Movie frame imaging

[george7378]

Hi all,

Is it possible to take a short movie with a compact digital camera, and use software to extract every single frame as a separate image, and then stack them to make an astrophoto?

I am completely new, and this may be a bit of a silly question!

Thanks.

[Cornelius Varley]

Not a silly question. If the video can be saved as an AVI or can be converted to an AVI using third party software then there is no problem. It would work for planetary and lunar photography with a suitable bracket holding the camera up to the eyepiece for afocal imaging.

Peter

[lunator]

Yes

It can be done

My avatar is an image of Clavius which I got by holding my camera upto the eyepiece and taking a video.

I then stacked the image in Registax software and produced the pic.

Cheers

Ian

[george7378]

Great - I don't think getting an AVI format will be a problem (my camera probably saves videos as AVIs already).

Does Registax grab each separate frame and then stack them?

Thanks - I can't wait to try this out!

[Cornelius Varley]

Yes that's how Registax works, AVI in, single stacked image out.

Peter

[lunator]

George

It should work ok

I had a small issue in that Registax didn't recognise my AVI. I have a fujifilm camera.

It was a simple fix with a piece of software called virtualdub that allowed me to save my AVI to another AVI type that Registax could use.

You may be ok and be able to load straight into Registax

Cheers

Ian

[george7378]

This sounds great! I have a reflector - would you recommend pointing the camera down the eyepiece or removing the eyepiece and putting the camera in its place? Also, what are my chances with DSOs and the ISS?

[Cornelius Varley]

Afocal imaging is your only choice with a fixed lens. I would guess DSO imaging would be out because of the need for long exposures. You might be able to image the ISS if you can fix the camera up to the eyepiece and then track the ISS using your finderscope.

Peter

[Doc]

This is what I'm going to attempt when the moon is out next. I'm fixing my Sony Handycam to my 16" dob and am going to take a short video of it and convert in Registax. I've bought a firewire lead so the images go straight onto my laptop.

[george7378]

I'd like to try this on the Moon and Saturn, as well as other planets. It would be nice to try a sky scape too, without a scope.