Skymax 127 with a Canon EOS 1100D ?

[Cloengaa]

Hey all.

I am trying to use my Canon for Planetary photoes.

Has anyone taken any pictures with this combo and can post ? I would also really like to get some hints about settings and camera control, so please feel free to advice.

I know the Eos 1100D is not the best camera and it is not modded either, so any suggestions when using it with the Skymax 127 will be appreciated.

I also do have a SW Explorer 200PDS but no mount and I do not think I can mount it on the alt/az mount I have for the Skymax.

I also have a SW skytravel 80 refractor I have been thinking of trying but that would go for DSO and that really does not work well with an alt/az mount.

Any advices are most velcome.

[JamesF]

You have an SPC900.  Why would you want to use the 1100D for planetary imaging?

James

[lensman57]

Hey all.

I am trying to use my Canon for Planetary photoes.

Has anyone taken any pictures with this combo and can post ? I would also really like to get some hints about settings and camera control, so please feel free to advice.

I know the Eos 1100D is not the best camera and it is not modded either, so any suggestions when using it with the Skymax 127 will be appreciated.

I also do have a SW Explorer 200PDS but no mount and I do not think I can mount it on the alt/az mount I have for the Skymax.

I also have a SW skytravel 80 refractor I have been thinking of trying but that would go for DSO and that really does not work well with an alt/az mount.

Any advices are most velcome.

There would be no problem using the camera with the 127 though as you know it is not ideal. The 127 can be connected to the camera using the T thread of the eyepiece holder and  a Canon T adapter .

A.G

[Cloengaa]

I want to use the Canon because I have not had some really good experiences with the Phillips webcam.

[JamesF]

I'd think you would be more likely to get good results with the webcam than with the DSLR to be honest.

What's the problem with the images you have captured with the webcam?

James

[Cloengaa]

My biggest problem with the webcam is the image is hard to really get in focus, I havent tried the webcam with the skymax only with the 200PDS. I will also try with the webcam on the skymax, but would be good to be able to use both the webcam and the dslr. 

[JamesF]

I can't see that using the 1100D will make focusing any easier, and given it's size it would quite possibly make it more awkward.

Common mods on the 127 Mak are to cut a plastic lid from a food jar to fit over the focuser knob and make it larger (and therefore more sensitive).  Lids from Marmite or peanut butter jars are popular I gather, though I imagine it's quite possible that Swedes have far more sense than to eat such comestible atrocities.  It's also possible to put a spring clothes peg on the focuser knob once you get close to focus which allows it to be moved with one finger and little disturbance to the OTA.  The best focusing mod however is to motorise the focuser so you can sit at the computer and twiddle the focus back and forth until you're happy with it without touching the OTA at all.

These sets of images were all taken using an SPC900 and 127 Mak (with a motorised focuser and a 2x or 2.5x barlow) so it's quite a reasonable combination.

James

[Cloengaa]

Wow James.

Those look absolutely awesome. 

Well I have a weak (actually very strong) suspicion that my pictures or videoes allways end up bad because I suck at processing the pics.

I will try and work some more with the SPC just to see what I can get out.

[JamesF]

Thank you

I think there are a few people posting planetary images on SGL who just make it look easy and that can sometimes give those just starting out the wrong impression.  In the course of my own "planetary imaging journey" I've had far more rubbish data than good, had hours and hours of data from late nights/early mornings out with the kit that I took one look at in the clear light of day and just deleted because it was useless and spent huge amounts of time trying to pick apart my processing because I couldn't understand why it wasn't doing what I thought it should.

Until you find a workflow that suits you and gives the kind of results you're happy with given the limitations of the kit you're using, it's not at all easy.  It's actually quite demanding.  Once you get over that first big step then improving your technique becomes much easier because you can concentrate on one area at a time.  Until you change camera, or change scope, or move from OSC to mono, at least

You just have to be stubborn, determined and patient.  Eventually it starts to come right.  But it does take a lot of patience.  Perhaps the most important thing is to treat even data that looks poor as an opportunity to learn something about what went wrong so you can attempt to get it right next time.  And there's almost certain to be someone here willing to help if you need it.

With the SPC900 I'd suggest using SharpCap for capture.  Leave the gamma, saturation, brightness and contrast controls in their default positions.  Stick to 10fps.  Use the histogram and balance the exposure and gain to give a histogram about 70% full.  Generally I think I tried to keep the gain below 2/3rds of maximum.  That should be a reasonable place to start.

James

[Cloengaa]

James.

I am trying to wrap my head around the keep the histogram to about 70 % ... how on earth do I do that ?

[JamesF]

The histogram basically shows you a graph of pixel brightness against number of pixels of that brightness.  You want to aim for a point where the brightest pixels are about 70% of the maximum possible value.  There are two ways you can change the pixel brightness -- either change the exposure time (longer exposure time = brighter pixels) or change the gain (more gain = brighter pixels).

