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Suggestions for easy targets for unmodded dslr (unguided)??


Aenima

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Why not get a second hand canon 350d and mod it yourself I did and it works great. Its not as difficult as you think and I am rubbish at electrics and soldering I mean really rubbish. :D

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I would mod my 300D if I had confidence enough, but after looking at a tutorial I just dont want to risk losing my only means of DSO imaging. I was lucky to get the 300D from a kind relative and wont get many more opportunities to get another one.

I have given serious thought to sending it off to someone more capable that will do it for a small fee, but still i'm a bit worried about losing my DSLR - I now love it to bits and would cry if it broke.

Thinking back, are there any nice objects you remember that gave pleasantly surprising results on your then unmodded dslr?

I can get a minute exposure time with slightly better polar alignment (ie some effort was made) so maybe more when I calibrate my polarscope and use the little bubble on the reticle with the polarfinder software, as just been rough alignment til now.

Thanks for the suggestions, (and v helpful tutorials)

Regards

Aenima

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saturated crab nebula 3.TIFpost-18772-0-46734900-1353379179_thumb.jpost-18772-0-38094000-1353379208_thumb.jpost-18772-0-26355500-1353379260_thumb.j

These are hideously rushed and badly processed crops for example purposes, I wanted to see if the stacked end result was worth making the effort and also to hopefully have someone comment as to how I can improve on these objects regarding processing and maybe even capturing more data in future and how best to do it.

I cant work out deep sky stacker very well and often wonder if Im making it worse by not doing the calibrating properly - also I havent taken flats or know how to properly use darks so I'm hoping to improve on my technique. :)

Any obvious mistakes get spotted let me know so I can try better next time.

Thanks

Regards

Aenima

bubble nebula 2nd.TIF

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You've gotten off to a cracking start!

Do you have a little information on ISO settings and exposure times?

Focus is a bit off on some of the images, but I think they look pretty good for being tests. You can certainly bring out a lot more potential with a little more care for focus and then stacking them.

Keep up the good work, let us know how it turns out!

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Why not get a second hand canon 350d and mod it yourself I did and it works great. Its not as difficult as you think and I am rubbish at electrics and soldering I mean really rubbish. :D

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk 2

An 1100D body would be a better bet I think because this uses the Digic 4 processor which is better for AP. There's no soldering required for this model.
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An 1100D body would be a better bet I think because this uses the Digic 4 processor which is better for AP. There's no soldering required for this model.

:)

Thats interesting, as i'm really wary of destroying a decent camera - when it was not easy to come by it. Looking on the 2nd hand market my focus will definitely be on a well known and widely used model, and easy to mod will be top of the list.

I did wonder about sending mine to someone who can do it for a fee, it likely depends on how much an unmodded camera limits and frustrates me - still foresee enjoying the new found hobby for ages yet, especially since getting a dslr :D - genuinely excited with the kit I've gathered together and what it can do when, eventually, I get the hang of it.

SGL has been a godsend in that respect, thanks to all who've passed along hard earned knowledge and advice. :)

Regards

Aenima

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PS

ISO all 1600 - exp. times between 30 and 60 seconds - its not guided so best I can do right now but working on it. Then stack about 10 - 30 frames, 6 - 15 approx 'darks' though they may not be correctly used and no flats as yet. Focus a bit sketchy, using bahtinov mask with 5sec exposure zoomed in on cam preview screen.

Still learning the proper procedure....

Thanks

Aenima

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PS

ISO all 1600 - exp. times between 30 and 60 seconds - its not guided so best I can do right now but working on it. Then stack about 10 - 30 frames, 6 - 15 approx 'darks' though they may not be correctly used and no flats as yet. Focus a bit sketchy, using bahtinov mask with 5sec exposure zoomed in on cam preview screen.

Still learning the proper procedure....

Thanks

Aenima

I'd suggest getting practice on taking flats. I found they made more of an impact on my images than darks did.

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Thanks,

Yeah, i'm not sure exactly which does which and how, but I know they do make a difference. Although DSS has a great instructive file it also kinda shows how the wrong approach can drastically alter the benefit that calibrating all the darks and stuff gives in the first place. And with the math - my favouritest subject ! - being beyond me all I have is the faith in following a procedure as best I can.

So, how to do flats. I get the white t-shirt over the end of scope, but what about the histogram? my camera doesnt show one, and also the thing about being 50percent saturated . . . ? it sounds ok but how do I go about doing this while out with the scope, remote trigger in hand, and the settings on a canon 300D?

