First attempt at saturn! Any tips?

[Jim123]

Hey, this is my first attempt at imaging saturn, viewing conditions weren't perfect but image turned out okay! Any tips?

Taken with Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT and canon 550d. Image is made using a movie stacked in Registax 5.1

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Wow! That is a very good first attempt, especially for a DSLR.

[Jim123]

Wow! That is a very good first attempt, especially for a DSLR.

Thanks! Do you think i would get better results with a CCD?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Thanks! Do you think i would get better results with a CCD?

Best results are usually obtained with a planetary camera or even a webcam

[Pete Presland]

a nice image especially for a DSLR. a webcam with your scope would be an excellent combo for planetary imaing, far superior to the DSLR.

[Stargazer33]

Very nice first pic for Saturn, as said above, especially for a DSLR which compresses the movie file and therefore reduces the amount of detail available for your stack.

DSLRs are better suited to the long exposures required for DSOs. Try a web cam - lots of advice on here about which ones are best - for Moon/planetary images if a dedicated planetary CCD is a bit above your budget right now.

Having said all that, your image is very impressive. Keep up the good work.

[Olorin]

I must say that it is true that best results are obtained with dedicated planetary CCD cams, BUT DSLR can issue excellent images as well.

You can check out posts from t_ilan_s who is using a DSLR with great results such as in this post:

So no need to run an buy a new cam, get familiar with what you have and if you see this is really for you then you can invest the money on a proper cam and accessories.

Thanks

Dror

[t_ilan_s]

This is a very good start!

You should try use movrec to capture the video, its a very simple software that allows you to capture AVI through the computer and then you don't need to convert the MOV file to AVI file.

As everyone already mentioned the best result obtained with a dedicated planetary cameras but you can still get pretty decent result with a DSLR.

[Jim123]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I have a ccd webcam and im going out tonight to try it out if the sky stays clear, will post the results if I do!

[Atlas]

Great shot. You should be able to toss a barlow or powermate to boost the image scale. Also drop the ISO down a touch on your next vid. I usually shot at 800 ISO. Your 550D is an exceptional camera.