herne

Thought I'd chip in with my experience of using this little mount for astrophotography using an eq wedge. Equipment list: Az-gti with eq wedge (firmware updated). Astro-modified Canon 700D. William Optics Z61ii + WO adjustable field flattener. ZWO ASI 120mm mini mono camera + Astro Essentials 32mm guide scope. ZWO ASIair pro + LynxAstro ftdi EQDIR USB adapter cable (connects AZ-gti directly to the ASIair pro). Optolong L-enhance 2" filter. Homemade counter balance weight. iPad + ASIair app to control things. I don't use AA batteries although could at a push - will plug into the mains at home. With the above set up I can quite happily take guided subs at 5 mins+, although I tend to stick to 3 mins at most (depending on target and sky conditions). I'll include a couple of example pics below. In all honesty before I bought the ASIair I was struggling to get decent polar alignment and thus any subs above 1 min or so were junk. Achieving PA was a real frustration to the point of considering selling the AZ-gti for something else. However that ASIair was an instant game changer and in my personal experience is what really brought the mount to life. The only other issue is payload capacity. The above set up is right on the limit of weight (possibly even a little over) in my experience. It will track/guide targets just fine, but the PA process can sometimes be a bit tricky as the mount occasionally stutters or even stops mid-60 degree rotation, which interrupts the PA process meaning I have to start over. It will also, very occasionally, go all crazy ivan when slewing to a target, meaning I have to turn everything off and start over from scratch. I think all of this might be weight related and I certainly wouldn't consider putting a larger scope on it. Anyway, the bottom line is I wouldn't consider selling this mount. It's (usually) quick and easy to set up, it's very portable, pairs well with the ASIair pro, guides like a boss and takes decent photos. I don't even worry too much or often about meridian flips (depends on session length). Note - M51 at the bottom was taken using an un-modified DSLR.

Heart Nebula taken last night. 150x30sec subs with some dark and flat frames stacked in Sequator and processed in PS. Equipment used: WO Z61ii, Canon 700D (modified), AZ-gti mount on Eq wedge.

Yeh it was very much a last minute decision to do anything last night. We had torrential rain and I was about to hit the hay when the clouds parted and suddenly we had a clear night. So rushed out at midnight, did a quick and dirty polar alignment, no guiding and restricted myself to 60sec subs. The wind was still blowing mind which didn't help either. Thanks for taking a quick look at the image. I'm still fairly new to Photoshop so definitely more to learn and experiment with. And very happy with the camera. I would have gone for a nebula last night however time was getting on and wanted something easy to find.

First time out with my new astro-mod DSLR last night (thanks @scitmon) and - according to the weather forecast - likely to be my last for a while so I'd like to polish my rather lacking Photoshop skills. I attach below 2 files - the original tif stacked in DSS and a jpg I worked on in PS. I'm not using any plug ins for PS other than the arcsin curves. I'm aware there are some paid PS plug ins available which could help but I'd rather stick to working without, at least for the time being, in order to understand PS better. It's a new camera and I still need to get to grips better with settings and technique (there's a lot of red data I need to get used to in particular) although I'm quite pleased with the result. It won't win any prizes but for me it's good and the best image I've taken of M31 to date. However, I'm sure there is plenty more data in the image to extract which is beyond my meagre skills. Any tips or advice would be more than welcome, especially when it comes to dealing with the red channel. If anyone is prepared to have a crack themselves please let me know what you do and how you get on. For context the images were taken using a William Optics Z61ii with field flattener but no additional filter under a Bortle 5 sky with a rather bright half moon adding to the fun. The final tif is a total of 98x60 sec subs (tracked, unguided) stacked in DSS with flats, bias, darks and dark flats (something else I'm experimenting with - this combo seemed to give the best final stack in this instance). Thanks ! Autosave002.tif

When I said overall much better I mean from the perspective of the banding issue. I just went overboard with the galaxy processing when using the Camera Raw Filter in PS - I'd already pretty much removed the banding before that without really compromising the galaxy data. Good tips and something else to try out thanks 👍. Haha agreed and that's the trick - finding a non-compromised camera in the first place. From what I understand any DSLR can have issues although some may be less prone than others. Following through your previous advice, the older Canon 1300D at 18mp could be an option (backed up by budgie's experience) or something from Canon's current line up, with the 2000D being the base model. Even the 60D remains a viable option, or even older equipment, but I'm changing from a 12 year old Sony DSLR and would be concerned that similarly aged equipment might bring their own issues (as I'm now seeing with the Sony, hence the change). I see no point in investing more into, say the current 850D or 90D, as if I did I may as well just buy a dedicated astro camera as it'd be getting into that price bracket.

