Web cam for 200p planetary

[NIGHTBOY]

Hi guys, I was taking images of Saturn with my 200p and dslr last night and now I'd like to try the web cam route! Reccomendations please!!

[kalasinman]

Why? Most DSLR s have video mode. You can convert the format to avi or bmp , then stack with Registax, as you would from a webcam.--Jack

[NIGHTBOY]

Yes I do that already but with Saturn etc I have to Barlow the dslr and I've read it's better to use a webcam

[JamesF]

My understanding is that a DSLR creates a video stream using lossy compression, so you've thrown data away before even getting it out of the camera.  You also don't really have as much control as you would with a dedicated planetary camera.  Which isn't to say that some people haven't produced creditable images with a DSLR.

However, as I posted in your other thread, there aren't really a lot of useful choices in terms of webcams any more.  Budget is the limiting factor, really.

James

[RichM63]

You'll also find yourself using a Barlow with the webcam.

I have an SPC900NC, now fried, but was OK for the Moon, Jupiter.

A wierd Sirius blob like device, just about get the Moon.

And now a beautiful Lifecam HD as yet untried (arrived yesterday) but offers more software settings than either of the other 2 in SharpCap.

[NIGHTBOY]

Cheers guys, just a quick thought tho, as my scope doesn't track will it be an absolute nightmare to keep the image on the sensor??

[JamesF]

Cheers guys, just a quick thought tho, as my scope doesn't track will it be an absolute nightmare to keep the image on the sensor??

It will be difficult, yes.

James

[NIGHTBOY]

Thought so thank you James.

Whilst I've got you here...

What are the best quality settings in pipp? I got some really good moon footage of the moon last night. I'm outputting in AVI 'udng'? I think it is. I'm unsure of what to do when it comes to the quality options tho, what boxes do I tick to get the best out of it?? Steve

[JamesF]

I think the defaults Chris has chosen are pretty good from memory, if you choose the right image time on the first screen.  You may want to convert to mono, but you can probably leave everything else alone to start with.

James

[NIGHTBOY]

Great stuff thank you James

[NIGHTBOY]

So just to be sure ha, leave the quality weighing and things like that alone? It just that say I'd imported 6000 frames, I'm only going to want to stack the best 100 or so, so is it really worth getting pipp to do the lot or should I just get pipp to keep the best 1200?

[Rihard]

Cheers guys, just a quick thought tho, as my scope doesn't track will it be an absolute nightmare to keep the image on the sensor??

Hi

Some time ago I've attempted imaging with a 200P without tracking, and it's a pain as planets will drift out of the FOV in just a few seconds when using a dSLR, but a webcam's imaging sensor is much more narrow so the object will drift away much faster. If you have A LOT of patience you might be able to keep the planet in the view using the manual tracking knobs and record a few seconds worth of frames to stack. You might consider getting a tracking motor (also a cheap single axis motor will be fine) and take the videos with your current dSLR instead.

Regards

[NIGHTBOY]

Thanks Richard.

Yes at the moment I record video with my dslr, I let the image drift across the viewfinder then move scope slightly and let if drift through again and so on and so on, I then use pipp then registax.

[RichM63]

Pity I can't post up an unprocessed manually tracked video of Jupiter.  BTW what mount do you have, EQ or Dob?

For EQ, by keeping a hand continuously on the RA screw of an aligned mount it is quite possible to keep the planet in center frame of a webcam.

But you do need to practice a lot and also get a good feel for your mount.

I literally kept a constant hand pressure on the screw rotating in very slow motion to keep the object central for 2000 frames at 10fps with a webcam.

If you let it drift too much and take too many frames in one go, then your stacking software is going to have a hard time sorting in frame to out of frame, never mind quality of the frames.

[NIGHTBOY]

Mines a dob, tracking by hand would be super hard!!

[JamesF]

There is a howto/tutorial for planetary imaging with a dob in one of the imaging sections I think.  Might be a helpful read.

James

[NIGHTBOY]

With the moon I can get a good 2.30 mins of footage before it goes out of frame, tho I do always try to keep it in the frame. I let it get almost to the edge and then slowly, very slowly move the scope keeping the object in the frame

[NIGHTBOY]

I've just read that James and that's pretty much the same method I use apart from I use pipp and registax. I just want to know how to get the best quality frames out of pipp and what I should be outputting it as.

[NIGHTBOY]

Also thing like stretch histogram etc