First go at stacking - moon

[jjqpr]

Not really sure what I was doing, tried deep sky stacker which didn't work at all, and then registax...this is about 10 raw files converted to jpg then put in registax and just let it do its thing..take with canon 7d and 400mm lens.

I hand't thought to do a movie , do you get better results from a movie instead of individual shots?

Thanks for looking

[Leveye]

That's mighty fine work there. Try Backyard Eos using planetary imaging mode. It takes quick mini movies and saves the frames as cropped square avi files for PiPP and Registax to use. About 200 frames looks amazing.

[Langy]

Firstly DSS is as it says Deep Space Stacker, lunar and planets are not classed as DSO. So you will not get any results with that. Registax is one of the software apps to use.

You've done a nice job. It may well work better with video as then Registax has a vast number of frames to work with rather than the 10 you supplied.

You've got a really nice image there regardless of how you did it.

Well done.

[jjqpr]

Thanks guys, langy youre right I should have realised that from the name! Leveye thanks I will look into that not heard of it before, I take it it somehow connects to the camera or something?

[Langy]

Thanks guys, langy youre right I should have realised that from the name! Leveye thanks I will look into that not heard of it before, I take it it somehow connects to the camera or something?

Yes I can't use it on my EOS 300D but for you as far as I'm aware you connect the laptop to your camera via the USB lead and control the camera through the software. Allowing you to see live feed and record videos which are the norm for lunar and planetary imaging. Not the written rule though as you have just proven with a great image.

I do have to keep flipping back to it as it has come across so 3D. Something is telling me that something looks false, but every time I look for a fault it just amazes me. Sorry if that sounds contradictory, but a great image is one that keeps the audience and you got that with me. There is detail throughout, highlights all over like a night shot of the earth from space with our city lights, it just keeps me looking.

[jjqpr]

Thanks Langy, just applied for the 30 day trial, sounds like it might even solve my ongoing polar alignment issues too which would be great (never having to use the polar scope again!) ...only problem is yet more equipment to carry outside...who needs a gym eh

thanks for the comments too, if you work out what looks false let me know as I'm looking to improve

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

lovely stacking done there jjqpr

throw those 10 raws into canons own software ctrl+ left click those images

batch them and save as a 16bit tiff. 

throw them into pipps, make them slightly smaller frame, and centered.

pop into registax or you can use Autostackert2 (with registax wavelets to pop the images).

once done there and your happy ( those ten look perfect so go easy with wavelets)

throw it into something like GIMP and mess around with your levels / contrast / hue / balance

to give it your touch

[frugal]

The advantage to taking a video is that you can capture 30 frames per second, which means you can quickly get 1000 or more frames which means the stacking software has more chance to find the quality frames in the stack.

The disadvantage is the the video will be a lower resolution that the photos, so you will end up with a smaller resulting image.

So on my 60D, I can take photos at 5128x3456, but video only at 1920x1080. If I use one of the Live View capture processes like Backyard EOS, it goes down to something like 1000x700. It all depends on how much of the frame is being filled by the moon. With my 300mm lens, at 18MP (5128x3456) the moon is only about 650x650 pixels. If I use Video it goes down to about 200x200.

At the moment I put the camera in High Speed mode and just hold down the shutter, it will take about 20 frames before stopping to write them to the card. Then when the red light goes out, another 20 frames. I can get about 200 18MP frames in a minute or two. Then I use PIPP to convert them from 5128x3456 RAW images to 1200x1200 TIFFs for AutoStackert to stack.

This was my first attempt to do the same thing with my new ED80. Only 35 frames, cropped and stacked:

[Langy]

Excellent frugal. Now that is annoying 20 frames and wait for the card to be written to. My 300D is as low as 4 frames. However I'm still pleased with the capabilities of the camera, after all it's only a light box so has the potential of capturing just as well as one several times the price. Just need to keep the steam engine rolling.

[badhex]

Incredible! Stunning detail. I hope my first go at the moon is that good!

[frugal]

Excellent frugal. Now that is annoying 20 frames and wait for the card to be written to. My 300D is as low as 4 frames. However I'm still pleased with the capabilities of the camera, after all it's only a light box so has the potential of capturing just as well as one several times the price. Just need to keep the steam engine rolling.

We have had a 350D as the family camera for years (we bought it when our daughter was born), I got the 60D as we are going on a big family holiday at easter and I wanted to replace the camera. The fact that it is also better for astrophotography is a nice bonus.

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