I knew this would be a mistake...

[R26 oldtimer]

I was quite happy as a visual observer. Then I got myself a cheap analogue camera to venture into eaa. Faint fuzzies quickly became very interesting. So far, so good.

Now, I also have an old Nikon D50 laying around for some moon snaps at prime focus with my Bresser 127L, and a couple of nights ago while observing omega nebula, I thought: why not?

Out goes the eyepiece, in goes the Dslr. Rough focusing and I took 25 30sec shots. Two nights ago I stacked them (14 out of 25) and started playing in PS with levels, curves and noise reduction filters.

I know now why this is so addictive, and as I said "I knew this would be a mistake..."

 

2m17.tif

3m17.tif

Edited September 20, 2018 by R26 oldtimer
images added

[Knighty2112]

Uh oh! I can see your bank account starting to reduce down already! Hehe!  

[RolandKol]

That's it!...

Hide all your cards and wallets...

 

 

[Ant]

Ha ha ha  you are in trouble

[R26 oldtimer]

Now my ed80 wants a turn...

[Cozzy]

Now you gone and done it!!!?    welcome to the Dark Art?

[R26 oldtimer]

4 hours ago, Ant said:

Ha ha ha  you are in trouble

I don't think so. My wife was very excited as she witnessed the stretching of the picture where the nebulocity "magically" appeared out of nowhere.

I'm sure she's going to be just as excited when a Heq5 will appear out of nowhere too!

What? Won't she??

[Paul67]

Bad lad

[Ant]

38 minutes ago, R26 oldtimer said:

I don't think so. My wife was very excited as she witnessed the stretching of the picture where the nebulocity "magically" appeared out of nowhere.

I'm sure she's going to be just as excited when a Heq5 will appear out of nowhere too!

What? Won't she??

Damn youhaveit bad lol

Do not under any circumstances let her work out the price per image that you get from your kit. Thats when the trouble starts

ant

[SteveNickolls]

The more images you take the less cost per exposure ?

Enjoy,

Steve

[ollypenrice]

It's not a mistake, it's inevitable. What is out there is too gorgeous to ignore.

Olly

[R26 oldtimer]

After several impulse buys, including an azeq5 mount, and an unmodified canon 600D, last weekend I gave a shot at the rosette nebula. Actually I gave it 110x30 sec shots with my ed80, although I think I should have gone for 60 or 90 sec subs. Here are two versions slight and heavily processed. Any feedback is welcomed.

 

[Starwiz]

On 20/09/2018 at 18:43, R26 oldtimer said:

I don't think so. My wife was very excited as she witnessed the stretching of the picture where the nebulocity "magically" appeared out of nowhere.

I'm sure she's going to be just as excited when a Heq5 will appear out of nowhere too!

What? Won't she??

Just tell her you're having a mid-life crisis, and it was either this or a high-powered motorbike. ?

[R26 oldtimer]

Ahhh, I already enjoy my aprilia tuono, even for a couple of trackdays per month...?

[Starwiz]

1 minute ago, R26 oldtimer said:

Ahhh, I already enjoy my aprilia tuono, even for a couple of trackdays per month...?

Oh well, you can't use that one then.  I'm in a similar dilemma with my CBR1100xx Super Blackbird.  ?

[astrosathya]

Looks like you've either not taken darks, or you've over stretched the image so much that with the nebula, the noise too has been stretched. Also, take flats and bias frames. They will vastly improve the image.

[SIDO]

We loose a lot of good visual observer's this way, first they tinker in eaa then its on to the hard stuff and before you know it their off spending thousands of dollars on the stuff and eventually discover photographers are only as good as their next image but buy then its too late ?

Edited March 20, 2019 by SIDO

[Paul73]

Scary stuff..... says the visual only chap.

As mid life crisis go, imaging the heavens is pretty innocuous stuff. Your wife is a very lucky lady. 

Good luck with your journey to the dark side. We will miss you.

I’ll get back to the observing section now.

Paul

PS. I’ve just acquired an EQ Mount..... But I know that I’ll always be Dob at heart.

[R26 oldtimer]

10 hours ago, astrosathya said:

Looks like you've either not taken darks, or you've over stretched the image so much that with the nebula, the noise too has been stretched. Also, take flats and bias frames. They will vastly improve the image.

Yes, the battery went dead by the last sub, so no darks or flats. I will have an extra battery next time so darks and flats will be taken!

9 hours ago, SIDO said:

We loose a lot of good visual observer's this way,

 

8 hours ago, Paul73 said:

Good luck with your journey to the dark side. We will miss you. 

I wish I had the persistence and patience that AP'ers have, but I don't. For me AP and eaa is still a form of observation, revealing the fainter stuff that my eyes can't. Plus it gives you something to work on those cloudy nights.

I consider myself (hobbies wise) jack of all trades but master of none. I took up over the years numerus hobbies as photography, guitar playing, fishing, old motorcycle restoration and more, only to find out that I am a 20/80% guy. That means that I invest 20% of the time or money required to master something to get 80% of the satisfaction that comes with it.

It's a nice thing not to be overcommitted to hobby, especially if you have to be 100% commited in work and family. On the other hand I do admire those who invest and excell in their hobbies, sometimes to even professional levels.

[astrosathya]

On 20/03/2019 at 22:24, R26 oldtimer said:

Yes, the battery went dead by the last sub, so no darks or flats. I will have an extra battery next time so darks and flats will be taken!

 

 

You can get a DSLR to Mobile Phone Power Bank adapter and your camera can fire away for days.

[R26 oldtimer]

And this is my go at.... what else, M42.

Again approximately 100x30 sec subs, no calibration frames.

[Marmo720]

Very nice. I went neck deep without actually doing any observing/imaging. Bought HEQ5 Pro, got camera, now shopping for scopes.

Blame @RolandKol ?

As far as midlife crisis goes, it was between astronomy or paragliding. Missus seems happy with astronomy so paragliding has been postponed to next year! 

What is your next target? 

[carastro]

Quote

And this is my go at.... what else, M42.

Again approximately 100x30 sec subs, no calibration frames.

Wow that's a big leap forwards.

Your next steps should be to increase the image length by guiding, (not necessarily on this target which is fairly bright), and to get learning to do Flats, darks and bias.  They and in particular the flats will improve your images no end, and make processing easier.

Carole 

[RolandKol]

1 hour ago, Marmo720 said:

Very nice. I went neck deep without actually doing any observing/imaging. Bought HEQ5 Pro, got camera, now shopping for scopes.

Blame @RolandKol ?

As far as midlife crisis goes, it was between astronomy or paragliding. Missus seems happy with astronomy so paragliding has been postponed to next year! 

What is your next target? 

My Sincere apologies Mo!

[Starwiz]

2 hours ago, Marmo720 said:

As far as midlife crisis goes, it was between astronomy or paragliding.

Been there too during my first midlife crisis, with 29 parachute jumps almost 30 years ago now.  Much happier these days with the ability to explore deep space. ?