Planetary imaging with DSLR - APT and LiveView x5

[Zendrix]

Hello all!

I have been imaging some nebulaes and the moon, but never got into planetary. I dont have the time or money right now to research for the best webcams for planetary and moon imaging, so i saw this thread about planetary imaging with DSLR's and wanted to discuss about it a bit.

I have a Canon 1000D, which mean no video feature. However, i read that it is possible to record frames from the LiveView mode in APT. I have some questions about this method:

1. Will i get some reasonably effects or should i not even consider it? (having in mind, of course, that reasonable is always relative and this is not the best method for planetary img)

2. How many frames are we talking about when we press capture in 'planetary mode' in APT? obviously the more, the better, but what would be a reasonably fair number to start with, expecting good weather conditions?

3. Should i record it in x5 without any eyepiece between camera and telescope or would i get better results recording with an eyepiece and not in x5 Liveview? Or both?

I read this article about planetary imaging with DSLR (http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/EQ_TESTS/Canon_One_To_One_Pixel_Resolution.HTM) but i had some doubts.. in the end, do you need a 1:1 ratio for planetary? anybody knows or has done this kind of thing with a Canon 1000D?

Some other doubts will arise, but thats about it for now.

Would be thankful for your inuts.

Rui

[Yoddha]

Hi Rui,

The LiveView is quite comparable with the web camera imaging quality Take as much frames as possible - this is essential for the "Lucky imaging" but keep in mind that Jupiter and Saturn turns quickly and that limits the usable time. The 1:1 scale is very important because if you use the unzoomed LiveView the camera compress the image from the full matrix size to ~700x400 and this destroys the faint detail

[Zendrix]

great!

thanks for your reply mate. By the way, would a 400D LiveView mode be different than the LiveView Mode of a 1000D in terms of quality?

Thanks again,

Rui

[Yoddha]

You are welcome!

The LiveView on the models differers a bit, depending on the sensor size and processor version... But 400D has no LiveView...