I appreciate the pointers, :)

Regards

Aenima

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Great first images - much better than my first! The bubble nebula is almost entirely an emission nebula, so not an ideal target. If you want nebulae, I would go for reflection nebulae such as M45.

So, how to do flats. I get the white t-shirt over the end of scope, but what about the histogram? my camera doesnt show one, and also the

thing about being 50percent saturated . . . ? it sounds ok but how do I go about doing this while out with the scope, remote trigger in hand, and the settings on a canon 300D?

Surely it must... [spot of googling] yep, second menu, review.

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Great first images - much better than my first! The bubble nebula is almost entirely an emission nebula, so not an ideal target. If you want nebulae, I would go for reflection nebulae such as M45.

Surely it must... [spot of googling] yep, second menu, review.

Ah hah, yes found it! Cheers Lewis, i'm still not sure what the info means yet but there was a definite histogram there, along with other stuff. I just had to choose review (info) and the screen showed a lot more than just file numbers. :)

Now I just need to learn what some of the other parameters do and how they affect the image.... there are so many different numbers and settings that I get lost as to how it all fits together and worry that some vital setting has been set wrong (shutter speed, white balance etc therfe are loads!) and will reduce my shots somehow.

But thank you, I can at least try to get it sussed while actually at the scope, when I figure out what it needs I can view it as I take each shot.

Many thanks!

Regards

Aenima

PS

Any other advice as to taking flats etc would be hugely helpful. Ta. :)

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I took flats with a t-shirt over the end of the scope, held on with a rubber band (making sure there were no wrinkles) and pointed it at my TV with my PC plugged in and a white image on screen. This seemed to work for me as a basic solution. I'll eventually want to get a light box but until then, the TV will do.

Also, try and take them after your imaging session as you don't want to move the camera otherwise your flats will be at a different position from your subjects and then won't work as well. Hope that helps.

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I took flats with a t-shirt over the end of the scope, held on with a rubber band (making sure there were no wrinkles) and pointed it at my TV with my PC plugged in and a white image on screen. This seemed to work for me as a basic solution. I'll eventually want to get a light box but until then, the TV will do.

Also, try and take them after your imaging session as you don't want to move the camera otherwise your flats will be at a different position from your subjects and then won't work as well. Hope that helps.

Yes thats v helpful, thanks. To be honest I was out of ideas as to what the light source was going to be for flats. I read that they had to be done with an even light source which was specific as to saturation and histogram levels, this doesn't sound easy to get right.

Though one thing i'm not sure of is how would I get the scope in front of a tv and attach the t-shirt while keeping the focus, temp etc still intact? Would a laptop screen on its own do the job? Then I could keep the scope set up and hold the laptop in front of it?

Nice one, Russell, apreciate the help. :)

Regards

Aenima

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Though one thing i'm not sure of is how would I get the scope in front of a tv and attach the t-shirt while keeping the focus, temp etc still intact?

I don't think you need to worry about that for just starting out. What I did was bring the scope inside after imaging, set it up in front of the TV with t-shirt on release the clutches so it's pointing straight at the TV. This won't affect the flat, what's critical is you don't move the camera in the focuser, just leave it exactly as you had it when you were imaging.

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Yeah, the temperature does not have to match - just the focus position. The only thing to watch out for is dewing when you bring it in - make sure it's all evaporated off before taking your flats; I often will wait until the next day (using the same method, T-shirt & TV/notepad).

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Yeah, the temperature does not have to match - just the focus position. The only thing to watch out for is dewing when you bring it in - make sure it's all evaporated off before taking your flats; I often will wait until the next day (using the same method, T-shirt & TV/notepad).

:)

Thank you, thats made the process at least something I can follow without being too caught up in the how and why of it. Like darks, I know they need to match iso and temp and exp times but as to how thats used to calibrate the actual frames isnt so clear.

All I do understand is stacking to get rid of random noise, the noise in each frame will differ slightly and therefore the computer can determine the good (constant) signal from the bad (random) signal. The noise wont line up when stacked but the image of the object will be same in each frame.......

And thats about it, i'm assuming flats will help with dust blotches etc. but i had previously thought it would also help if the mirror had dew on it, as this is a 'optical train' issue and to take flats straight after with the dew on would help reverse the blotchy effects of dew - but its still mostly guesswork at the moment. Either way your suggestion is a great help and next chance I get to try it out I now have a procedure to follow.

Thanks.

Regards

Aenima

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