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Old 21-11-2007, 12:54 AM
Dennis
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Canon 40D 1st light – M42 core.

Hello,

Finally mustered the will to drag the ‘scope out tonight for 1st light with the 40D. Here is the result; the core of M42. A single 60 sec exposure with in-camera noise reduction, no flats. Raw file converted to jpg and cropped in CS3.

Tak Mewlon 180 F12 with Reducer/Corrector at F9.6, unguided.
Canon 40D, 60 secs, ISO400.

Live view was terrific but when you use MLU the Canon Utility interval timer is disabled. Also, I discovered “My Menu” which is a bit like “Favourites” so I added MLU to My Menu and can Enable/Disable it without having to go through the previous deeply nested menu structure.

The 40D eats batteries and you really need the mains adapter when doing this stuff.

Cheers

Dennis
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  #2  
Old 21-11-2007, 03:24 AM
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iceman (Mike)
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That's great, focus looks spot on! Can't wait to see more from this beauty, Dennis.
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Old 21-11-2007, 07:11 AM
jase (Jason)
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Great work Dennis. Pleased to hear the 40D has some potential. I think at F/9.6 you're going to need more exposure time. A fine first light indeed. Looking forward to seeing more.
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Old 21-11-2007, 07:25 AM
Dennis
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Thanks Mike & Jase.

The single 60 sec photo was just me playing with the new toy and certainly I would need to auto guide and grab much longer exposures to do this region justice.

However, early thoughts are that I prefer the HW/SW combo of a dedicated astro ccd camera such as my SBIG ST7. Maybe its just early days with the 40D, using the SW, etc. but CCDSoft seems to have a better user interface, workflow etc because it was designed to be astro imaging centric whereas the Canon suite seems less integrated or smooth in its appearance and workflow?

An example of this is having to access the Menu on the 40D “on camera” to change certain parameters, whereas everything in CCDSoft is done at the computer. This is simply due to the fact that the Canon is a DSLR designed for “normal” photography whereas the ST7 is a purpose built astro ccd camera.

However, it was just lovely seeing a glorious, big chip, gorgeous colour image appear on the screen after staring at my B&W 765x510 pixel ST7E for 3 or 4 years!

Cheers

Dennis
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Old 21-11-2007, 07:27 AM
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2020BC (Bill Christie)
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Nice buy. Crank up the volume, Dennis! Let's see what that bad boy can do!
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Old 21-11-2007, 07:32 AM
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Dennis what do you need to adjust on the camera itself?

Almost all of the settings can be changed via software, in my experience. The only exception is MLU, but that's set once at the beginning of the session and not touched afterwards.

Have you considered downloading the ImagesPlus trial, or one of the other DSLR capture/workflow programs to try it out?
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Old 21-11-2007, 07:46 AM
jase (Jason)
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Get yourself a copy of MaximDL Dennis. I have the CCD/DSLR version (not that I own a DSLR!). This would allow you to use the one piece of software for both cameras and maintain a similar processing workspace. I'd challenge someone to find better astronomical imaging acquisition and processing software! Of course it ain't cheap, but you pay for what you get.
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Old 21-11-2007, 07:48 AM
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Nice first light Dennis.... we don't usually get many core closeups - it's like a new object!
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  #9  
Old 21-11-2007, 08:03 AM
Dennis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman View Post
Dennis what do you need to adjust on the camera itself?

Almost all of the settings can be changed via software, in my experience. The only exception is MLU, but that's set once at the beginning of the session and not touched afterwards.

Have you considered downloading the ImagesPlus trial, or one of the other DSLR capture/workflow programs to try it out?
Hi Mike

Thanks for that. Last night, it appeared that when you “Enable” MLU, it greys out the interval timer button, so you are not able to set the 40D to grab say, 10 off 300 sec exposures. Also, with MLU Enabled, it looked like I was limited to 30 sec exposure as when I set Bulb, I couldn’t find a place to set the exposure to e.g. 60 secs, so I resorted to using the remote cable release. This may be just a learning curve as this was my first night with new camera and the unfamiliar Canon software, so I’ll have to investigate further as intermittent clouds prevented me from doing much more.

I’ve already got ImagesPlus 2.8.1 so I’ll have a dig around in there and see what it can do, although I suspect as that version preceded the 40D, I’ll probably have to upgrade to a newer release that caters for the 40D?

I have noticed that when imaging at focal lengths of +1500mm, any source of vibration needs to be eliminated in my set up as if definitely blurs the stars from what should be pin points.

Cheers

Dennis
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Old 21-11-2007, 08:16 AM
gbeal
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Nice first light Dennis. I am with Jase sorry. Maxim, and if you use both CCD's and DSLR's, then the MaxDSLR add on.
The sequence setting will make your interval timer redundant as soon as you try it. Great software.
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Old 21-11-2007, 08:42 AM
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Lovely closeup of the core Dennis, a great first light.

