ZWO cameras - Did this camera really create this and other questions

[GasGiant]

Dragged the new scope out last night and pointed at the moon. WOW ! just B E A utiful.  I found the 9mm uncomfortable so switched to the 30. So bright ( I need a filter! )

So Ive been looking at cameras and more specifically the ZWO range.

I have a Dob so I am aware that its not really the the best mount for astro photog. However, I really would like to take footage of the moon passing and some images.

Im lost ! 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras.html

There are so many, gulp.   Does anyone have any recommendations as to which one to buy ? I have a 10" Stellalyra Dob. I dont have pots of cash, so that is a deciding factor !

I read somewhere ( though ive lost it now ) that they can connect to you phone as well as a PC. This is a big advantage for me as I am a point and shoot type of guy.

If anyone can post moon images using these cams, that would be fab.

 

Also, this guy recons he has taken all these incredible images using the ASI120 MC @ 158 gbp. Is this possible or is it clever stacking/post processing.

Seems like astro photog is a wormhole I should be wary of going down. 🤣

 

[ollypenrice]

20 minutes ago, GasGiant said:

Also, this guy recons he has taken all these incredible images using the ASI120 MC @ 158 gbp. Is this possible or is it clever stacking/post processing.

This is a false dichotomy.  It's both.  Almost all astrophotos that you'll see anywhere will have been made from stacked and post-processed multiple exposures. It is possible to shoot something as bright as the moon in a single, untracked exposure provided the focal length is not too long and the F ratio fairly fast. (F ratio is a simplification, here, but it will do for now.) 

This was with a Canon 400L lens, a 250D body and hand held at F5.6, braced against a house wall.

Your focal length is more than three times this, meaning that the moon's apparent movement will make it track across more pixels in a given time, introducing blur. While your telescope can resolve more detail with its longer focal length, it will lose what it has gained because of the motion problem.

Basically, astrophotography is not a point and shoot activity. If that's what you want, I'd stick to a conventional camera and appropriate lenses. They don't have to cost as much as the Canon 400L!

Olly

 

[happy-kat]

If you do get a ZWO camera and pick one up second hand you'll need one with a USB3 port to be able to use it with the mobile app ASICAP which is quite good. 

These cameras can also come with a small very wide lens which can get a great swathe of sky.

Under resources check out the field of view calculator to see what field of view you'd get but there is a member on here using a manual dob and tracking but hand and an ASI462MM taking fantastic images of the planets and international space station. A colour camera would be easier then a mono.

[happy-kat]

Planets move super fast in general you take videos then the processing software (not ASICAP) takes the best images from the thousand or so in the video (which ASICAP took out other software like Sharpcap) and stacks them, this gives a clearer image. You then process this image to create your final image. This is done on a PC

Software might use

ASICAP, Sharpcap, Pipp, Registax, autostakkert, astrosurface, winjupos, GIMP 

The entire Moon would need to be a mosaic if wanted a full disc

The more expensive the camera then less noisy it is and bigger the sensor as a crude observation

Edited October 1, 2023 by happy-kat

[happy-kat]

The planet images in that video are not likely single frame images but created through a capturing and processing process ending up with what's in the video. On a lucky day with a stable atmosphere you might get good single shot Moon images

Edited October 1, 2023 by happy-kat

[GasGiant]

Thank you folks.  

Im wondering if a DSLR mount will be better suited for me. Ive got an XT2 I could use.

 

Surely if the moon is nice and bright I can select a fast shutter speed, this would stop motion blur of the slow moving moon ??

 

Its all very complex 😬

[Mandy D]

11 minutes ago, GasGiant said:

Thank you folks.  

Im wondering if a DSLR mount will be better suited for me. Ive got an XT2 I could use.

 

Surely if the moon is nice and bright I can select a fast shutter speed, this would stop motion blur of the slow moving moon ??

 

Its all very complex 😬

It is really quite simple. You appear to be over-thinking things. A DSLR on a tripod or DSLR mounted on the focuser of a telescope via a T2 type nosepiece will enable you to take photos of the Moon and video footage. I shoot stills of the Moon at up to 2.7 metres focal length with a DSLR on my Dobsonian mounted Newt and my Skytee 2 tripod mounted RC6, with no problems and get superb results. The only thing I have to avoid is walking around when I am shooting high magnification video of the moon. I shoot at 1200 or 2400 mm FL and let the Moon float through the field of view. I determine it's direction by monitoring for a minute or so, then tilt the camera to match if I want to.

The Moon is extrmeley bright at -12.7 when full, so very fast shutter speeds can be used. At ISO-100 with a near full Moon and f/5.9 on my 8 inch, I might be using 1/400s, which is sufficient to freeze the motion. Always use a remote shutter release in Muppet (Mup) mode - this is where the camera lifts the mirror on the first press and takes the photo on the second. Wait 2 - 3 seconds after lifting the mirror to take the picture to ensure the camera is absolutely still. You can always up the ISO if shutter speeds are getting a bit long. With a 2x Barlow or focal extender, you will be down around 1/100s.

The Dobsonian mount is generally rock-steady, once locked on the azimuth and as long as you don't move around on the patio. I've shot video at 2.4 metres using my Dob and, as I said, you just keep still as any movement you make vibrates the telescope which will show in your video. You can edit out short bits of vibration quite easily in video editing software. I've cut out vans passing in front of my telescope when shooting the Sun across a road as it is setting. I never track for general lunar photography with a DSLR. I might do in the future as I go deeper, but that is sometthing to work up to. For now, I don't want the aggro and I don't think you do, either.