DSLR killer "clash of the cameras" he he he

[strongmanmike]

Ok Ok sooo it's not meant to be a competiton, Ahhhh, all good fun :D

I've been working on a four night project (secret...Ooooooh) and my imaging run finished at aroud 4am and I thought...Eric??? :P Ah, lets see what I can do on Eta with my big black super cooled $10K CCD camera, filterwheel and el-cheap'o 6" refractor (ok, little joke), in the approx 1 hr I had left at my disposal before twighlight.

Eta was getting low so I had to operate quick before the sun started to light the sky.

The final compilation is an LHaRGB = 10 20 10 10 10min so a bit over an hour of imaging. This is far from enough data usually but Eta is bright luckily. Unfortunately I was taking the Blue data when Eta was a mere 20deg or so above the horizon so the seeing was poor and sky bright (over Newcastle) and as such the blue frame suffered from more bloat than I would have liked. I dealt with it the best I could. Anyway I did my best under the circumstances. A good long imaging run with Eta passing through the Meridian would have produced a better result.

Seriously simple processing on this in Astroart4 and no noise reduction was used, just a simple LRGB combine and some minor tweeks in PS 6 (all I have, doh!).

All though it is the full frame (not cropped), I haven't posted the full size like I did with the Antennae as it is hard to appreciate such a large object as Eta Carina Nebula by scrolling around too much, what I've posted is still too big but any smaller and too much fine detail gets lost - the full frame tiff file is more impressive.

I've gone with a less vibrant more natural looking colour balance but this will depend on your monitor I guess?

Colour (2.3meg):

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/94204109/original

Luminance (2meg)

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/94205075/original

Still on dial-up? here are links to smaller jpegs, don't click on the image - scroll down to the bottom of each image page and click on "original" size to see the big files.

Colour
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/94204109/large

Luminance
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/94205075/large

Let the battle begin :lol:

Mike

[dugnsuz]

Holy crap...the detail is amazing in the both images!!!
Very nice Mike
Cheers
Doug

[Dennis]

Metaphorically and literally out of this world! Absolutely gob smackingly gorgeous rendition Mike. Top stuff.

Cheers

Dennis

[leinad]

Whoaah! :eyepop:
That just became my new desktop wallpaper on my 27" LCD.:thumbsup:

[Alchemy]

well i guess its OK:lol::lol:

id join in but its going to take 4 sessions to cover that much area.

this is a much more friendly stoush, might just give you the edge over ezy, BUT he might have another crack at it........CMON eric WHOOOO WHOOOO WHOOO (dslr cheering squad here)

Nice image mike!

[norm]

That is absolutely mind blowing. Move over David Malin :lol:

[strongmanmike]

Ahhh but so might I? :whistle:... it was lower in the sky than I would have otherwise bothered, only did it for Eric's sake really and it filled in the last bit of the night before the sun got in the way. An imaging run that passes through the meridian will produce a better result for sure - still, happy with the result considering.

Mike

[Omaroo]

Jeez you ***t me Mike. :thumbsup:

[Rigel003]

I used to think that Eta Carinae was relatively boring compared with M42 but you've changed my mind. What a stunning photo! No SLR is ever going to approach that level.

[Peter Ward]

Must be CWAS time again :)

Nicely done.

[Zuts]

How about a cooled, modded Canon 1D with 20 megapixels :)

Paul

[strongmanmike]

:D......:whistle:

[RB]

...and I bet if you used a DSLR you would have got far worse CA than you did in this image........ :poke: :lol:

Seriously though, simply stunning result Mike, can't imagine what you would've got out of a full imagining session on this one.

[h0ughy]

what a typical cheap shot:P;), and for a few photons more we have an argument:whistle: - did Mike wear shorts or not:shrug:? I say he wore track pants:lol:

Nice shot Mike, no labels but you seem to be the Shane Warne of imaging - the sheik of tweak:whistle::rofl:

[strongmanmike]

Hey! Quit poking me with that damb stick...I'm fagile :sadeyes:

The blue rings around the blue stars will be more pronounced on some moniters, one of my two moniters (both good screens) shows almost none while the other highlights it a bit more (annoying). The Ha blending can result in this effect and I haven't absolutely perfected it yet. I don't find it too objectionable at this degree though...?

Fragile "ex"-strongman :)

Mike

[strongmanmike]

No, I didn't even use any text messaging for this image...:shrug:

..err?..maybe I would for this one though? :D

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/60449061/large

Mike

[Bassnut]

wow Mike, most excellent. And unlike most wide field super sharp Etas ive seen (full screen), you can zoom right in and the image retains its sharpness and detail, THAT is unusual.

And such a good opportunity to compare with Erics effort, finally a direct comparison can be made.

And you know what, the similarities are striking, I come away still stunned by both, niether "kills" the other (Cam wise). I suspect the sharpness in your pic has a fair bit to do with the vast difference in optics, and the fact that Eric images in JPEG.

