Which processing program?

[Andywilliams]

Just a very quick unscientific straw pole......I am a newbie astrophotographer of sorts!

i have been doing exclusively wideangle shots and a little at prime focus through my Mak.

I now have invested in a star adventurer so my photos will be getting adventurously more long in the focal length dept and ultimately I would like to have an EQ6 or suchlike and probably an ED80.

I have not yet invested in a permanent choice of processing software......so my question is.....given my requirements as listed above.....what would you recommend?......photoshop? Lightroom? Or something more specific like Pixinsite ? 

I look forward to hearing what and why!!

many thanks in advance and clear skies to all ??

Andy 

 

[wimvb]

Pixinsight. Some people buy it just for its gradient removal tool alone. And with a widefield rig, you will get gradients. Plus, it contains all you will need, no need to invest in plugins.

(I'm sure others will advise on the other programmes out there, so no need for me to do that.)

[Andywilliams]

Thanks Wim, I will download the trial and see if I can get my head around it ! It sounds a bit complex 

[red dwalf]

I have been playing with startools, massively cheaper than pixinsight and for me, somewhat easier to us, it also does an excellent job at removing gradients, and i should know as my area of the country is awful for doing long exposure imaging.

[billyharris72]

Been using Astroart for a little while and like it a lot. It has gradient and vignetting removel (though possibly not as advanced as PI) and processing images is really easy and straightforward.

I get there impression that there are lots of good options out there, and if you pick one and stick with it it will get the job done.

Billy.

[happy-kat]

Startools excellent wipe tools plus handy star tidy up and CA removal filter.

[DaveS]

I use AstroArt for all my processing, but that's not a massive recommendation as my processing is a bit crude compared with the real hot-shots on here. AA5 will also handle your guiding and capture.

[Merlin66]

+2 for AstroArtV6

Punches well above it's weight for the cost and excellent support.