Imaging with the Samyang 135mm f2

[nephilim]

54 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Excellent Steve - great you've got everything working and got the chance to get out there and capture something after patiently putting your equipment together.  What a fantastic start on IC396.

Nice one Des, it's a great FOV with the 2600MC and I thought the stars looked fine (for the Samyang at F2!).  I've certainly seen plenty worse on my own stuff!  Do you have the "UHS" version of the NBZ? Just wondering as I've seen two on FLO.

It's enjoyable seeing the summer targets appearing on this thread and with July drawing to a close, I managed a couple of hours here and there after getting some help from @Adreneline to fight a spacing gremlin.

These are shot with the ASI183MM camera and Astronomik MaxFR Ha and OIII filters.  A mix of civil and nautical darkness.  Click through for larger, more detailed versions.

Veil Nebula - half at ~F2.4 and half at ~F2.8 - over two sessions - total of 1hr Ha and 1Hr OIII.

NGC7000 and IC5070 (North American and Pelican nebula) - ~F2.4 - 1Hr Ha and 54 mins OIII.  Standard HOO blend and then a mix with some Ha in the G and B channels.

Thanks for looking and roll on the (clear) darker skies.

@geeklee Thanks, I'm really pleased with it considering its my first image. Its taken a long time for me to finally get to this point (with a lot of great advice from SGL). I think I'll be concentrating on IC1396 for now to help hone my skills, the more exposure time I can get on it the better.
I'm completely hooked now.

Steve

[desmcm]

3 hours ago, geeklee said:

Excellent Steve - great you've got everything working and got the chance to get out there and capture something after patiently putting your equipment together.  What a fantastic start on IC1396.

Nice one Des, it's a great FOV with the 2600MC and I thought the stars looked fine (for the Samyang at F2!).  I've certainly seen plenty worse on my own stuff!  Do you have the "UHS" version of the NBZ? Just wondering as I've seen two on FLO.

It's enjoyable seeing the summer targets appearing on this thread and with July drawing to a close, I managed a couple of hours here and there after getting some help from @Adreneline to fight a spacing gremlin.

These are shot with the ASI183MM camera and Astronomik MaxFR Ha and OIII filters.  A mix of civil and nautical darkness.  Click through for larger, more detailed versions.

Veil Nebula - half at ~F2.4 and half at ~F2.8 - over two sessions - total of 1hr Ha and 1Hr OIII.

NGC7000 and IC5070 (North American and Pelican nebula) - ~F2.4 - 1Hr Ha and 54 mins OIII.  Standard HOO blend and then a mix with some Ha in the G and B channels.

Thanks for looking and roll on the (clear) darker skies.

Hi Lee,

These are fantastic images, really fab.

Looks like your new Astronomik  filters work a treat. I've ordered one of the new Baader CMOS optimised 6nm Ha filter for fast systems to try it out with my new 2600MM Pro. If it performs anywhere near as well as your new Astronomik fast filters, then I will be chuffed. 

The IDAS filter is the NBZ version not the newer UHS version. I think the difference is that the NBZ is good down (or  up!?!!?) to f2 whereas the UHS is for faster systems. Happy to be corrected. I think it is a very exciting time for dual band/ narrow band as the competition between filter manufactures seems to be hotting up. IDAS, Baader, Astronomik and maybe others have released new products in the last year aimed at fast systems like the 135. 

Cheers, Des

[Adreneline]

5 hours ago, desmcm said:

Testing out the IDAS NBZ dual band filter.
Samyang 135@f2 18 x 300s with ASI2600MC and ZWO EOS filter drawer.

Very nice Des. You even managed to start to get a hint of the elusive Squid nestling within Sh2-129. Great stuff.

Adrian

Edited July 31, 2021 by Adreneline
Typo

[Adreneline]

3 hours ago, nephilim said:

I'm completely hooked now.

I'll send a message to FLO to advise them to up their stock levels  

[geeklee]

2 hours ago, desmcm said:

The IDAS filter is the NBZ version not the newer UHS version. I think the difference is that the NBZ is good down (or  up!?!!?) to f2 whereas the UHS is for faster systems. Happy to be corrected.

Thanks Des.  Yeah this is how I understood it too with the original NBZ still working OK with slightly slower systems (F4) but the new one not so much.

2 hours ago, desmcm said:

I've ordered one of the new Baader CMOS optimised 6nm Ha filter for fast systems to try it out with my new 2600MM Pro.

That should be quite the combination alongside the Samyang especially given the FOV demonstrated already with the OSC version.

[nephilim]

2 hours ago, geeklee said:

Thanks Des.  Yeah this is how I understood it too with the original NBZ still working OK with slightly slower systems (F4) but the new one not so much.

That should be quite the combination alongside the Samyang especially given the FOV demonstrated already with the OSC version.

@desmcm  I'd be interested to see how well this performs as I'm looking at getting the new Baader 6nm Ha to go with my Asi533 & Samyang 135.

[Chefgage]

On 25/07/2021 at 14:31, Budgie1 said:

I managed a few hours last night and went for NGC7000 to give you another bookmark.  