Good idea, will try that 👍. This is part of what makes this so interesting - there's always something new to try out to get the most out of the equipment you have. Haha nice. I did consider moving to such a camera, however I need to walk before I can run. Good tip for the future.

Thought I'd make an update after playing around more with stacking (DSS) and processing in PS. Attached image below, compare to the first image in the OP. Data from the lights is still poor (excuses in early) but I'm more concerned with the banding at present anyway rather than the image itself (which is a bit pants). Anyway, this is what I changed: - The number of Bias frames when stacking in DSS from 30 to 110. Probably overkill but all part of the experiment - Just did some basic stretching, adjusting the shadows and midtones using Levels in PS at first. No Arcsin at this point - Masked out the stars and galaxies, subtracted the background from the original to reduce noise and light pollution, and some of the residual banding - Stretched a little more using some gentle Arcsin curves and Levels - Mucked about with Camera Raw Filter Some faint banding issues remain and further processing could perhaps eliminate them, but overall much better than in the original. I think the 2 largest impacts were using additional Bias frames and going easy on the initial stretching. I still wonder if using a dummy battery plugged into the mains may cause some issues, but clouds have rolled in so can't test that yet.

Appreciate the offer but I won't waste your time. It was a first light experiment with a new camera, the full moon was up and I was shooting over the local town without a filter. Frankly I'm amazed I captured anything. I'll post below the M13 final processed image which I captured on the same night. Here I processed out the banding via gradients in PS and I had better data to work with than the M81/2 images. Better data will always have an impact. I probably will return the camera even though banding issues may still occur in any replacement. I could go for one of the latest Canon D90 or D850 but I don't see the extra value in that when a used D1300 or D2000 (or even a D60 which I know gets a lot of love even if it is 11 years old now) would give me pretty much the exact same results for much cheaper. With hindsight I think the D750 was an unlucky choice which, as it came with a 14 day return policy, can be rectified.

May I ask what your processing workflow was (a brief overview)? I know you mentioned Pixinsight above so I assume that was involved? For my image I used DSS + PS along with the Arcsin plug in which may be simply too much for the data captured and light pollution issues I had. I don't really want to give up so soon on the 750D as it is a nice camera but will do if need be. As I mentioned above, the 1300D may be a good alternative and at c.£200 from MPB is almost half the price paid for the 750D (unless you'd consider putting your modified 1300D back on the market of course 😉).

I seem to have landed just in the wrong spot lol. Appreciate everyone's responses. I think that as I'm still within the time I'll simply return the camera. I could keep it and mess around in processing but simpler to get rid of the issue in the first place as it won't cost me anything (except postage). If the 18mp sensors seem the better option then something along the lines of a Canon 1300D seems fair. Unless something from Nikon might be a better option as I'm not tied to any manufacturer?

You mean via wifi and the Canon Connect app? (Sorry I've come from a very old Sony to Canon, so trying to catch up with the 21st century lol).

A flip screen rather than a cricked neck is the only thing I really look for.

Images were saved to camera and transferred to PC via USB after the session (next day). The camera was powered using a dummy battery plugged into the mains. Digging around now I see electrical interference may cause an issue, will need to test using the battery. The 750D is 24mp, I guess you refer to the more recent EOS line up (850D / 90D)? Kinda thinking I should have gone with my original choice of a 60D, but this "as new" 750D came up, so I had a last minute change of mind.