Obviously your pic is technically superior, but its also obvious that DSLRs have come a long way, AND that Erics pic is (even more now with this comparison) a testament to his skill. Again, just imagin what he could do with your CCD :P.

Things would be different with a dim object of course, with very long exposures, but for now, this has been a very interesting experiment. Thank you Mike, and congrats to both :thumbsup:.

[strongmanmike]

Ohhh! :(

You guys going to SPSP BTW? Riley and I are.

Mike

[EzyStyles]

:lol:LOLLL thanks for thinking of me at 4am Mike :P hehee you big boy ;) . Im speechless of your ETA shot fantastic result for sure. My "CCD Killer" thread was more directed at Astro websites and businesses putting DSLR cameras down to boost their sales with CCD cameras. I have seen websites (i won't name any names) labelling their CCD cameras as a "DSLR KILLER" and thats exactly what it said on their website, a "DSLR KILLER"!!!. i mean thats comparing Ferrari and Datsun's. Ofcourse a Ferrari can ripe a datsun to shreads! :lol:

[strongmanmike]

Hey I knew where you were coming from in your CCD killer thread, no worries there, I love your work you know that, my image was just a little friendly stunt that's all... I was thinking of you, truly! :)

Mike

[EzyStyles]

The imaging world was getting abit boring this makes it more entertaining for all of us!! :)

[Ric]

Hi Mike, I can't add much more to what has already been said.

Fantastic image mate and well done.

Cheers

[strongmanmike]

Oi..he ain't getting ma big black bird anytime soon, I lub her too much :D..mind you wouldn't mind getting ma hands on a DSLR - so much quicker for a dude like me who will be strictly in-the-car portable imager after 26 March :(

Glad you liked the image mate...going to SPSP this year?...they've organised some new rules because'o me this year :lol: :P

[Alchemy]

DOH !!!! he's got me there:doh:

[Bassnut]

Mike with a DSLR?, mmm thad be a turn around, but yeah, quicker.

Yep, ill be at the SPSP, be nice to catch up. And lets see what havoc you can cause with the rules this year :whistle: :D.

[marc4darkskies]

Whoa!!! Ripper Mike! :eyepop:

Can't wait to see the 4 nighter!!!

CCD is the clear winner by a country mile of course :D:lol:;).

Cheers, Marcus

[Peter Ward]

Eric, you churn out images at a prolific rate, well presented but with Bantamweight scale......perhaps you could get out of your comfort zone and try imaging something intrinsically dim, not much angular size and give it some real scale?

I'm sure you're ready to step into the heavyweight division. (but I wouldn't take on big Mike just yet!).

[Garyh]

I am sure Eric would do very well if he upgraded to a astro ccd. But like a lot of us cash strapped guys we don`t have the option...:(

Well you are right there about small and dim objects...this is where DSLR`s really struggle to pull it in with a lower QE and being uncooled, the noise just drowns fine detail...I know cause it always drives me nuts!!:P

But having said that I reckon Houghy`s cooled 350D would be as good as most single shot color ccds....:thumbsup:
cheers Gary

[Peter Ward]

:lol: Now if *I* said that, it would just stir up a hornet's nest...

[EzyStyles]

thanks Peter no way i could take on big mike. He'll snap me in 1/2 like a toothpick :lol:

As Gary have mentioned, DSLR's will certainly struggle with small and dim objects. I was referring to the actual ETA image i posted NOT across the entire range of objects.

[KenGee]

IMO Eric anD Mike would have to be the best two Aussie imagers on this site. Both seem to get every last drop of use out of their equipment... I wonder what either of them would do with a $50K ion milled telescope....He, he. That said isn't Mike a astronomer maybe he could get some telescope time and do somthing with Eric. That would be great to see. Then again would Dietz like to come here for a holiday. I have got a Q8 which is a cooled D40 Peter what sort of faint object are you thinking of....

[skeltz]

Mike killer :whistle: uh um i mean fantastic 2 meg lum,love it but your 2.3 meg colour has the bottom 60% missing,a little glitch i think.
I wanna see the whole image:D
CHEERS!!

[Omaroo]

LOL!! A most excellent image Mike.

SPSP? Dunno yet. Jenny has a dog show to go to on the same weekend and I'm meant to be going in support. I completely forgot about SPSP to tell you the truth. I will have a yak to Jenny and see if I can go to it instead. We can have our respective hobby weekends.

I think Mark Suchting is coming too - so we can all continue the habit :)

[strongmanmike]

If you can arrange for that $50K ion milled telescope..err?..I'd love to test your hypothesis :D

I think getting scope time at a pro observatory fas an amateur for pretty pictures is pretty hard, this is where the modern trend of setting up remote imaging franchises is on the rise.

Mike