Jump to content

stargazine_ep39_banner.thumb.jpg.b87bddaa2aded94d2a3456c0589a82b9.jpg

Canon 600d Astrophotography help

SamS

By SamS,
in Getting Started With Imaging

 Share Followers 0

Recommended Posts

SamS

SamS 1

Posted
Posted

Hi All, I am new to this forum. I need suggestion on astro photography, since I will visit dark site soon.

I have Canon 600d and Canon 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 wide angle lens. For capturing milky way or sky, I would keep my dslr in manual mode - bulb mode, timer as 30 secs or less to make sure there are no star trails, f5 is minimum at 10mm and ISO between 400 - 1600? What settings should I keep? Also, how many similar images, including subs and flats should I take to get a good image?

The attached image is my second attempt to capture summer milky way.

summer milky way.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
ronin

ronin 3,800

Posted
Posted

Guessing it is not in the image fully manual, the flash appears on or is it illumination from the rear ? If it is/was the flash there is an option to disable it somewhere.

Last time I tried something like that I set (I think) 20 second exposure, 10 second wait time and took either 12 or 15 exposures. Iso was set to 400 then I repeated with 800. I think that above 800 then the noise increases as the electronics boost the noise as well as the rest of the bits you want.

Focal length, cannot see why you do not use 18mm it is fairly wide, if f/5 is the biggest then f/5 it will have to be - f/5 seems a bit small.

Not sure but I think that any darks need to match the DSLR settings for the exposure, so scribble down the settings, and I suggest (likely 120% wrong) that you get about half as many darks as exposures. Put it this way that is what I did.

So if the exposures are say 12 exposures at ISO 400 for 20 seconds with a 10 second wait and F/5 then get 6 darks at the same.

If after the first batch you change to say 12 exposures ISO 800 then again get 6 darks at those settings.

Darks are easy - lens cap on, set up DSLR and interferometer, press the go button on the interferometer and put the whole lot is something dark until it has it's 6 exposures. They are easy and really help the final result.

I half suspect that after 12 exposures the software will have more problems getting everything aligned, the sky will have moved. Unless you have an EQ tracking mount I would not push your luck.

To keep the exposure time as set - say 20 seconds the switch off the noise reduction feature.

One other bit is cover the rear viewfinder as light can get in and cause problems.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Followers 0
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

  • Similar Content

    • endless-sky
      Orion - A Year (and a Month) Later
      By endless-sky
      After a 20 year long hiatus - my last astrophoto was captured with a film camera in 1997 - at the beginning of 2020 I decided it was time to start again.
      So, January 25th 2020 I brought home my used Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro and I immediately started taking photos. Obviously, my first target was M42 in Orion.
      This was my first digital astrophotography. 31 subframes, 30s each, taken at ISO800 with my unmodified Nikon D90, Nikkor 70-300mm at 300mm f/6.3 - January 28th, 2020, home front yard, Bortle 5/6 sky, no guiding, no filters. A grand total of 15.5 minutes...

      A couple of weeks later, me and my wife went to spend Valentine's weekend in the mountains. Of course I couldn't avoid taking advantage of the Bortle 4 sky and I took all my gear with me. Same target, 52 subframes, 45s each, taken at ISO800 with my unmodified Nikon D90, Nikkor 70-300mm at 300m f/5.6 - February 14th, 2020, Tonadico, Bortle 4 sky, no guiding, no filters. 39 minutes total integration.

