Finally! My first CCD: IC 1396

[Grinde]

Hi guys!

At last, the weather allowed me to try shooting with my new gear, my 1st CCD & 2nd scope

It's been a long time since I was out shooting, october was the last time managed to get a succesful photo 'cause weather that didn't match my work-schedule.

Even though this is my 2nd year shooting, I've already learned that baad things happen when the weather doesn't play my way. I start to buy new gear, & this long snowstorm-period ended up very expensive... I bought my first CCD & a new scope. Moving from my Canon 50D DSLR, it was a huge differance in both imaging & processing. Also first time using MaximDL

So after sitting almost a month with my brand new gear under cloudy skies, it finally looked good enough to head out. Can't wait to try this under dark skies & calm wind!

After some coarse focusing, I shot my first 2 lightframes, 2*600s with a 5nm H-alpha filter. Very impressed with the detail even though it was full moon

& after that I tried to shoot 300s LRGB frames, but only got 2 of each filter before the clouds covered the sky. no refocus done either.

Full moon, gusting winds up to around 15 knots & horrible seeing.

Ha 2*600s

Ha + 2*300s each LRGB

Time for confession: The stuff I bought was a QSI 583wsg & Takahashi FSQ-106EDX. The wallet hurts aloot, but I consider this an investment for a lifetime hobby.

Thanks for watching, & feel free to give me tips since this is my first shot with ccd & LRGB processing

Regards

Jonas

[greenkat]

I'll bet your pleased though, even if the wallet is empty

Great capture

[Dave]

Great to see it's all coming together nicely.

[Coco]

Outstanding Jonas..

Tight sharp stars with new gear! very nice nebulosity . . . every credit due.. very well done indeed.

[prokyon]

First CCD? You are a natural talent!

Cheers

Werner

[D:Ream]

Just wow!

[Fay]

Very nice Jonas, we all have empty wallets!!!!

Fay

[russ]

Very nice, money looks well spent as the results are excellent.

[tiwar]

Your poor wallet, still a great image to "start" with!!

T x

[amyscott]

awesome , hope to get pics like this one daY.X

[Shibby]

Wow, what a nice image. Considering the wind and seeing you mention, you've achieved a really sharp and detailed result! Is that really only 2 luminance subs?

I know what you mean; I'm still waiting to try out the coma corrector Santa brought me, but it's been a month now without opportunity!

[Grinde]

Thanks alot ppl, I'm very happy with the result, so much more to shoot now with the ability to capture Ha. I mixed the 2 lum frames with the 2 Ha frames, worked fantastic!

[Grinde]

First CCD? You are a natural talent!

Cheers

Werner

M8, I just saw your first CCD images in your earlier thread, & I can't belive that's your first CCD shots, you're the natural here for sure! Really inspirational stuff, thanks for your comment. Interesting choice of camera, I haven't heard about Moravian until now. It really seems to deliver excellent results

[ollypenrice]

I have a wallet wth FSQ syndrome as well an NO REGRETS!!!

Well, what a start. Strong, rich signal. Everything in place. Splendid.

I may be wrong but did you apply the ha largely in luminance? I would suggest trying it in red only, blend mode lighten, at 30 percent. Then add a bit more till you feel it is done. Only then would I try a very light touch of Ha as Lum.

I also like Noels Actions 'local contrast enhance' on Ha targets.

Of course I might have guessed quite wrongly!

Olly

[Grinde]

I have a wallet wth FSQ syndrome as well an NO REGRETS!!!

Well, what a start. Strong, rich signal. Everything in place. Splendid.

I may be wrong but did you apply the ha largely in luminance? I would suggest trying it in red only, blend mode lighten, at 30 percent. Then add a bit more till you feel it is done. Only then would I try a very light touch of Ha as Lum.

I also like Noels Actions 'local contrast enhance' on Ha targets.

Of course I might have guessed quite wrongly!

Olly

Not bad at all, you guessed quite right, & I was using Noels 'local contrast enhance' too, almost like magic! The lum-files didnt show much else than the stars, since it was pretty low on the horizon in the lightpollution from my city (I need to find a new place, with clear skies to the west) . & of course, my first time shooting CCD & Ha, so I just couldn't keep my hands off all that exciting Ha data, might've overdone it quite a bit, I'll make sure to post reprocessed images, since I'm learning new ways to work the stuff all the time, thanks for great tips!