Astrotrac

[edjrgibbs]

In May of last year I bought an astrotrac on AB&S in a moment of madness. For various reasons I've only had a chance to test it recently with two clear nights. Well, one clear night and one where it clouded over after 20 mins... I have to say I'm impressed. Its incredibly easy to use and seems pretty accurate. I use it on a Triopo carbon fibre tripod with a Hahnel tripod head. I found a molle shotgun scabbard (randomly) on ebay that the Astrotrac fits into perfectly. I think this will make a perfect travel mount for holidays and wild camping. Pics below of 30 x 1m subs on a D500. Need to push it to 2-4 min subs. 

 

[edjrgibbs]

Should also say, taken on a D500, 105mm Nikon lens at f4. 

[Delboy_Hog]

Very nice images! 

I've just been getting started with my Star Adventurer, and have really started to enjoy the wider field of view that you get using a camera and lens on these types of mounts, as a bit of a change from the views you get using the scope.  The lenses are often 'faster' than the scope too, so even shorter subs can reveal all sorts of goodies in your images.  There's a whole load of wonderful dusty stuff around M45 that you'll start to pick up for sure if you can lengthen the subs to 2 - 4 mins.  My next challenge is to figure out how to take flat frames, as it seems they'll be pretty essential to getting great images with the DSLR and fast lenses.

Looking forward to seeing more of your images!

Derek

[edjrgibbs]

3 minutes ago, Delboy_Hog said:

Very nice images! 

I've just been getting started with my Star Adventurer, and have really started to enjoy the wider field of view that you get using a camera and lens on these types of mounts, as a bit of a change from the views you get using the scope.  The lenses are often 'faster' than the scope too, so even shorter subs can reveal all sorts of goodies in your images.  There's a whole load of wonderful dusty stuff around M45 that you'll start to pick up for sure if you can lengthen the subs to 2 - 4 mins.  My next challenge is to figure out how to take flat frames, as it seems they'll be pretty essential to getting great images with the DSLR and fast lenses.

Looking forward to seeing more of your images!

Derek

Agreed, I got lazy a few years ago and stopped taking flats and darks. I need to get back into the habbit. Flats are easy as they're quick you just need an even light source but darks are a bit of a [removed word]... I'm keen to try my 70-300mm out at the long end to see how it compares to my Equinox 66. Can't wait for the south of France summer holiday now!

[Delboy_Hog]

Haven't tried flats before, but hopefully I can crack it!  Darks are a pain, and I've been experimenting with sort of manual dithering, and moving the camera a wee bit between frames, and it seems to help reducing noise.  I need to do a comparison with taking dark frames, as if I can ditch darks, I will!  Patience is the main issue I have with dithering though, as spending a couple of hours moving the camera every couple of minutes isn't ideal, especially when you're sat out in the cold.

Yes, I've only used an 85mm lens so far, but am in the market for something in the 150 - 300mm range as there are a number of targets that I think look great at that focal length.  Looking forward to hearing how you get on at the longer end of the range.

Oooh, the south of France trip sounds good.  I was out there just before Christmas and got very lucky with the weather - whereabouts are you heading?  Hope you have a great time!

[edjrgibbs]

30 minutes ago, Delboy_Hog said:

Haven't tried flats before, but hopefully I can crack it!  Darks are a pain, and I've been experimenting with sort of manual dithering, and moving the camera a wee bit between frames, and it seems to help reducing noise.  I need to do a comparison with taking dark frames, as if I can ditch darks, I will!  Patience is the main issue I have with dithering though, as spending a couple of hours moving the camera every couple of minutes isn't ideal, especially when you're sat out in the cold.

Yes, I've only used an 85mm lens so far, but am in the market for something in the 150 - 300mm range as there are a number of targets that I think look great at that focal length.  Looking forward to hearing how you get on at the longer end of the range.

Oooh, the south of France trip sounds good.  I was out there just before Christmas and got very lucky with the weather - whereabouts are you heading?  Hope you have a great time!

Most likely the Bergerac/Bordeaux region. I was there a few years ago and had fantastic clear skies. Where did you go?

[Delboy_Hog]

I was over on the other side, a couple of hours North of Marseille.  Definite on the list of places to go back to!

Hope you have a great trip and we'll look forward to seeing your photos!