Hoya 28mm captures

[Rustang]

Cygnus and Cassiopeia at 28mm.

Now these are not the best but I'm really enjoying using the star adventurer and it seems more than capable of taking 5min subs! While this really isant the best camera and lens to be using, I've really found it fun to capture some wide field shots. I used my modified Canon 600D with a clip in Optolong L enhance filter and an old Hoya 28mm f2.8 manual lens which has some pretty bad coma. It was difficult to find infinity focus with the filter in place so after the first night trying it out I found where the new infinity focus was on a building in the distance during the day. The filter also made it harder to find and compose a target but I managed ok with some 10 sec test shots to help compose my image. I would like to get my hands on a Modified 6D at some point to really help sharpen things up and its definitely something I'm going to be continuing doing and hopefully really improve on.

Please forgive the noise they are only 35min and 1hr stacks, stacked with dark's so I wouldn't  zoom in on them anymore! 😊

5min subs at approx f3.5 iso 800 Bortle 6

Edited September 12, 2021 by Rustang

[Budgie1]

It's interesting to see the wider view of the objects we image close up. I can just make out the Cygnus Loop in the bottom of your first image.

Over the Summer I got hold of a Samyang 135mm F2 lens and have just got the Williams Optics mounting ring from a Redcat 51 to mount it on. I've done a few imaging sessions with it connected to my modified EOS 1300D but now I can attach the ASI294MC Pro to the lens and put it on the HEQ5. The next clear night will be with this setup and going for the American and Pelican.

[Rustang]

1 hour ago, Budgie1 said:

It's interesting to see the wider view of the objects we image close up. I can just make out the Cygnus Loop in the bottom of your first image.

Over the Summer I got hold of a Samyang 135mm F2 lens and have just got the Williams Optics mounting ring from a Redcat 51 to mount it on. I've done a few imaging sessions with it connected to my modified EOS 1300D but now I can attach the ASI294MC Pro to the lens and put it on the HEQ5. The next clear night will be with this setup and going for the American and Pelican.

Yeah it's really cool seeing lots of targets in one image, and the simplicity of the set up is refreshing. I just need to look at improving the camera and len's over time to improve on the quality of the image but I'm really happy with the start of this setup and the Star adventurer has been great and I'm impressed with being able to do 5min long subs with it. 

Edited September 12, 2021 by Rustang

[Budgie1]

I looked at the Star Adventurer but decided to stick with either my HEQ5 or EQ5 to keep the setup the same and just swap the scope/lens. I always intended using the ASI294MC with the 135mm lens anyway so the cabling is the same.

I can recommend the Samyang lens, the 135mm F2 gives a good flat FOV for most targets and if you want to go wider they also do the likes of 14mm, 35mm & 85mm versions with the ED lens.

This is the FOV I got with my first try at NGC 7000 using the 135mm on the EOS 1300D. This is 220 x 30s subs at F4 & ISO 400 mounted on my EQ5, polar aligned but no counter weight (I didn't have one light enough) and just using sidereal tracking. I can't wait to see what the ASI294 can get on this target, now I have some proper darkness.

[Rustang]

3 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

I looked at the Star Adventurer but decided to stick with either my HEQ5 or EQ5 to keep the setup the same and just swap the scope/lens. I always intended using the ASI294MC with the 135mm lens anyway so the cabling is the same.

I can recommend the Samyang lens, the 135mm F2 gives a good flat FOV for most targets and if you want to go wider they also do the likes of 14mm, 35mm & 85mm versions with the ED lens.

This is the FOV I got with my first try at NGC 7000 using the 135mm on the EOS 1300D. This is 220 x 30s subs at F4 & ISO 400 mounted on my EQ5, polar aligned but no counter weight (I didn't have one light enough) and just using sidereal tracking. I can't wait to see what the ASI294 can get on this target, now I have some proper darkness.

Thats a lovely image. I was looking at a second set up and the Star adventurer definitely suits that for now, obviously that limits me a little but I recon I can definitely get better images with some equipment upgrades. I've been pondering the Samyang 135mm for a while and will probably treat myself once I've upgraded the camera. I have also thought about using a OSC but I just really like the simplicity of a DSLR and lens and I've seen some super images with just that so will continue down that road for now.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Rustang