Flats through a light panel?

[paul11]

Hi guys I’ve just had one of these light panels for taking flats arrive. Do you need to take the flats in a dark room so you only get the light from the panel? or does it not matter. And do you need to take flats through all filters LRGB or just the L filter, thanks,,,Paul.

[Psychobilly]

All of them...

[paul11]

Do they need to be taken in a dark room? and how many flats are needed per channel?

[MartinB]

Whether you do it in a darkened room depends on how good the light seal is between panel and scope and how "light tight" your camera is. Not a problem if it's a DSLR I shouldn't imaging but some CCD cameras let through some light. If it makes life a lot easier not to do it in a darkened room you can always test the set up out with the EL panel switched off. Run some images and see if light is getting in.

[ollypenrice]

I strongly recommend doing it in the dark. I usually do it just before knocking off. Light getting in past the edges can create gradients and light gets in everywhere, even with my apparently lightproof OSC camera. No idea how it does it but it does it!!

Olly