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NGC7000 with the Fujifilm X-T3


Space Oddities

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Bonjour!

I just spent a couple weeks in the region Dordogne, in southern France. A lovely Bortle-almost-3 zone, and for once, with a garden. I realize what a luxury it is to have a garden with 360° view of the night sky! As someone who's living in a small apartment and having just a bike to drag all my gear to a public park... I could now literally image from my bed! :) 

Anyway, here is one of the targets I've been imaging. I wanted to test the Optolong L-eNhance with my daytime camera, the mighty little Fujifilm X-T3. I am really surprised at how well this stock camera handled the Ha! 

Here is a single 5 min sub, at ISO 1600, that I quickly processed with Lightroom on my iPad. The Moon was full!

My setup:

  • Fujifilm X-T3 (APS-C 26mp IMX571)
  • Sky Watcher AZ-GTi in EQ mode (with WO's awesome polar wedge)
  • William Optics WhiteCat 51 
  • Optolong L-eNhance 2"
  • ZWO ASIAIR
  • ZWO ASI120MM Mini, with 130mm f/4 guide scope

24FD2978-7BE3-4B7D-A96C-E37C854A9161.thumb.jpeg.67aa20fbdd5fb506baeea95b815a6065.jpeg
 

I captured about 4 hours worth of subs, but some of them need to be thrown away. I had the dither mode activated on the ASIAIR from previous sessions with my ASI1600, and since the X-T3 doesn't communicate with the ASIAIR, I believe the dithering happened while the camera was imaging. Luckily though, I'd say at least 75% of the subs look fine. I'll stack everything later and see what I got!

I also seem to have a slight spacing issue, I saw some elongated or weirdly shaped stars in the corners. I'm not sure I brought the right spacers and connectors. But well, as a beginner, that's really not a huge concern!

Pardon the poor processing, having only an iPad with me, I couldn't balance colors precisely. The final image should be more appealing! Still, I'd love to have your feedbacks!

Clear skies! :) 

 

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  • 7 months later...

I realise I never posted the final edit. Here it is! Still a lot to learn in PixInsight, but I'm happy with how it turned out, for a stock camera! This sensor is really something  

Here is about 1.5 hours of data, without any dark!

NGC7000_202008_XT3_v1.thumb.jpg.b2a07dc1828fc4a833195241f1f3a7a2.jpg

 

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  • 1 year later...

Hi, I have a similar set up (minus ASIAIR, which I want to buy, but given it does not communicate with Fujifilm X-T3 I am on the fence). If ASIAIR does not communicate with the camera, does that mean imaging, focusing, framing, auto run, has to be done manually from the camera? Would this mean,   images won't be visible on ASIAIR interface screen, and live stacking is not possible? How would plate solve work if the camera is not communicating with ASIAIR? Thank you! 

 

P.S.: I am totally new to DSO imaging! 

Edited by metamorphosis1081
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Hi, I use a Fuji X-T2 with Kstars/Ekos/indi. The driver has some limitations but it does work. Driver configuration points:

  • Leave the camera in T mode and only use exposures from the preset list - Bulb mode does not work properly.
  • Set the SDCard mode to Delete - on the Fuji this seems to control the RAM buffer usage as well. If you don't set this to Delete, the camera will take shots until it's RAM buffer is full and then hang. Note this also means that the images are only saved via indi (to your computer) not to the SDCard.
  • I set the Transfer Format to Native (RAW) not fits because on a Raspberry Pi (I'm running a RP4 8GB) the 'bayer' decode of the funky Fuji X-Trans CFA takes too long (10's of seconds). This means you can't run the fits viewer during capture. Image display for other functions eg. focus, plate solving alignment, PA work fine as they use the image un-debayered. Also note that the Transfer Format setting does not seem to get saved in the Capture module or passed from the indi driver settings - you have to set it each session in the Capture module.

I can't comment on ASIAIR though, sorry.

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3 hours ago, metamorphosis1081 said:

Hi, I have a similar set up (minus ASIAIR, which I want to buy, but given it does not communicate with Fujifilm X-T3 I am on the fence). If ASIAIR does not communicate with the camera, does that mean imaging, focusing, framing, auto run, has to be done manually from the camera? Would this mean,   images won't be visible on ASIAIR interface screen, and live stacking is not possible? How would plate solve work if the camera is not communicating with ASIAIR? Thank you! 

