M33 attempt. DSLR and 300mm f5.6 lens.

[MKHACHFE]

Hi all,

Wow, this was HARD to process. Certainly my toughest challenge since o started AP this past April. It took me a couple of weeks, maybe an hour a night, processing and restarting, over and over again. I'm semi pleased with the final result. It's not my best image, but Ive done all I can.

Details:

- Star Adventurer Mini
- Canon 4000d (unmodified)
- 70-300mm canon lens f5.6 at 300mm
- Bortle 6 area
- 250x 30s subs
- 20 flats taken a few days later
- 20 bias and darks.
- stacked in DSS
- processed in Photoshop.

As always, I continue to be astonished at what is possible with a relatively cheap setup.

Cheers. Thanks for looking

[Sunshine]

That’s a great image! the effort paid off and it looks great!

[Pryce]

Great image with good detail! 

But it looks like you clipped the blackpoint which may have lost you some detail, especially in the background. 

 

But all in all very good😁

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Really nice result!

[MKHACHFE]

7 hours ago, Pryce said:

Great image with good detail! 

But it looks like you clipped the blackpoint which may have lost you some detail, especially in the background. 

 

But all in all very good😁

Yes, i agree. I really struggled with balancing getting detail and contrast out of the galaxy while not over processing the bg and stars. 

 

Thanks for your critique. Noted! 👍

[MartinB]

Nice M33.  I think it is a particularly difficult galaxy to process because it always seems to be enveloped in it's own haze.

[MKHACHFE]

7 hours ago, MartinB said:

Nice M33.  I think it is a particularly difficult galaxy to process because it always seems to be enveloped in it's own haze.

Agreed. It's also a very easy target to overprocess. This is the result of my 20th attempt probably. 

I'm happy with it. I know my kit isn't the best and so I don't expect perfect results. As long as I have fun, learn a bit more, push myself and my kit and get a reasonably nice image to show off to friends and family and my peers on this forum, it's all good. 

ne day I'll own a EQ 8 mount, a telescope and far better camera and all the filters and flatteners I need. For now,  I'm happy with what I have and the results I've achieved so far. Thanks for your comments everyone.

Cheers