This one is 220 x 30s exposures (so 1h 50m total) at ISO400 F4 on my unguided, unbalanced but PA'ed EQ5. This lens is so forgiving, I can't wait to use it with the ASI294MC on my HEQ5 to see what it can really do!  

I have taken your bookmark. I am currently sat here under bortle 4 skies imaging said ngc7000.  Gone for 180s subs at iso 800 and f4 on the samyang. Sitting it out for 40 subs as i am getting a bit cold (we are camping) and the beer is running out (well it is now 01:35)

Need to think about my bias and flats soon but maybe I will do them when it's light. 

Trying to get plenty of data while we are away and take advantage of these fantastic skies.

Just checked on the battery situation and I think I can squeeze a few more frames. Now that I am powering my heq5 pro and asiair pro of this battery I does not last as long. Looks like a new purchase is immenent.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Chefgage

[powerlord]

Well, got a Samyang 135mm last week. Here's first light. 141 mins with canon 6d and FF clip in UHC filter.

It's.. ok.. just very very busy with stars. reduced them a hell of a lot, but still seems busy.

I have to say, i reckon the pelican should be renamed europe - seems like great britain, spain, etc to me 🤨

[RobST]

16 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Well, got a Samyang 135mm last week. Here's first light. 141 mins with canon 6d and FF clip in UHC filter.

It's.. ok.. just very very busy with stars. reduced them a hell of a lot, but still seems busy.

I have to say, i reckon the pelican should be renamed europe - seems like great britain, spain, etc to me 🤨

Fantastic 😀 same setup as i have, i need to go back and try again, i didn't get that much definition on the pelican, maybe i should take my stars back farther as well, my shot is a few posts back 😀😀

[powerlord]

I shot at iso 3200 with 180 sec subs. 47 of em. I think around F2.8. there was a fair bit of light pollution to deal with in processing. It certainly is a nice lens. My diy electric motor focuser was useful to get the stars sharp, plus shutting the aperture a bit of course. I do want to try it with my asi1600. Hell I wonder if even the cheapo sv105 i have might work ok with it fully open.

I'm shooting with this on my second mount while doing mono stuff on the main one. I use az gti in eq mode for this. Could not get guiding to work properly last night though - had to just shoot unguided, but I think my PA was good enough to make it work. Gonna burn latest 3.30 firmware on the az gti before next outing and hope that fixes the guiding.

stu

[RobST]

2 hours ago, powerlord said:

I shot at iso 3200 with 180 sec subs. 47 of em. I think around F2.8. there was a fair bit of light pollution to deal with in processing. It certainly is a nice lens. My diy electric motor focuser was useful to get the stars sharp, plus shutting the aperture a bit of course. I do want to try it with my asi1600. Hell I wonder if even the cheapo sv105 i have might work ok with it fully open.

I'm shooting with this on my second mount while doing mono stuff on the main one. I use az gti in eq mode for this. Could not get guiding to work properly last night though - had to just shoot unguided, but I think my PA was good enough to make it work. Gonna burn latest 3.30 firmware on the az gti before next outing and hope that fixes the guiding.

stu

What is the clip in filter that you use? Thinking of getting one but seem so many to choose from 😀

[powerlord]

optolong

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/light-pollution-reduction/optolong-uhc-light-pollution-filter.html

Seems to do the job.

[daemon]

Cropped & over processed probably, but here's an attempt at NGC7000 with the SY135mm and ASI1600 in Narrowband SHO. About 40 mins each channel.

[RobST]

Great definition, this is the first image where i can see the shapes easily 😀 I'm going back to my image to see if i can get more definition on my pelican 🤣

[powerlord]

@RobSTIf you have (or get) an Ha filter, you can get great results (imho) with a DSLR camera, combining some Ha NB with your RGB. I got this for example with my 6d (with my 72ED not Samyang, but principle still applies)

Edited August 7, 2021 by powerlord

[nephilim]

So with no processing experience whatsoever I decided that the best route to 'properly' process my first image (Samyang 135) would be to bang my head against the wall with PixInsight. I spent a total of 16 hrs yesterday watching (copying) tutorials until I had a kind of work flow going.
I'm happy with this but it obviously needs better processing skills to bring out the best of it than I have at the moment but I'll persevere & it can only get better. 
IC1396 50x 180sec with the Samyang 135 @f2.8 & Zwo ASI533MC-Pro
Optolong L-eXtreme
30 x Darks but no flats or bias with this one as I'm just getting used to those. 
All stacking & processing in PI but I could find no way to export unless I put it into PS as a 16bit tiff which then meant having to spend a fair while with levels & curves which is where I spoilt it a little I think.

