Charting my progress in NEOWISE imaging

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I just thought it would be interesting to post a comparison of the different shots of NEOWISE I have made, from the very earliest attempt, to the most recent, using different approaches, almost all images shot with my Canon EOS 80D, with a variety of lenses, and mounts.

Here is my very first shot, on July 7, using the Canon 200mm F/2.8 on tripod, ISO 800 0.3 s F/2.8 exposure. I was quite chuffed at this result

I took a series of these shots, and cropped and stacked 30 to achieve this:

A few days later, on July 10, I went out once more, and also shot one wide field with the Canon 17-55 F/2.8, ISO 1600, 5 s at F/2.8, 20mm focal length

Perhaps not brilliant, but it compares favourably with a smartphone image I took a few days later

 

I also created a stack of 30 images taken with the 200mm F/2.8 at ISO 1600, F/2.8 and 1.3s exposure.

This is just about the best I could do from a regular tripod.

The next night I switched to the EQ3-2, and too far longer subs, at lower ISO. Below is a single sub, ISO 200, 30s, and ISO F/2.8

Stacking 10 of these produced a rather better result than anything I could achieve on a tripod, as can be seen below

 

I did the same with the Sigma 50-100 mm F/1.8, stacking 9 exposures at ISO 200, 30s @F/1.8, and got a wider perspective

 

Having more-or-less settled on my technique, I only used the Sigma zoom in the last attempt on July 15, but maybe I should set it wider. This last image is a stack of 20 30s exposures

[kirkster501]

Wonderful, all of them.  Well done.

[andrew s]

Interesting journey,  thanks for sharing. Regards Andrew 

Edited July 17, 2020 by andrew s

[Rob]

Really nice, great work indeed. I took few yesterday and will be back out with ED and a tracking mount tonight. Lets see....

[FaB-Bo-Peep]

Absolutely superb!