My pic - rubbish I'm afraid!

[Astrosurf]

I took the plunge and brought in my Canon EOS 40D which I've never really used in anger except Moon pics, and hoping I could get some advice on how to use it for DSO imaging but I never got round to it! I really thought that set on auto it would work fine, but some kept being blurry even with spot metering. I guess I have to get used to its foibles! Ah well, I tried! Sorry guys.

Alexxx

[Astrosurf]

More . . .

[Astrosurf]

And more . . .

[brantuk]

Thank goodness for that! I thought my glasses were broke or my eyesight had worsenned lol

[barkis]

They ain't too bad at all Alex. Thanks for posting them, You must have found Pete highly photogenic, he is on most of them.

It seems the school was a superb venue for the event, and this pictorial sequence adequately tells a good story of the day.

Lots going on, and everyone having gained knowledge, which is brilliant.

Ron.

[adamsp123]

Cripes I must loose weight!

[steppenwolf]

Thanks for posting those Alex - jeez, I look as old as my dad ...

[MG1]

Nowt much wrong with those...I'm fact it's nice to see the people behind the names sometimes...

Btw, spot metering doesn't affect the focus. It is simply one of the methods by which the camera determines the exposure.

In spot it looks at a small area in the centre of the view finder (normally around only 5% or less of the total area) and determines the exposure there. It's handy if for example you're snapping something or one that is against a dark background. You want the subject to be correctly exposed, not necessarily the background.

The other modes either average the scene or take and average and 'weight' that against the centre point.

You will probably find that the aperture selected may have caused a reduced depth of field and that will result in some of the subjects (in the foreground or background, ie infront of or behind the focus point) being out of focus.

Have a look at the data for the images and see what aperture setting the camera selected. I'm guessing maybe an f4 or f5.6?

This happens because if shooting indoors there may not be enough light and so the camera will select a large aperture to shoot through. Unfortunately, a large hole (small f-number) has a small depth of field.

Roughly speaking, depth of field is the area in front and behind the focus point that is also in focus.

So what is needed to get more people included in focus is a smaller aperture, ie a larger f-number say f16 or larger.

But a smaller hole means less light an therefore in order to get a correctly exposed photograph we need to increase the amount of light getting to the sensor. You can do this by either reducing the shutter speed so that it is open for longer, using a flash so tht the subjects are illuminated more, or adjust the sensitivity of the sensor by changing the iso setting.

Slower shutter speeds increase the chance of blur (Which actually could be the other reason for soft images). As a general rule try to keep the shutter speed to be quicker than 1/focal length of lense. Eg for a 50mm lense don't go any slower than 1/50th of a second.

Increasing the iso setting increases noise (or grain in film) but generally modern chips will go to 800 with litle visible noise.

So the best option is a flash, either direct (most light but can be harsh) or bounced of the ceiling (less light and can give colour cast)

Sorry if that's not clear/helpful. I'm recovering afte a wedding and have to go for family lunch now and so am in a bit of a rush.

Am happy to claify anything later though.

Hth

Mike

[James]

Cripes I must loose weight!

Not just you...

I never understand why people buy and use camera's that add on large paunches and remove hair from people's heads in pictures. :cool:Not only that but Alex's camera seems to have removed several inches from Steve's height too

James

PS Nice pics otherwise by the way

[MG1]

Oh and if the cam has been modified for astro and the replacement filter isn't the same thickness as the canon ir blocker, then there will be focus issues.

Gtg

Mike

[Astrosurf]

Thank goodness for that! I thought my glasses were broke or my eyesight had worsenned lol

[Astrosurf]

Nowt much wrong with those...

Mike

Thanks very much for that Mike! I actually meant the focussing, silly me! I had too much to sup at a party last night. I used to deal with depth of field a lot when I first started photography but have been lead astray of late by brilliant auto settings ! I'll have to start to take notice of it again and get back up to speed and stop being so lazy!

My Panasonic Lumix bridge rarely gets focussing wrong, whatever the light, as long as I focus on an important point and then hold my finger on the shutter while I frame the pic. It's a truly wonderful camera.

[Astrosurf]

I hate myself in pics too: weight, age etc, etc! The camera's far too honest!

[adamsp123]

Cripes I am going grey as well!

[Astrosurf]

You're distinguished Pete. Men can get away with it, blast them!

[EA2007]

is that a white Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain in the first pic? one of the new edge HD ones on a CGEM mount? thought they were silver.

love the way that they have used the phrase 'HD' in their new line......its an analogue viewing system fair enough stars may appear more resolved but calling it High-Definition is surely aimed at wowing a new audience? wouldn't mind one though

i am wanting to make mine a nice midnight blue colour, think blacks a little dull tbh.

anyone have knowledge of re-colouring a scope?

the pics look cool people, i remember a meeting at Cardiff's astronomy cafe in Cathays...good opportunity to speculate and ask questions to those who have more knowledge.

[adamsp123]

Thats it! change of lifestyle, in future I will walk to the local chippy and get fish and chips with mushy peas, heck a good walk, 2 portions of veg, plus fish is supposed to be good for you.

[steppenwolf]

Not only that but Alex's camera seems to have removed several inches from Steve's height too

Actually, you are right, Steve was a real surprise - that soft lilting voice on the telephone and then you meet the man-mountain - scared the heck out of me ....

[Astrosurf]

Thats it! change of lifestyle, in future I will walk to the local chippy and get fish and chips with mushy peas, heck a good walk, 2 portions of veg, plus fish is supposed to be good for you.

Sounds good!

Aaaaahhhh, mushy peeeas (Homer Simpson drool).

[jgs001]

You've done well Alex, nice set.

It looks like your focus issues are because you set the camera on Auto. I think the camera will then use and select what it things is the best focus point, and lock focus on that. In the first shot for instance, the camera has selected the scope to be in sharp focus... now I'm sure some on here would say that the scope is the key focal point in that shot but I'm not sure that was the intent. Rather than full auto, using P mode is a better bet as you can then control the focus points, selecting the middle one and it'll stay there.

HTH

[Astrosurf]

Thanks John, I apreciate that. It certainly looks that way. I must admit I do like a bit more control! I'll force myself to practice with the Canon over the hols. My Panasonic is just so easy the Canon doesn't get a look in!

[catalin]

it looked like there was enough light so even a not so good lens should have been enough for the camera to focus correctly. try changing the ISO number to 400 or 800. then, leave the camera on A (aperture priority) and you should be fine.

[Astrosurf]

Thanks catalin. The lens was a relative cheapy zoom so it's never as good as the Panasonic's Leica lens which has spoiled me!. I'll have to get a better one. It's always on 400 but I'll certainly try aperture priority and see what happens!