Cheers
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Old 21-11-2007, 09:48 AM
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dugnsuz (Doug)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis View Post
Thanks for that. Last night, it appeared that when you “Enable” MLU, it greys out the interval timer button, so you are not able to set the 40D to grab say, 10 off 300 sec exposures. Also, with MLU Enabled, it looked like I was limited to 30 sec exposure as when I set Bulb, I couldn’t find a place to set the exposure to e.g. 60 secs, so I resorted to using the remote cable release. This may be just a learning curve as this was my first night with new camera and the unfamiliar Canon software
Hi Dennis,
I encountered the same problem 1st night out. Seems you cant program in multiple bulb exposures unless you disable MLU. But with MLU enabled you can't access the remote functions of the software.
A programmable remote is the work around or live without MLU!
Cheers
Doug
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Old 21-11-2007, 10:10 AM
Dennis
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Thanks for the comments guys. To put my 1st light experience in perspective, I should perhaps say that coming from a dedicated astro ccd background, using a DSLR intended for terrestrial use may inevitably “feel” clumsier by comparison. Exacerbating this, maybe it’s not such a good idea to introduce myself to the 40D and EOS utility for the first time, late at night, under the dim red light of a feeble LED head torch!

I was very impressed with the lack of noise in the 40D image, even at ISO 800, and that’s before I discovered and “Enabled” the “In camera noise reduction” and “Noise reduction at high ISO” settings. Live View is really gob smackingly fantastic.

Oh, and did I mention the almost instantaneous USB2 downloads, compared to the sloooow 16 sec wait for my (older) parallel ST7 – now that was delicious!

Cheers

Dennis
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Old 22-11-2007, 10:13 AM
Dennis
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Okay, here’s what I’ve discovered so far about the Canon 40D and the EOS Utility for Remote Shooting, in terms of the system’s use as an astro photography tool;

Some definitions:
  • The camera used was the Canon 40D, the hardware.
  • EOS Utility (EOSU) is the software for communicating with the camera, allowing the camera to be controlled from a computer. This is also referred to as Remote Shooting.
  • Live View is the camera’s capability to view the real time image.
  • Camera Live View is when the real time image is displayed on the camera LCD display.
  • Remote Live View is when the real time image is displayed on the computer.
My observations so far:
  • Live View can be displayed on the camera LCD alone, the computer display alone, or both simultaneously.
  • Magnifying the image is possible either from the Camera Live View or Remote Live View.
  • Mirror Lock Up (MLU) does not work when Live View is active. However, when Live View is active, the mirror is already locked up.
  • When Remote Live View is active, the EOSU interval timer button becomes greyed out, thus disabling the interval timer function.
  • In EOSU the Bulb setting can be selected whilst Remote Live View is active, but only single manual exposures are possible, for as long as you keep the software button pressed.
  • With MLU Enabled, the “Shutter release button” in the EOS Utility was not active.
When Remote Live View is active on the computer only, you cannot change settings using the camera body.
By pressing the 40D “SET” button to make Camera Live View visible on the camera LCD, you can then change settings on the camera body.

If the TC-80N3 remote release/timer is connected to the camera whilst Remote Live View is active, you can still fire the shutter manually with the remote.

On the CDROM, there were two versions of the EOS Utility Manual. Mine was for the EOS-1D Mk III and EOS 40D. The other manual was for models such as the 350, 400, 30D, etc.

All of the above are my early impressions based on two sessions spent investigating how this system works and therefore may be subject to errors of understanding and operation on my behalf, as this is all very new to me. This camera is a winner!

Cheers

Dennis
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Old 22-11-2007, 10:59 AM
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alan meehan (Alan)
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hi dennis very good for first shot ,the 40d looks like the one for me as i have a lot of trouble focasing on the 400d ,live focas would help heaps
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Old 29-11-2007, 09:37 PM
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Dennis
I have now used my 40D twice since it has arrived so have similar experience to you. I am also from a background of a 0401E chip (an audine version not the SBIG) and agree about the amazing fast downloads.
I haven't bothered using the mirror lock up at all and only used the remote live view for focusing. Do you get lots of shake?
I just set the camera to manual on the dial and all other settings like bulb etc from the EOS utility.
I found taking darks, offsets and flats pretty easy and the flow was fine.
Flats are so much easier than I am use to. Just a T shirt over the front, aim at a light on in my office and let the camera choose the exposure time. They were short enough to not bother with darks.
For processing I have always used Iris and the flow is similar, just the actual steps are a bit different. I used this plan:
http://www.astrosurf.com/buil/iris/roadmap/help2_us.htm

The size of files produced is amazing compared to the ST7 size CCD. After processing the image I posted in this thread and deleting all the intermediate files I had about 2 gig on the recycle bin.
I agree the camera seems a winner. Now if this rain would go away I could check it out more.
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  #17  
Old 30-11-2007, 06:39 AM
Dennis
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Hi Terry

Thanks for the report – it’s nice to hear of other users experiences. I enjoyed your 47 Tuc image – nicely resolved to the core and razor sharp; that VC200L is a good imaging system eh. How are the stars at the edges of the frame, as the VC200L has a reputation for keeping them tight right to the edge?

I think that I have seen some evidence of vibration when using low shutter speeds on the full Moon when I didn’t use MLU, although I wasn’t using a remote release so it could have been my fat fingers!

I’m really enjoying using the 40D for day to day photography too – it sure is a nice system.

Cheers

Dennis
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