphoto.org/ method here:

https://brewinstall.org/Install-gphoto2-on-Mac-with-Brew/

or anyone running indi at your local Astro club.

HTH

 

Thanks, will give this a try tomorrow.

1 minute ago, Ouroboros said:

@mattjanes100 have you tried this website? https://www.camerashuttercount.com. You upload a photo and the site provides the EXIF data including shutter count. I've not tried it. 

Thanks, yes tried that one and apparently the 450 does not include shutter count with the EXIF data so that site doesn't work.

Thanks for the quick response Michael. I'm on a Mac - looks like APT is not compatible unfortunately.

I've been trying to find out the shutter count of a 450d that I picked up second hand but the primary online resources are unsuccessful. Is there an easy way to find this number that I'm missing please?

Thanks in advance

Very interesting report, nice to see something a little different!

Brilliant image

Off topic but just to say this thread confused me for a minute when a user with Mr Spock as their avatar was in conversation with somebody with the username Mr Spock!

Some very useful information posted here, thanks all.

What about something involving landscapes, or creative/artistic takes on well known objects? We've seen some saturated lunar shots and inverted/dark planets recently.

Thanks Mark, agree it was quite good seeing last night so made the most of it.

Great detail on your high mag shot there.

Taken tonight with a Google Pixel 2XL, with the assistance of a Bresser 150mm reflector and Celestron NexYZ smartphone holder.

First clear night here in ages so had to get out, shame the moon washed out everything I really wanted to observe but at least I could get a look at something!

Some very minor tweaks in the Photoshop app, also on the phone.

Thanks Olly, I have had another look at these UCLAN courses as a next step. Would be great to get on to the degree course if I can make it work financially.

The sense of depth here is fantastic, great work!