Well darn. Thanks for the tip. On doing further digging I may be trying to stretch the data too far. I could return the camera and get something else, however the issue could still be apparent in another DSLR and I'd be back to square one. The PixInsight script could be a solution and it seems there is also a PS plug in that could help (Astronomy Tools Action Set). On the image of M13 I pretty much processed out the banding through gradient removal when filtering out some light pollution issues. The M81/2 image I showed above had worse light pollution and the stretch was heavier. I'm using the Arcsin stretch plug in for PS and I may have been a little over zealous with it. The 750D is a decent camera and I don't really want to return it, so further experimentation is needed. Thanks for the reply 🙂.

Hi all, I recently bought a new (used) DSLR (Canon 750D), supposedly in "as new" condition (according to the seller's website). Took it out for a little test run a couple of nights ago and did some basic runs on M13 and M81/2. For context, as well as 50 or so Light frames taken on each subject, I also took 30 or so Dark, Bias and Flat frames. During processing (Photoshop) I noticed horizontal lines or bands appearing across each image as I started stretching, particularly in the M81/2 image (see below). I managed to process the bands out in the M13 image (just) but the image below is particularly bad and I stopped processing it half way through. I've never noticed anything like this before and am thinking I'll need to return the camera as in my opinion the sensor is faulty. Before I do I thought I'd ask opinions here just in case I'm missing something. If it helps I use a William Optics Z61 ii + WO field flattener. No filters in this particular set and the 750D is currently unmodified.

Thanks. Yeh I appreciate it's the mount to align rather than the scope however something I don't understand - I see people doing an initial rough (or even accurate) polar alignment using the polar scope built into their EQ mount, then a much more accurate polar alignment using their guide scope + camera which is attached to their main scope using Sharpcap (for example). So why not just attach a polar scope to the main scope? I appreciate there would be an alignment issue between polar scope / main scope, but there would be for finder scope / main scope too though. Noob questions I know but I feel like I'm missing something 🤔. Interesting thanks, something to look into. There's bound to be some guides somewhere 🙂.

For counterweight I've been using a 1m M12 threaded rod cut to size with a hacksaw along with some large washers such as these (note they are not 1kg as stated, more like 0.5kg) Washers are locked down by M12 nuts - use nuts with nylon thread if you really want to stop things moving. For polar alignment I see some interesting DIY options (another here using Picatinny rails) but haven't seen any mention of mounting a polar scope onto a telescope rather than the mount (I did ask this in another thread but was pointed here). If we can use a guidescope / camera + Sharpcap aligned with and mounted onto the main scope, why not mount a polar scope instead using a bracket such as this from William Optics (would probably need longer screws though) or this much cheaper option on eBay?

I did as that's my primary interest and have been a keen (amateur) photographer for years. I have a long term "road map" planned out for (hopefully) steady improvement of both experience and gear. The mount was my first investment and I deliberately chose the AZ GTi as I like the compactness and multiple powering options. The scope was my second upgrade (and a significant upgrade at that lol), chosen to compliment the lightweight set up I have in mind. Interestingly (and perhaps surprisingly) I am yet to buy a field flattener. Whilst curvature is an issue, pictures without an FF still allow me to assess the capabilities of my current DSLR before deciding whether that also needs upgrading and if so which route I want to take. I'm actually pleasantly surprised so far, so a new camera can be put on ice while I assess different priorities. Which leads me back to bumping up the priority to making possible improvements to my polar alignment, and whether it's possible to use a polar scope or if I'm barking up the wrong tree. I've been noticing some drift (could be caused by using old AA batteries in the mount!) and trailing, even at relatively short 60 sec subs. I'm not expecting to start taking 5min+ subs, nor am I aiming to, but I'm sure there is room for improvement here. Anyway, in answer to your question, no I don't have a diagonal or any EPs. I have however been trying to find my way around the stars, repeatedly practising a 3 star alignment process using different stars when I can and studying star maps, Stellarium, a couple of phone apps and making visual comparisons to the night sky aided by a pair of small binoculars. Still a very long way to go but I'm already quietly impressed with how many more stars and constellations I can find and name than ever before. It's been great fun.

