Very, very new photographer

[Mamba]

With Jupiter now becoming visible I would like to attempt to take some images but am quite clueless on the mechanics of it.
I have the equipment, an f7.5 refactor, a decent mount and a Canon EOS700D camera, I just don't know how to set the camera to capture a series of images and then process them.
Basically I am looking for a book that takes an absolute beginner through the steps to enable me to knock Damien Peach off his perch, yeah right.
Any suggestions for reading material and if available in Australia would be well received.
Dave Cooke

[DarkKnight]

Hi David,

If you share the make and model of your 'scope and mount I'm sure you will get enough info here to get you started.

[kens]

The normal method for planetary imaging is to take a large number of frames via video and stack them using tools like AutoStakkert! to take advantage of "lucky imaging". Some resources here:
http://www.autostakkert.com/wp/guides/

[Mamba]

Hello Kev,
I am and always have been a visual observer and I am lucky enough over the years to have progressed to a TSA 120 on a Losmandy Gemini mount so the bits are there, the Canon is the family camera to which I have fitted the t-ring, I have had a crack at some deep sky stuff but apart from using Deep Sky Stacker have never used any processing software.
I was rather hoping that there would something along the lines of Michael Covington's Digital SLR Astrophotography, a brilliant book on what it does but does not address DSLR movie mode.
Dave Cooke

[Mamba]

Thank you Ken,
Will spend some time with autostakkert, I really am starting from a very low base.
Regards
Dave Cooke

[luka]

David, as Ken said, run the DSLR in a movie mode and record few minutes of video. Process the video in AutoStakkert which will pick and stack the best frames for you. Doing it this way makes a whole world of difference compared to single frame images.

You can also load the final image into Registax and do wavelength processing. When done properly it can really make a huge improvement to the image.

[sil]

David, I haven't come across a dummies guide, but whats out there including the commercial astrophotography software is often aimed at pros using a mono imaging camera (basically just a cooled sensor, not what most people call a camera) along with filters and i've encountered many who will demand this is the only way to image.

Plus imaging methods can differ depending what you want to shoot. A ZWO cam is a good starting point but you can use dslr. From my own experiences I can suggest do not bother trying to get good exposure of jupiter in your camera, under exposure will help in processing but what looks exposed in camera is often over exposed (clipped to white) and ruined. Practice, practice, practice. If you are want to take a shot when a planet is at perigee dont wait until the night, spend the preceeding week taking shots of it and get your settings optimal. when you record video of a planet through a scope it appears to swim in the view due to the atmospheric effects. This is why we record video at the highest frame rate so yo hopefully capture enough frames where the distortion is small and you then stack several hundred frames to create a single stacked image to bring out details with wavelet processing. So keeping the planet in the frame of shot is important and only shoot a 2-3min video to work with (well, several of them but only work with the best not all) because the planets are rotating frames more than about 3min apart wont align well and you lose the chance of getting detail.

forget about putting a dslr on a telescope, pressing the shutter button and getting a photo like what you see in a magazine. this is not how its ever done.

do not delete your first videos when you get disappointing initial results like many beginners. as you learn you can reprocess the videos with different methods and software.

autostakkert, registax and PIPP are all free and help massively and pretty much all you need. I do most of my work with PixInsight (commercial) but still I can only match the wavelet processing in my planetary images I get using pipp + registax

[Mosc_007]

DSLR's are not ideal for Planetary work. They are not the best in Movie mode under low light. You can get a cheap planetary camera which will be a huge imporovement. DSLR are fine for Deep Space though. I used two DSLR's for about 18 months for DSO's untill moving on to a CCD.

[Mamba]

Luke,
Yes, I intended using movie mode and stacking, I have only used DSS and then only on deep sky images with the Canon but the results were encouraging, hence the desire to usurp Mr Peach.

Sil,
Yes, I was rather hoping for an Idiots guide to fantastic, amazing, gob smacking planetary photographs but am prepared to settle for rather average, blurry blobs that I, at least, recognise to be bits of the solar system.
Seriously, I do understand the need to gain some prior experience before Jupiter appears before my bedtime.
Many thanks for the time you have taken to respond to my original enquiry, it is a little overwhelming.
In my Astro life I have two images of which I am inordinately proud, the Tansit of Venus in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, having emigrated to Australia in 2011.

Charles,
You seem to have doused my idea of using DLSR for planetary imaging, I have the chance of an ImagingSource DBK21AF618AS but understand that this is a FireWire camera. Can you give any advice on this camera.
Thanks to all who have responded to my original post.
Regards
Dave Cooke

[thegableguy]

Nothing wrong with trying a DSLR to begin with! As long as you don't expect Hubble-like results you might be pleasantly surprised what you can manage. The below image was taken with the base-model Nikon DSLR through a perfectly ordinary 8" f/5 Newt.

Don't use DSS for this sort of thing. Use Registax (also free). There are loads of tutorials on how to use it but it's fairly basic. Shoot 1 min of video on a clear night, keeping the planet right in the centre of the viewfinder, and plug the resultant video straight into Registax.

You're actually lucky with Canons as they have a great crop mode that Nikon doesn't have - basically it shoots 1920 x 1080 video using the native sensor resolution, ie a smaller section of the sensor, so you'll get much better resolution.

Give it a shot, let us know how you go.