ATIK428ex OSC for Galaxy Season?

[AndyThilo]

Hi

So I thinking of a camera for galaxy season. My QHY268C is quite amazing but not really suitable for smaller galaxies as with coupled with my 130mm triplet the FOV is still quite wide.

So I was looking at options. A SCT is out of the question, I simply can't be bothered with collimation, so a camera change could be a good route to go. Looking at CMOS, there's really only the 183, but that has tiny pixels and provides an image scale of 0.54 so will be a headache with guiding. 

However, the 428ex, whilst it's low resolution, has larger pixels and gives an image scale of 1.03 and a FOV perfect for galaxies. Example below with M51 (my favourite)

268C & 130mm @ 910mm

 

428ex with 130mm @ 910mm

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[Laurin Dave]

I'd just use your 268 and crop your images if needed, however you'll often find (as I do with my Esprit150 and APSH chip ) that there are numerous smaller and not so small galaxies in the fov which give interest and context, also there are various galaxy groupings where the native 268's fov of view would work very well... eg Markarians Chain and neighbours .. Leo Triplet ..  M81 M82 and neighbours 

[AndyThilo]

2 minutes ago, Laurin Dave said:

I'd just use your 268 and crop your images if needed, however you'll often find (as I do with my Esprit150 and APSH chip ) that there are numerous smaller and not so small galaxies in the fov which give interest and context, also there are various galaxy groupings where the native 268's fov of view would work very well... eg Markarians Chain and neighbours .. Leo Triplet ..  M81 M82 and neighbours 

Yes this is the other option, I'm sure the 268 will crop down ok, but not sure how much detail I'd lose. 

[Laurin Dave]

And its free!   I cant see why you 'd lose any detail on your target Andy   ..  your image scale will be 0.8arcsecpp but you'll be seeing/mount limited any way

Dave

[DaveS]

You won't be losing detail, you're still imaging at 0.8"/pixel, and as Dave says, just crop as needed. I find the smaller, but similar resolution ASI1600 works just fine on my 130 f/7 triplet. In fact I've just ordered a QHY268M to get a larger FoV at similar scale.

[AndyThilo]

Yeah I guess you're right, although I always feel it's better to edit and finalise photos at their native FOV where possible. Maybe it's just in my head though lol

[Laurin Dave]

I’d just give it a go Andy and see what you get..  btw a larger fov will make gradient removal easier 

[AndyThilo]

Yeah true, although I don’t get any with my GT81 or 130. Haven’t done any flats yet. DBE in Pixinsight takes care of anything else. I guess I should start doing flats, I’ve got the panel, just keep forgetting.