First light Atik 314L on ED80 (eventually)!

[kingboya]

Well, after what seems light years, here it is. My first image with the new Atik 314L, and my first ever CCD image too! This is 14 10min luminance subs taken last night. I used the ed80 with the focal reducer and I think I have the spacing from the chip correct.

Processing wise, this is a stack of 14 subs, with darks bias and FLAT frames for the first time! An evening of firsts

I am pleased with the result, but the wind played a role last night, forcing the stars to become eggy. I will sort that soon.

Please, any criticism welcome.

[Gina]

That's great Brilliant first light - well done

[kingboya]

That's great Brilliant first light - well done

Thank you Gina

I have been following your progress with interest for sometime and thanks very much for your help setting this all up.

Now where did the clear skies go for the RGB?

[Gina]

Thank you Gina

I have been following your progress with interest for sometime and thanks very much for your help setting this all up.

Now where did the clear skies go for the RGB?

You're very welcome We have clear skies forecast for tonight but after a nice sunny day with blue sky, it's now clouding up again I guess it could clear later - can but hope

[sologuitarist61]

Lovely!

[kingboya]

Lovely!

Thank you

[ianaiken]

Brilliant albeit the eggy stars. I find the 314L+ very sensitive. I have actually started using smaller subs to see what the results are like. Currently looking at doing 2 min subs with Lum shooting from the suburbs. Because of sky limits I don't think I get much benefit from going longer.

[kingboya]

Brilliant albeit the eggy stars. I find the 314L+ very sensitive. I have actually started using smaller subs to see what the results are like. Currently looking at doing 2 min subs with Lum shooting from the suburbs. Because of sky limits I don't think I get much benefit from going longer.

Thank you Ian. I considered shorter subs, for example 5 mins, but was on a run. When taking your colour do you generally bin 2x2 and halve the sub length?

[ianaiken]

Well I shoot OSC on another scope at the same time so I usually use colour from that. What I've read is that most people shoot 2x2 and halve the sub length. As long as you have good detail in Lum then you're good. I don't use LP filter on my Lum so my subs cannot be too long.

If I was combining colour with narrowband such as HaRGB then I may be inclined not to bin. Again I shoot OSC in parrallel so I don't really have to give this much thought.

[ollypenrice]

I wouldn't necessarily bin at all with your setup. The FL is on the small side for the pixels. You don't double the sensitivity either, usually. I'd expect a bit less than that, 1.6x or so.

That's a great capture bar the star shapes and there is a rather nasty Ps fix for that. I'll run through it you like.

You have the outer halo and a well flattened background sky. These things matter a lot!

The core is overcooked but I doubt that is is over exposed before the stretch. If it isn't, try a short softer stretch just for the inner core, getting it as bright as possible without losing detail. Paste this under the main image and gently erase the blown top layer with a well feathered low opacity eraser in several small iterations, making the brush smaller each time.

Olly

[kingboya]

I wouldn't necessarily bin at all with your setup. The FL is on the small side for the pixels. You don't double the sensitivity either, usually. I'd expect a bit less than that, 1.6x or so.

That's a great capture bar the star shapes and there is a rather nasty Ps fix for that. I'll run through it you like.

You have the outer halo and a well flattened background sky. These things matter a lot!

The core is overcooked but I doubt that is is over exposed before the stretch. If it isn't, try a short softer stretch just for the inner core, getting it as bright as possible without losing detail. Paste this under the main image and gently erase the blown top layer with a well feathered low opacity eraser in several small iterations, making the brush smaller each time.

Olly

Thank you for the great advice Olly. When I get back from work I will have a crack at reprocessing and post my results here!

[ollypenrice]

The fix is easy. Make a copy layer, set to blend mode Darken (it defaults to blend mode Normal.) Go to FIlters, Other, Offset and in the case of your image set the vertical offset to two pixels. Flatten and done. It's not something I'd do if I had any choice but it's a data-saver in emergencies!

Olly

[kingboya]

Here is a reprocess then, completed with the advice of the many helpful people here. The image is of the same data originally posted here, but now corrected for star shapes, and layer mask used to keep the core under control. Please, any criticism very much welcome, this is one steep learning curve!

[earth titan]

That is fantastic.

Just waiting for the Fed-Ex van to arrive with my 314, so doubly excited by your result.

[kingboya]

That is fantastic.

Just waiting for the Fed-Ex van to arrive with my 314, so doubly excited by your result.

Thank you Tom

I love the feeling of the Fedex van turning up! It is the best feeling in the world lol. I just hope the wife isn't in to winge when yet another box turns up. 'How much did that cost'? It is only a tripod, so not much (NEQ6)

[Dave Smith]

That is an excellent first light. The 314L+ is a super camera.

Dave

[earth titan]

Thank you Tom

I love the feeling of the Fedex van turning up! It is the best feeling in the world lol. I just hope the wife isn't in to winge when yet another box turns up. 'How much did that cost'? It is only a tripod, so not much (NEQ6)

Wife is currently out and I'm 'working from home' so hope it turns up this morning....

[ianaiken]

What? That old thing? I've had that ages!

The 314L+ is a great and very sensitive camera, you will love it.

[morimarty]

The reprocess is a big improvement, more detail in the core and the stars look much tighter. Thumbs up for the Atik314l+ from me too!

[kingboya]

The reprocess is a big improvement, more detail in the core and the stars look much tighter. Thumbs up for the Atik314l+ from me too!

Thank you Martyn

[andyo]

Very good capture like Olly said you have captured the outer halo nicely.Reprocess shows a better core and star shapes.Interesting what Olly was saying about not binning the RGB as I thought the same as you(same set up).Bin 2x2 and then you could take about a third of the time for each RGB channel as you do for the luminance.I presume if you dont bin the RGB then the time on each channel should be the same as the luminance.

[ollypenrice]

I think it would be more realistic to say that binning 2x2 saves about 1/3 of the time not 2/3. The victims are the stars, which don't look as good. Total RGB should maybe equal total L (roughly) but there are techniques for boosting colour if it comes out a little thin under the L layer.

That is a great reprocess. Very well done indeed.

Olly

[kingboya]

I think it would be more realistic to say that binning 2x2 saves about 1/3 of the time not 2/3. The victims are the stars, which don't look as good. Total RGB should maybe equal total L (roughly) but there are techniques for boosting colour if it comes out a little thin under the L layer.

That is a great reprocess. Very well done indeed.

Olly

Thank you Olly for your help. I feel I am really getting somewhere now.

Just to clarify now though, for example, if the total L is say 120mins, then each RGB channel should be 40 mins binned 1x1? Also, what are the simple techniques for boosting colour? LAB Colour?

[kingboya]

Also, I noticed when binning 2x2, that the RGB images were smaller than the L at 1x1. I scaled up the RGB to the same size as the L, or should I scale down the L to the RBG?

[ianaiken]

Try not to touch your luminance scale.