As with most things in life however, you don't get these changes for free.  Increasing the exposure time means seeing affects the image more, whereas increasing the gain means there's more noise in the image.  So you need to balance one against the other to get a result you're happy with.  That's generally going to be down to experimentation.  SharpCap can save a text file containing the settings for each capture, by the way.  If that isn't enabled by default you certainly want it switched on.  Many of my captures show an exposure time of -4, whatever that means (the SPC900 doesn't have an exposure time measured in seconds or milliseconds, just a set of relative values), so that may be as good a place to start as any.

James

[Cloengaa]

Well the webcam does not really use exposure time since it take a video I guess, so that will be all down to gain then ?

[JamesF]

A video is just lots of still frames in succession.  Each still frame has an exposure time.

James

[ronin]

I noticed that the equipment say SPC 900 Unmodded.

I assume that Unmodded means unmodified software not that the lens is still in the camera?

If the lens is still in then remove it and put the SPC back together without it.

[Cloengaa]

Hehe good catch Ronin....nah it is modified to fit the scope....I meant the Canon was not modified....the webcam I know you can do something that makes it able to take long exposures but then you have to make a little box and I am not good at those things.

[Astrosurf]

I've had rubbish images with my Phillips. The seeing is crucial. You can do exactly the same thing on two nights, on one you get lovely detail and on another it's a formless blob. I've never been able to get the kind of images that James posted. I guess I've been unlucky. Planetary is strangely hard! As has been said, just keep plugging on.

As for your camera, does it have video mode? See here: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208610-planetary-imaging-with-dslr-video-mode/

For planetary with a DSLR you don't want a modded camera. The IR will mess it up otherwise. And remember, even with crop mode, I think the field of view is larger so the planet will look smaller. I hope I'm right there!

Alexxx

[Cloengaa]

Yeah I think the atmosphere has such a huge impact on imaging. 

James would you happen to have a set of pictures from one of your Jupiter nights that is unprocessed that I could play around with ?

I really need to work on my processing skills and would be awesome if someone had already made a finished result so I could work on the processing to try and get the same result.

[Savo83]

I'm going to have a go at Jupiter tonight I think as I now have a reticle eyepiece to get my alignment spot on for the GOTO.  I've always had issues with trying to get good captures as it would never stay bang in the centre for me.  I took my Avatar last year through my Celestron 127 Mak but that was without a barlow.  Using James' guides on here I've been able to get a much better grip on processing using Sharpcap, PIPP and Wavelets in Registax.

Thanks again James so hopefully I can get something of value tonight with my modded Lifecam HD.

[JamesF]

Yeah I think the atmosphere has such a huge impact on imaging. 

James would you happen to have a set of pictures from one of your Jupiter nights that is unprocessed that I could play around with ?

I really need to work on my processing skills and would be awesome if someone had already made a finished result so I could work on the processing to try and get the same result.

You mean the raw video, or a stacked frame before any other processing?

James

[JamesF]

I'm going to have a go at Jupiter tonight I think as I now have a reticle eyepiece to get my alignment spot on for the GOTO.  I've always had issues with trying to get good captures as it would never stay bang in the centre for me.  I took my Avatar last year through my Celestron 127 Mak but that was without a barlow.  Using James' guides on here I've been able to get a much better grip on processing using Sharpcap, PIPP and Wavelets in Registax.

Thanks again James so hopefully I can get something of value tonight with my modded Lifecam HD.

You're welcome  I found a reticle eyepiece a huge help for aligning the target, especially when using barlows and extensions.  I start without anything other than the eyepiece in the optical train, centre and then add the components of the imaging train one by one, checking the alignment against the reticle each time.

James

[Savo83]

You're welcome  I found a reticle eyepiece a huge help for aligning the target, especially when using barlows and extensions.  I start without anything other than the eyepiece in the optical train, centre and then add the components of the imaging train one by one, checking the alignment against the reticle each time.

James

That's the plan.  I'll let you know how I get on as it's looking pretty clear. 

[Cloengaa]

Hey James I mean the raw video....just to train on the whole process and step by step get better.

[JamesF]

Hmm.  I think that might be tricky.  I've just looked at some of my avi files from my last colour captures (before I started RGB planetary imaging this year) and they run to 3GB.  On my internet connection that would take weeks to upload

James

[JamesF]

Ah, no, that file will be from the ASI120MC.  I'll see if I have any older stuff from the SPC900.  It's entirely possible I've dumped the original data by now though.  I did have a clear-out a while back because all these capture runs take up a huge amount of disk space.

James

[Cloengaa]

Hehe James that is just fine...I know these videoes run up to some big volumes. 

I might just have to make my own videoes hehe.

I think I have some video at home but when I tried processing that a year ago I got some really bad result.....I will try again hehe.