 

P.S.: I am totally new to DSO imaging! 

You won't be able to use the ASIAIR with the Fujifilm camera, indeed. It only works with ZWO, Canon and Nikon cameras (and not all models). Perhaps it will be compatible in the future, but it depends on Fujifilm sharing their API.

The only added benefit you would have, is that if you get a ZWO guide camera & guide scope, you can use the ASIAIR to goto/plate solve, guide, dither and polar align. What you'll have to do on your Fuji camera is focus, set the exposure, launch a sequence of photos (internal or external intervalometer). You'll have to check your pictures on the camera's screen.

I think the ASIAIR is a great addition if you want to stay mobile. If your imaging camera is a Fuji, you'll have to get a small ZWO guide camera to use the ASIAIR's main functions, but honestly the ability to polar align accurately, guide and plate solve is a huge help. Especially if you want to try narrowband imaging with a dual band filter, like I did above, and keep everything portable.

The current ASIAIR Plus is the 3rd generation, but your can pick up a used ASIAIR v1 for about 100€ here. It still works great, especially if you don't need to power up a lot of equipment. They also sell fast, if you ever change your mind!

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11 hours ago, Space Oddities said:

You won't be able to use the ASIAIR with the Fujifilm camera, indeed. It only works with ZWO, Canon and Nikon cameras (and not all models). Perhaps it will be compatible in the future, but it depends on Fujifilm sharing their API.

The only added benefit you would have, is that if you get a ZWO guide camera & guide scope, you can use the ASIAIR to goto/plate solve, guide, dither and polar align. What you'll have to do on your Fuji camera is focus, set the exposure, launch a sequence of photos (internal or external intervalometer). You'll have to check your pictures on the camera's screen.

I think the ASIAIR is a great addition if you want to stay mobile. If your imaging camera is a Fuji, you'll have to get a small ZWO guide camera to use the ASIAIR's main functions, but honestly the ability to polar align accurately, guide and plate solve is a huge help. Especially if you want to try narrowband imaging with a dual band filter, like I did above, and keep everything portable.

The current ASIAIR Plus is the 3rd generation, but your can pick up a used ASIAIR v1 for about 100€ here. It still works great, especially if you don't need to power up a lot of equipment. They also sell fast, if you ever change your mind!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an informative response, Pierre! I greatly appreciate it. I will get ASIAir and give it a try. 

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12 hours ago, LuckieEddie said:

Hi, I use a Fuji X-T2 with Kstars/Ekos/indi. The driver has some limitations but it does work. Driver configuration points:

  • Leave the camera in T mode and only use exposures from the preset list - Bulb mode does not work properly.
  • Set the SDCard mode to Delete - on the Fuji this seems to control the RAM buffer usage as well. If you don't set this to Delete, the camera will take shots until it's RAM buffer is full and then hang. Note this also means that the images are only saved via indi (to your computer) not to the SDCard.
  • I set the Transfer Format to Native (RAW) not fits because on a Raspberry Pi (I'm running a RP4 8GB) the 'bayer' decode of the funky Fuji X-Trans CFA takes too long (10's of seconds). This means you can't run the fits viewer during capture. Image display for other functions eg. focus, plate solving alignment, PA work fine as they use the image un-debayered. Also note that the Transfer Format setting does not seem to get saved in the Capture module or passed from the indi driver settings - you have to set it each session in the Capture module.

I can't comment on ASIAIR though, sorry.

This is very helpful! Thank you! 

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Pierre,

I am following up on our earlier conversation: how do you set up ZWO Guide camera on ASiAir for your above set up? Is it listed under main camera or guide camera in ASiAir interface? Would AsiAir work if no main camera is selected (as Fujifilm won't be communicating with it)?

 

Thank you in advance! 

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Hello!

you have to set the guide camera up as the main camera first, do the polar alignment, framing/plate solving, and then you simply disconnect it (in the ASIAIR app) and reconnect as a guide camera. The ASIAIR can work without a main camera connected, but you'll need one if you want to use plate solving and the polar alignment routine 🙂

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