Dithering with a cooled camera 🎥

[bottletopburly]

So I’ve just got a zwo533mc having previously used a Nikon D5300 which I Dithered, now moving over to the cooled camera is it still worthwhile dithering or better not too , dither less aggressive, or dither after x amount of subs what’s the thoughts on this .

[Whistlin Bob]

I use a 1600mm. Without dithering I get walking noise, so definitely turn it on. However, I take shorter subs with it (it has lower read noise then my canon), so I only dither every five subs.

[Clarkey]

Absolutely - dither with whatever camera you are using.

[david_taurus83]

I don't bother with my Atik 460. No issues with walking noise etc. Different sensor tech though.

[bottletopburly]

@Clarkey @Whistlin Bob do you take Darks and bias or just bias and load  as a dark frame  when dithering.

[The Lazy Astronomer]

1 hour ago, bottletopburly said:

@Clarkey @Whistlin Bob do you take Darks and bias or just bias and load  as a dark frame  when dithering.

With a cooled cam, use darks. I believe the general consensus is bias frames are of no benefit with a cooled cam. Also, use flat darks.

[vlaiv]

Dithering is beneficial regardless of type of calibration you are performing. It is beneficial for more than combating walking noise - it reduces noise in general.

As far as calibration - try to do proper/correct calibration.

Bias is not needed unless you want to scale darks or have other particular reason to use them. Use just darks, flats and flat darks for your calibration.

[rickwayne]

Well, one reason to use bias instead of flat darks is that you don't have to redo them if you change your flat exposure. By the same token, my Ha flats' exposure differs significantly from my luminance. For me it would be four sets of dark flats (Ha, OIII, L, RGB) but only one bias.

I'm sure that plenty of people get by just fine without worrying about it, just as there are many who reuse flats for many nights' imaging. 

[CloudMagnet]

Dithering is still worth doing, not only will it take away any chance of walking noise, but you can also only drizzle effectively with dithered subs as well.

Haven't really noticed any difference between bias and no bias, so these are not as important.

[Whistlin Bob]

5 hours ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

With a cooled cam, use darks. I believe the general consensus is bias frames are of no benefit with a cooled cam. Also, use flat darks.

Yes- that's the advice I've always followed and been pleased with the results. I've not really experimented though.