DSLR setup for planetary imaging

[glend]

After a rather poor attempt at imaging saturn I think I need some advice. I tried bracketing ISO and exposure times to find a good setting but I am missing something. Are there any suggestions as to how to pin down the best combo of ISO and exposure setting to get the best image of the planets? Are stacking, darks, etc required when dealing with these relatively bright objects? If so how many? Is guiding required, and off what?

The equipment is as per my signature line below, so the scope is an f12 with a 1500mm focal length. The NEQ6 is correctly polar aligned and PAE is active for that sky area.

[dannat]

try it on video mode -take a video of the planet & use astro program to get a single image

[raymo]

Webcam is the way to go, as you have more control of the camera's
functions, such as gain, contrast, frame rate, brightness, etc: and you don't have to convert the files to AVI for Registax or other software. Maybe some high end DSLRS have more control; I don't know.
raymo

[glend]

Hmm, I do have my ZWO ASI130MM camera that I am using for guide camera function, I could use that to image with I guess. It's only mono through and I don't have a filter wheel yet.

I will try the video mode on the DSLR first.

[raymo]

You can get a webcam on ebay, or at Kmart for about $15-20.
15minutes to modify it, and you're ready to go. Your choice.
raymo

[jjjnettie]

Captured using my 550D, 10"Dob, 4x Powermate
I captured 3 minutes of video, converted the MOV file to AVI using Any Video Converter. It was stacked in Autostakkert, then opened in Registax to apply Wavelets, then did a little bit more processing in Photoshop.
Hope this helps. :)

[leon]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but that's a hell of top image Jeanette.

Leon

[jjjnettie]

Thanks Leon. :)

[Astro_Bot]

Here's another one. Although mono high-speed cams may, on average, yield better results ... and I plan to eventually get one myself ... you can get pretty good results with a DSLR and a little perseverence.

LX200 10", 2.5x Powermate, Canon 600D ... I think it was ISO 800. Captured with Liveview 5x zoom (which is almost exactly 1:1 pixel crop) in Backyard EOS. It was 4500 frames of video at 25fps, with the best 15% stacked in Autostakkert and sharpened in Registax wavelets. Post processed in GIMP. Seeing was pretty ordinary.

Mine's not too bad, IMHO, but I like JJJ's better. :)

[jjjnettie]

Seeing is King when it comes to imaging. Some nights it's just not worth taking the covers off the scope. And then you get nights where it all just comes together.
The important thing to do is to practice, and practice and practice. Get out there as often as you can. It can be a long and frustrating learning curve, but totally worth it in the end. :)