First try at ursa major

[Notts star]

This is my first try ursa major right above my house it was taken with olympus camera 50 sec 3.5f iso 400 im not really sure how to go on.....

[Psychobilly]

Nice start .. what's the camera model so I can have a look through the manual?

Peter...

[Notts star]

hi all it says olympus E-420

[Psychobilly]

OK found it will download it and see what can be tweaked.. how was the camerra used? Pigybacked with a camera lens I guess if it was waht lens?

Sorry for the questions but it will help ...

The manual I am looking is from here...

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_support_manuals.asp?id=1372

Couple of things to have a look at...

Manual shooting on p45

Raw Mode on p59

Noise Reduction p65

Noise Filter again on p65

Liveview on P36

Liveview Zoom on P41

Liveview Boos on P87

[Notts star]

all i did because i was rushing is laid it flat on dustbin LOL and did that way 45mm lans

[tony69]

good picture what size lens did you use please.

[Notts star]

i think its a 45mm lens ( i think )

[tony69]

thankyou will give it a try next clear evening.

[Psychobilly]

Have a look at the sections I have listed...

You want to be shooting in Manual mode, in RAW format, use Zoomed Liveview for focusing - might need to use the liveview boost function to see the stars and you might need to set an exposure time of a few seconds to get a useable image onthe LCD screen, you might want to stop the camera taking automatic darks (turn of Noise redcution) and you will need to experiment to see if the Noise Filter is a "star eater".. if it is you may need to turn it down or off...

You want to take a number of exposures( same length to start with) and then stack them in a program like DeepSkyStacker (free) depending on how noisy the camera is you might need to take darks - same exposure length as the lights with the lens cap and Bias frames (shortest possible exposure with the lens covered) these all go into the DeepSkystacker melting pot to "calibrate" the light frames...

Peter...

[Notts star]

if i do them in raw when i download on to computer i cant see them it says my pc dont support raw so i have to do them in jpeg can i covert from raw to jpeg..

[Psychobilly]

Have you installed all the software that came with the camera Olympus Master 2?

The OS usually needs a CODEC to be able to work with the RAW files... and chances are taht there would haev been apps with the camera to work with them...

DSS will use the RAWS and produce a TIFF or FITS file

[Notts star]

i have only borrowed the camera so no software

[Psychobilly]

Ah .. bit of a problem then...

[Notts star]

Im hoping he will sell it me im trying to talking into it ......

[Psychobilly]

Good old US of A...

The Software you need can be downloaded from their US site FOC

Olympus Imaging Software - Olympus Master 2