Back to basics

[davefrance]

Was hoping to catch a few meteors last night but it wasn't to be. Just set up 600D with kit 18-55 lens pointing straight up on static tripod. 

Stacked just 14 x 30 second exposures in DSS and tweeked a little in Paintshop Pro.

Think it shows that even without any expensive astro equipment it is possible to get a pleasing pic of the night sky (well I like it).

Bright stars

Vega top right

Deneb just right and above centre

[xtreemchaos]

nice one Dave,i like it too.  thanks for posting   charl/

[Alien 13]

Great image, I too have recently getting back to basics with a fixed tripod and it makes a refreshing change.

Alan

[davefrance]

Great image, I too have recently getting back to basics with a fixed tripod and it makes a refreshing change.

Alan

It's so easy, no humping heavy gear, no star and polar alignment. Just point and shoot. Ideal for those quick breaks in the cloud.

[PeterCPC]

Silly question maybe but how did you get focus? I tried exactly what you did and then found that it was out of focus. I couldn't find anything bright enough to focus on.

Peter

[JamesF]

You've just caught the Coathanger on the right-hand edge, about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom

James

[davefrance]

Thanks for that James. There is also a reddish patch near the centre just called "Dark Nebula" in Stellarium.

[davefrance]

Silly question maybe but how did you get focus? I tried exactly what you did and then found that it was out of focus. I couldn't find anything bright enough to focus on.

Peter

All I do is turn the focus ring around as far as it will go then ease back just a little, perhaps 5mm on the diameter. Most modern lenses go past infinity so you need to bring it back a touch. Take a test shot and preview in camera. If you have the option check at 10x magnification. At 18mm it really isn't that critical.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice wide-field

[Dom1961]

In hoping to achieve something like this when I get my dslr, what do you do? Do you leave the tripod in a fixed position and take multiple exposures or do you take one exposure, then move the mount to recenter the object, then another etc?

[davefrance]

nice one Dave,i like it too.  thanks for posting   charl/

Great image, I too have recently getting back to basics with a fixed tripod and it makes a refreshing change.

Alan

Silly question maybe but how did you get focus? I tried exactly what you did and then found that it was out of focus. I couldn't find anything bright enough to focus on.

Peter

You've just caught the Coathanger on the right-hand edge, about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom

James

Nice wide-field

Astrometry failed to recognise my photo so cut into 3 then uploaded each section and SUCCESS!. Stitched the results back together as below.

Where would you start????

[davefrance]

In hoping to achieve something like this when I get my dslr, what do you do? Do you leave the tripod in a fixed position and take multiple exposures or do you take one exposure, then move the mount to recenter the object, then another etc?

Just leave the camera and tripod to take multiple exposures without moving it. Deep Sky Stacker will take care of any movement. If you try and stack too many the periphery of the stacked photo may not be too good, I don't think DSS can cope with too much rotation/movement. Keep the exposure short, I used 30 secs at f4.5 and ISO1600. Do use an intervalometer to avoid camera shake.

Good luck with your new camera.

[Alien 13]

In hoping to achieve something like this when I get my dslr, what do you do? Do you leave the tripod in a fixed position and take multiple exposures or do you take one exposure, then move the mount to recenter the object, then another etc?

As Dave has already posted dont move between shots, I think most Canon cameras can do up to 10 consecutive shots of up to 30 seconds automatically and also put in a 5 second delay at the start so you can do basic shots without any remote (The whole process looks cool on mine as you get a flashing light on countdown).

After the 10 frames have been done it then may be worth recentering the image.

Alan

[davefrance]

As Dave has already posted dont move between shots, I think most Canon cameras can do up to 10 consecutive shots of up to 30 seconds automatically and also put in a 5 second delay at the start so you can do basic shots without any remote (The whole process looks cool on mine as you get a flashing light on countdown).

After the 10 frames have been done it then may be worth recentering the image.

Alan

Under good conditions 10 frames would probably be enough to get a reasonable stacked image.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

That's come out nicely. I've been playing with the kit lens recently as well, it's quite good for shots from a fixed tripod too at ISO 3200, after heavy noise reduction.