Thanks for looking & all CC very welcome

Steve

Edited August 7, 2021 by nephilim
Add equipment used

[Chefgage]

2 hours ago, nephilim said:

So with no processing experience whatsoever I decided that the best route to 'properly' process my first image (Samyang 135) would be to bang my head against the wall with PixInsight. I spent a total of 16 hrs yesterday watching (copying) tutorials until I had a kind of work flow going.
I'm happy with this but it obviously needs better processing skills to bring out the best of it than I have at the moment but I'll persevere & it can only get better. 
IC1396 50x 180sec with the Samyang 135 @f2.8 & Zwo ASI533MC-Pro
Optolong L-eXtreme
30 x Darks but no flats or bias with this one as I'm just getting used to those. 
All stacking & processing in PI but I could find no way to export unless I put it into PS as a 16bit tiff which then meant having to spend a fair while with levels & curves which is where I spoilt it a little I think.

Thanks for looking & all CC very welcome

Steve

In pixInsight just do save as and then save as say a jpg or PNG.

[nephilim]

1 minute ago, Chefgage said:

In pixInsight just do save as and then save as say a jpg or PNG.

I tried both but it just comes up with a message saying certain work processes will be lost saving in these formats or am I missing something?

[Chefgage]

1 minute ago, nephilim said:

I tried both but it just comes up with a message saying certain work processes will be lost saving in these formats or am I missing something?

Yes it does say that but it is ok to save it.

[nephilim]

3 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

In pixInsight just do save as and then save as say a jpg or PNG.

I'm working on IC1805 atm & tried saving as a png but still the same msg

[nephilim]

Just now, Chefgage said:

Yes it does say that but it is ok to save it.

Ah, thanks i'll give it a go, I'm very new to PI, well all of this really.

 

[Chefgage]

1 minute ago, nephilim said:

Ah, thanks i'll give it a go, I'm very new to PI, well all of this really.

 

I think what it is telling you is that your process history and workflow will not be saved as you are just saving the image as a jpg. You can of course save the whole project which then when you load it up has all your workflow showing (if you minimise the tabs).

[nephilim]

2 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

I think what it is telling you is that your process history and workflow will not be saved as you are just saving the image as a jpg. You can of course save the whole project which then when you load it up has all your workflow showing (if you minimise the tabs).

Thanks for the info. It worked fine & has saved me a lot of hassle trying to export as a tiff into PS & faff around in there.

[powerlord]

3 hours ago, nephilim said:

So with no processing experience whatsoever I decided that the best route to 'properly' process my first image (Samyang 135) would be to bang my head against the wall with PixInsight. I spent a total of 16 hrs yesterday watching (copying) tutorials until I had a kind of work flow going.
I'm happy with this but it obviously needs better processing skills to bring out the best of it than I have at the moment but I'll persevere & it can only get better. 
IC1396 50x 180sec with the Samyang 135 @f2.8 & Zwo ASI533MC-Pro
Optolong L-eXtreme
30 x Darks but no flats or bias with this one as I'm just getting used to those. 
All stacking & processing in PI but I could find no way to export unless I put it into PS as a 16bit tiff which then meant having to spend a fair while with levels & curves which is where I spoilt it a little I think.

Thanks for looking & all CC very welcome

Steve

Nowt wrong with that - you've got some nice detail from the Ha, and some Oiii too (if PI is rendering that as yellow). Be interesting to see it processed in hubble pallet. You sort of don't make it easy for yourself if yer a beginnner starting with PI - possible the worst designed piece of sofware I've ever seen in my life.

It does feel like there's more detail there getting lost in the noise a bit - but I don't know PI (and don't want to!), so can't help u there. Maybe give startools trial a try ? you can always screenshot the result and post here (can't save in trial version).

How are you using the L-extreme ? is is a 1.25 screwed into an M42 converter into the ASI533 ?

Oh, also if you can seperate the Ha and Oiii, you should be able to just use the Ha for the stars and they should be much less bloated - as Oiii/blue tends to really bloat those stars in my experience (and 1 month of it in NB...)

 

[nephilim]

22 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Nowt wrong with that - you've got some nice detail from the Ha, and some Oiii too (if PI is rendering that as yellow). Be interesting to see it processed in hubble pallet. You sort of don't make it easy for yourself if yer a beginnner starting with PI - possible the worst designed piece of sofware I've ever seen in my life.

It does feel like there's more detail there getting lost in the noise a bit - but I don't know PI (and don't want to!), so can't help u there. Maybe give startools trial a try ? you can always screenshot the result and post here (can't save in trial version).

How are you using the L-extreme ? is is a 1.25 screwed into an M42 converter into the ASI533 ?

Oh, also if you can seperate the Ha and Oiii, you should be able to just use the Ha for the stars and they should be much less bloated - as Oiii/blue tends to really bloat those stars in my experience (and 1 month of it in NB...)

 

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, PI is really hard to get to grips with but some of its processes are great. Its my first time doing AP so all my gear is a learning curve & I thought 'How complicated can PI be.....?'....Erm, very 😬 I'm on a tutorial at the moment with noise reduction & I know you can separate the channels in PI but how to work with them when you have is anyone's guess. I did wonder what was causing the star bloat.
The filter is the 1.25" & screwed into an annular ring which is itself screwed into the 11mm spacer.
I'll have a look at StarTools as I can see i'm going to probably end up with several pieces of processing software 🙄

I'll take your advice on board, cheers

Steve