what software for astrophotography

[shane shaw]

Hi there, I have a Canon EOS 400d and also a lx200 12 inch meade. I was wondering which version of photoshop is the best to use for processing images ?

and secondly what other software is out there that may be better to use ?

I am very new to this and need a bit of pointing in the right dirrection

thanks guys/girls/others :)

[Robby]

Photoshop 7 or later. If you want 16-bit processing you'll need 8 or 9. I use 9 which is CS2 I think!...
You can't really beat PS for post image processing, but your best to use MaxDSLR or Imagesplus for doing all your aligning and calibration.
Cheers

[JohnG]

Details as previously stated, I use CS2 to finish off my shots but would suggest ImagesPlus 3 for all your pre CS2 operations.

http://www.mlunsold.com/

With ImagesPlus you can get both the Image proccessing software and Camera Control. You can purchase either the proccessing software or the camera control software alone or get both together, depending on your requirements, check out the website above for details.

You can also order direct from Mike Unsold.

I am not sure what Canon software comes with the 400D but there is a Camera Control Utility bungled with the software that allows long exposure shots to be taken, you can use it to also adjust your focus with timed shots and to setup a series of long exposures for DSO's etc.

Cheers

[Geoff45]

RegiStar (http://www.aurigaimaging.com/) is good if you are combing shots taken at different times or with different focal lengths or making mosaics.
Geoff

[asterisk]

I would endorse John's comments - with a 400D, ImagesPlus gives you camera control and processing (even under Vista).

Also, the cable listed below gives you control of your camera from ImagesPlus:

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=319-327-331-8452

Cheers