      After I finished post-processing the second photograph, I was so happy with the result. It felt amazing that I was able to capture so many details and more nebulosity compared to the photo taken from home.
      Months passed, gear was changed. First one being the camera: at the end of February I bought a Nikon D5300 and a couple of months later I astromodified it on my own, adding a UV/IR cut filter in front of the sensor, after cutting it to size.
      In October the rest of the setup finally arrived: Tecnosky 80/480 APO FPL53 Triplet OWL Series imaging telescope, Artesky UltraGuide 60mm f/4 guide scope and ZWO ASI 224MC guide camera. Also, an Optolong L-Pro 2" light pollution filter.
      After months of imaging and getting more experienced with PixInsight, it was just a matter of waiting before I could have another go at one of my favorite targets. And maybe give it a little more justice.
      This project took me more than a month, due to the rare clear nights opportunities I have had here lately.
      I started acquiring in January and finished a couple of weeks ago.
      M42 taken over 8 nights, under my Bortle 5/6 sky.
      Total integration time: 18h 04m 00s for the nebula. 714s (14s subs) + 2065s (35s subs) for the Trapezium and the core.
      Here are the acquisition details:
      Mount: Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro
      Telescope: Tecnosky 80/480 APO FPL53 Triplet OWL Series
      Camera: D5300 astromodified
      Reducer/flattener: Tecnosky 4 elements, 0.8x
      Guide-scope: Artesky UltraGuide 60mm f/4
      Guide-camera: ZWO ASI 224MC
      2021/01/12: Number of subs/Exposure time: 33@300s. Notes: L-Pro filter, no Moon
      2021/01/13: Number of subs/Exposure time: 33@300s. Notes: L-Pro filter, no Moon
      2021/01/15: Number of subs/Exposure time: 38@300s. Notes: L-Pro filter, Moon 8% illuminated
      2021/01/18: Number of subs/Exposure time: 36@300s. Notes: L-Pro filter, Moon 30% illuminated
      2021/02/13: Number of subs/Exposure time: 30@300s. Notes: L-Pro filter, Moon 4% illuminated
      2021/02/14: Number of subs/Exposure time: 23@300s. Notes: L-Pro filter, Moon 9% illuminated
      2021/02/15: Number of subs/Exposure time: 51@14s + 48@35s. Notes: L-Pro filter, Moon 15% illuminated
      2021/02/17: Number of subs/Exposure time: 11@35s + 38@180s + 1@300s. Notes: L-Pro filter, Moon 30% illuminated
      Total exposure time (main integration): 65040s = 18h 04m 00s.
      Total exposure time (35s integration): 2065s.
      Total exposure time (14s integration): 714s.
      Pre and post-processing: PixInsight 1.8.8-7.
      Full HDR Version:

      Masked Stretch Version:

      Blended Version (50% HDR + 50% Masked Stretch):

      To my personal taste, I like the blended version the most. I think it brings out the best of both worlds (HDR and soft, less contrasty but more colorful look).
      I must say, I am very pleased and happy with the result. Not to boast, but I think I have come a long way since I started.
      Obviously the better gear and the much, much longer integration time helped.
      I think I actually spent more time post-processing it than acquiring it. Especially since I had to do the work almost twice: I post-processed the HDR and the Masked Stretch images separately, making sure I used the same processes and with the same strenght in both, so that I could combine them effectively, if I decided I didn’t like the look of the HDR alone. I also think I managed to tame the stars a lot more, compared to my previous post-processing attempts.
      As usual, here’s a link to the full resolution image(s): Orion Nebula (M42), De Mairan’s Nebula (M43) and Running Man (NGC 1977)
      Thanks for looking!
      C&C welcome!
       
    • Pincs
      Deep sky with dobsonian
      By Pincs
      Hi I've got an 8" dobsonian and I just got a dslr to connect to it. Obviously there's no tracking so what kind of things can I capture. Will I be able to do dso and planets?
      Thanks
    • MarsG76
      The Witchhead - IC2118 9-15 Jan 2021
      By MarsG76
      The Witch Head Nebula, aka IC2118 & NGC1909 in the constellation Orion, near the star Rigel.
      This object is very large in the sky, being 3°×1°, so I had to use my smallest telescope to deliver the wide angle and low power needed to image all of the "Witches" profile.
      This is a very difficult object to image using a DSLR, and a dark sky is needed to capture it in it's full glory. I thought that I'd give it a go with my DSLR, and see what I end up with... I'm happy that the end result in my image shows the shape of the "Witch Head" but I think that the overall image will not be winning any awards.
      This image has been exposed through a 80mm refractor @ 500mm FL, using my cooled and full spectrum modded DSLR for a total exposure time of 12 hours and 34 minutes, in a semi-rural, Bortle 5 (maybe 4) sky.
    • MarsG76
      M78/NGC2068 6-11 Feb 2021
      By MarsG76
      I managed to bag another object, this time the reflection Nebula M78 in the constellation Orion.
      I was planning to capture natural color subs than add some HAlpha and OIII narrowband data to emphesize the image details and reveal deeper matter, but after processing the OSC/RGB subs, I decided that adding the narrowband data is not necessary.
      This image was taken across two nights (juggling clouds), 6th and 11th February, and I managed to capture 3 hours and 18 minutes worth of useful subs (21x60 sec, 19x120 sec, 18x180 and 17 x 300 second subs).
      The telescope used was a 80mm refractor, at 500mm FL using my full spectrum modded and cooled 40D DSLR.
    • Pincs
      Prime focus with a 8" dobsonian
      By Pincs
      Hi, I just got a canon eos 600d to take pictures with my skywatcher 200p scope. I am using prime focus with it which seems to work fine despite the problems people face with getting it to focus. I plan to get some great shots of the moon, planets and orion nebula but I was wondering if theres a way I can get shots of dimmer objects in the sky. At the moment i am finding this hard as I am limited to a 1.5 second shutter speed in order to prevent star trails, I am putting the ISO up high to get the most light but I was wondering if there were better ways to go about getting the best pictures without a tracking mount. Thanks.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.

  I accept