Hi all, Keen to make the most of my AZ GTi mount with wedge in EQ mode for astrophotography (with DSLR, unguided), thoughts turn to better polar alignment. At present I'm merely pointing my set up at Polaris and centering it in my camera's screen - I'm aware this can be improved. Without wishing (at this stage anyway) to get into guiding and electronic means of polar aligning, I've been considering how to make improvements. My first thought was to buy a red dot finder and use that to align my scope and Polaris. However as I'm already centering Polaris in my DSLR screen I don't really see any tangible improvement (correct me if I'm wrong). So then I thought perhaps I could mount a polar scope (such as this Skywatcher polar scope) onto my telescope (a William Optics Z61 II, so there is a mounting shoe on top available) using a mounting bracket such as this bracket I found on eBay. Is this feasible or am I barking up the wrong tree and this "solution" would be unsuitable for the mount? Thanks.

Thanks for the reply. Minolta AF / Sony A are indeed one in the same and seemingly rarer than hens teeth now that the A mount has been replaced by the E mount. TE is perhaps a life line. A quick search there brought up these: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3630_TS-Optics-T-Ring-from-M48-filterthread-to-Sony---Minolta-A-Bayonet.html or this Baader https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11240_Baader-Wide-T-Ring-T2-Adapter-for-Sony-Alpha---Minlolta-DSLR-Cameras.html. A bit pricey for a t ring once VAT and delivery to the UK are thrown in as well and I'm not 100% sure one or both would be suitable anyway? Edit - with a little further digging the M48 t ring in the first link above appears under the "recommended accessories" tab when viewing the Z61 adjustable flattener on the TS site. So possible light at the end of the tunnel.

Is anyone aware of an adapter to fit the William Optics Adjustable Flattener for Z61 onto a Sony DSLR which has the A Mount? Looking through FLO's listings an A mount adapter is not listed (and FLO have confirmed as much), so was wondering if anyone may have any ideas? Alternatively there is a t ring adapter for the Sony A mount available which fits onto the OVL Flattener - does anyone have any experience of this with the William Optics Z61?

Hi all, I've been happily muddling my way through astrophotography (primarily DSOs) for a little while and the time has come to upgrade some of my old equipment. For reference my current gear is an old Sony a500 DSLR (which can be a real challenge to work with); a simple Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 lens; and the AZ GTi mount + tripod with EQ wedge and updated firmware to use in EQ mode. That's it, pretty much as basic as it gets. The mount I'm pretty happy with - fun to use and nicely portable with a range of powering options from AA batteries to plug in power - so I want to focus on the lens/scope and camera to upgrade. Budget is up to £1000. So the dilemma: I can't be sure exactly how good or bad the Sony a500 is, although clearly there are better options out there. So if I keep (for now) the Sony, I would discount buying a new lens as it seems pointless buying a new lens if the camera isn't really up to standard. Therefore option a) becomes buy a new scope which I can attach the Sony to, see how it goes and upgrade the camera at a later date if need be. Scopes are obviously in short supply at present but that to one side (and given weight constraints of the mount, 5kg) I'm looking at the SW 72ED or perhaps something from WO such as the Z61 (any other options?). Accessories, such as a field flattener and filters, also need to be factored into the budget. Guiding is not on the radar at present but something to consider in the future (again weight considerations notwithstanding). (I had considered the SW 130pds but I think that's pushing the weight limits too far). Option b) is to bite the bullet and upgrade the whole lot now (not the mount). I could for example consider the Samyang 135mm f2 lens along with a new camera. Or perhaps the 72ED / WO Z61 + new camera. There are plenty of decent used DSLRs about (any specific recommendations?) which I could couple with either a lens or scope. Alternatively - and this is perhaps where I could really use some advice - is to consider a dedicated astro camera coupled with a lens or scope. This is something which does particularly peak my interest but I have zero knowledge about such things. I don't even know if anything "decent" (which I appreciate is subjective) would be within budget. There could of course be an option c) which I haven't yet considered. Ultimately I would expect to use a guide scope / camera at some point in the future, so building the imaging set up now needs to have that in mind, especially when considering the AZ GTi weight limits. Perhaps I would eventually also upgrade the mount, but that's a long way down the road. I'm not out to win any photography prizes, I just want to continue having fun taking photos with a setup which is less frustrating to use (the Sony can really have me pulling my hair out at times) and gives me some better results. Any advice, suggestions and opinions are more than welcome :).