[Alien 13]

Another vote for the kit lens it is remarkably good even wide open the only downside is its a bit slow but still a realy good way into AP.

Alan

[davefrance]

That's come out nicely. I've been playing with the kit lens recently as well, it's quite good for shots from a fixed tripod too at ISO 3200, after heavy noise reduction.

A noisy picture at ISO3200 is better than no picture at all. 

[PeterCPC]

I tried again last night using my 550d and 18-55 kit lens set to 18mm. I took 8 exposures at 30 secs with focus just set back as stated. The result was just awful with star trailing and out of focus stars. I have decided that the only way that I am going to be able to do widefield is to piggy back the camera on a guided scope.

This was the result - don't laugh (not too much anyway).

Peter

[davefrance]

I tried again last night using my 550d and 18-55 kit lens set to 18mm. I took 8 exposures at 30 secs with focus just set back as stated. The result was just awful with star trailing and out of focus stars. I have decided that the only way that I am going to be able to do widefield is to piggy back the camera on a guided scope.

This was the result - don't laugh (not too much anyway).

Peter

Peter, it definitely should not be like that at 30 secs. Looking at the trees I reckon you may have the focus set towards near rather than infinity as the trees are in focus and the stars not. Also, if this is an 8 exposure stack I would say they are being put together as a star trail rather than being stacked on top of each other. My guess is you are pointing towards Polaris on the left and the other stars are circling round. The star trails get longer the further out from that left hand star. What did you use to stack?

[wxsatuser]

Thanks for that James. There is also a reddish patch near the centre just called "Dark Nebula" in Stellarium.

The red near Deneb is the North Aamerican Nebula

[davefrance]

The red near Deneb is the North Aamerican Nebula

Cheers Mike, might have a go at that.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Another vote for the kit lens it is remarkably good even wide open the only downside is its a bit slow but still a realy good way into AP.

Alan

Yes, it makes a natural introduction into AP for a lot of people due to the wide angle and availability. I do wonder if the difficulty in focussing puts people off though, the trick is to find the brightest object in the sky, bump up the ISO and zoom in on liveview.

The vignetting is quite severe as well, I've taken some flats for my recent kit lens shots I'm going to try and apply, using my laptop screen as a flat panel.

[PeterCPC]

DSS. As to where the lens was - if you are at the rear of the camera the lens was set as far to the left as it would go then back about 5mm if that makes sense or clockwise if looking from the front of the lens. IS was turned off. I was actually pointing at Cassiopeia - you can just make it out near the bottom of the image to the right of middle. Of course, this is much lower down than your image so rotation is going to be more of an issue. I thought that I would get some trails but it was more to see if I could get focus.

Peter

[davefrance]

DSS. As to where the lens was - if you are at the rear of the camera the lens was set as far to the left as it would go then back about 5mm if that makes sense or clockwise if looking from the front of the lens. IS was turned off. I was actually pointing at Cassiopeia - you can just make it out near the bottom of the image to the right of middle. Of course, this is much lower down than your image so rotation is going to be more of an issue. I thought that I would get some trails but it was more to see if I could get focus.

Peter

Well, if your kit lens is the same as mine (EF-S 18-55mm) then that is the correct direction of rotation. Just checked and I probably turn mine back about 3mm but that shouldn't make much difference. If you are confident that was only 30 seconds I am at a loss to understand the rotation unless it is within the DSS settings. With stars that far out of focus I am surprised DSS would even stack them.

This is what I would try.

Camera settings as above except up ISO to max. Check at 18mm not 55mm - turn ring in opposite direction to focus ring. Point towards some bright stars then take an exposure of perhaps a couple of seconds. Then check to see if all stars are round and in focus. Repeat adjusting focus very slightly until pin sharp. Note settings and reduce ISO.

Try again at reduced ISO and 10 secs, 15 secs and 30 secs. Post the results here. 

[PeterCPC]

Yep - same lens.

OK but I think that there will be a long wait as the forecast here is not good to say the least. Looks like the whole week will be a no no. I only just managed last night before the clouds rolled in.

Thanks again.

Peter