DSLR to CCD, what awaits me?

[RikM]

How does OSC work with light pollution? I thought a mono cam and RGB filters allowed you to bypass more of the nasty orange stuff?

[Jessun]

I just had an M31 pic taken with a OSC camera chosen by Skywatcher to advertise their MN190 telescope:)

Had to look that one up! (The scope...) Looks smart! Bang for the buck it seems.

Anyways, does anyone have a image straight from an OCD that you could upload - a crop would be great - just so I can see what kind of file it is and get to grips with de-bayering?

/Jesper

[lukebl]

.....I've seen some of your work and it's worth it! Keep them coming!

/Jesper

Thanks Jesper. It's the friendly supportive family that is this forum which keeps me going in this imaging lark, despite the seeming endless frustrations and disappointments!

[blackparticle]

Anyways, does anyone have a image straight from an OCD that you could upload - a crop would be great - just so I can see what kind of file it is and get to grips with de-bayering?

You'd probably just want to use Nebulosity for your capturing. It works very well and has a great fine-focus feature which I much prefer over a Bahtinov mask.

It will save the files as 16-bit .FITS and does the debayering automatically as long as your camera is supported. Most of the decent ones are.

[Jessun]

Thanks guys. I'll try out a few programs I think. I am putting a lot of hope to AA5 atm. I wish there was an APT for CCD's too. The simlicity of use is commendable.

Ah well, still waiting for this one...

/Jesper

[Deneb]

In a nutshell, more hassle then it's worth under UK skies, but you have more better skies.

[Gina]

Hmmmm.... Must admit the Sony A200 seems a brilliant camera and I have had some great results with it. I shall be continuing to use it for quite some time as I need my finances to recover from obsy build and new scope. In fact I still need a few odd and ends. Seems you have to spend a lot of money to get a half decent CCD camera. I need to get a lot more practice with DSLR and webcams anyway.

[samir_ansari]

In relation to the original question at the top of this thread, after making the jump from a DSLR to a CCD I would have to say my answer is:

`Cables`

Seriously - It's like wading through the Amazon everytime I want to take a photo! But on the plus side here's a crude side by side comparison of an older DSLR picture I took vs the CCD:

The DSLR was a 10min exposure while the CCD was 5 - I know, not the best comparison in the world but when I stretched the 5minute CCD picture I could get a very similar amount of nebulosity as the 450D while the image was still almost as smooth.

[Jessun]

Thanks samir_ansari,

Good comparison shot. Nice improvement! I'll do some similar comparisons soon I hope. The camera I ordered is just too popular - or their factory is too small :-)

I'll take your advice on cables too!

[mindburner]

this is a great post. i am considering a dedicated CCD over my Nikon DSLR. I feel though that imaging will take more time with the CCD. Weather where I live can be very poor for weeks on end, so I am not sure if I will get the benefits from CCD imaging