Christmas Comet Linear (C2003 K4)

[gbeal]

Hi all,
well after a headsup by one of our local comet freaks, I felt it only fair to take advantage of the miracle that was a clearish night on Christmas day.
One of the advantages of having such a clear head albeit with a full belly I suppose.
Anyway with such clear instructions from the Comet Master I found Linear reasonably easy even with the almost full moon.
Attached is the result, which given the moon surprised me.
Regards to all,
Gary BEAL,
Hamilton

[iceman]

That's a beautiful shot Gary, well done!

[Starkler]

Lovely colour shot of a cluster, shame the comet isnt more prominent.

[silvinator]

OMG! That's a wonderful shot Gary! Well done. You should send that into S&S. I think the comet turned out quite well despite an interfering moon nearby. What a way to end christmas day!
PS: was that taken from your paddock? do you have dark skies over there?

[Mick]

Good work Gary, not bad I can't see K4 in my 7x50's.

[wavelandscott]

That is cool!

[gbeal]

Silvie & Guys,
thanks. Yes it was a great day to catch this, and despite the moon I was happy.
Mick, I had trouble actually seeing it as well, and eventually flopped the 30mm widefield into the rear of the scope just to make sure, as the first few frames were of nothing at all, I was in the wrong spot. It was hard to see with the 80mm scope, so this coupled with the nearly full moon made it more memorable.
If the weather clears I will try it again.
The cluster is naked eye, at roughly mag 3 or so, and Linear at about 7 - 8 mag.
Gary

[Mick]

Oh Comets no wonder I'm having trouble seeing it in 7x50 binos at 7 to 8 mag. In Sky Charts it's listed at 5.8 :confused:

[[1ponders]]

Great shot Gary! Congrats

BTW what capture equipment did you have connected to your ED80?

Paul

[gbeal]

Paul,
simple ED80/840 refractor, with a Mogg .5x reducer, so 420 ish mm.
Nikon D100 on the rear, at ISO1000.
G-11, with Rob Becks, ToUcam guiding interface/remote (full credit)
I can send you a shot if it helps.
Gary
P.S Silvie.
Sort of from the "paddock" and yes semi rural. Not too dark, but OK.

[[1ponders]]

Thanks Gary.

After seeing your shots I'm going "Cannon-Nikon-Canon-Nikon. Which one do I want." :( Someone please help me decide. And no I can't afford both

[gbeal]

Paul,
in the film scene I have had most, with Nikon being the perennial favourite. I had a few Nikkors, so it was a cinch, Nikon it was. I am thinking though that the Nikon may sell, and I will go to a Canon. Nothing really in it, just more software etc available for astro use with a Canon. Best money at present is the Canon 300D (new), it is NZ$1400 here with the 18-55mm lens. Considering I paid NZ$1800 plus for the (used) D100 I don't think you can go wrong with the 300D, but then again, you can't go wrong with either.
Best bet is buy a second hand one, as someone else has lost the money at sale time. Wanna try a used D100??
Gary

[silvinator]

Hehe, thanks for clearing that up for me Gary. I still like your paddock though :P
It's true that the canon 300D is the best bang for buck around. There have been some great images produced from this little camera. At the AO website, it is selling new for AU$1950 for the astrophotography kit. I've seen cheaper though I can't remember where.
Hey Paul, what nikon camera were you looking at? I've been drooling over the D70 for ages now...*sigh* Try these classifieds:
Gecko Optical (http://www.geckooptical.com/index.html) There's a used D70 (http://www.geckooptical.com/cgi-bin/gecko/index.cgi?catid=1&subcatid=7&adid=675) up for sale there. So tempting!
The canon 10D also seems like a good camera. There's a few up for grabs at buy-n-shoot (http://www.buy-n-shoot.com/camusd.asp).
It doesn't really matter which of the two you get Paul as both brands make and sell wonderful cameras. It all boils down to how much you want to spend. Good luck mate!

[[1ponders]]

Like you Silvie either the D70 or Gary's D100, simply from the good reviews I've read about them.

Though at the moment I'm using a Canon EOS 500 for film photog and I like the idea of not having to buy a new set of lenses fo a Nikon. From what I've been told the Canon EOS lenses will fit the 300D

I currently have a 35mm-80mm f/4-5.6 zoom a 80 - 200 f/4.5-5.6 zoom and a teleconverter, which gives me a good range of focal lengths to choose from though a bit on the slow side. If only it would clear up long enough to actually put them through their paces on the LX.

Gary do you find having the built IR filter a big issue when taking your shots. Ie loss of red end spectrum.

Paul

[gbeal]

Paul,
if you have existing Canon lenses, then it seems senseless to jump ship, unless the lenses are of poor quality, and the different brand is significantly better. Is Nikon better than Canon? Don't think so, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The 300D is a fine camera, and a cost effective starter. Yes you can probably do better, but at a significant cost. Don't let me talk you out of Nikon though!!!!
No real worries with the I/R filter. I see some 300D mods on the net, and also Huteck in the US offering them I/R filterless, but to me the camera works just fine. I like the N/R facility, saves doing darks, but takes longer to do it's thing.
I shot another round of M42, with the full moon present last night, my good friend Rob Beck had arrived to repair my/his remote unit, and we tried a few guiding experiments, K3CCD Tools and IRIS. I will process and post later.
Gary

[[1ponders]]

I think I'm sold on the Canon Gary. I did a bit of a search on Astronomy.com and Cloudynights and the Canon seems to get almost unanamous acclaim.

For those interested Teds camera house have the Canon 300D at $1400 at the moment. http://www.teds.com.au/www/6/1001102/displayproduct/1170567_1005803_.html
I don't endorse Teds Camera House in any way. This link is only FYI.

Thanks again Gary
Clear Skies
Paul

[gbeal]

Hi Paul,
no worries.
I do believe that part of the success of the Canon line, is the sheer proliferation of them. I don't really believe they are any better, not significantly anyway.
If you search, or wait a bit, or both, you will find them cheaper than that. They are NZ$1400 here at present, with the lens.
Gary

[[1ponders]]

Maybe I should get the Out-laws over there to send me one over:)

You maybe able to clarify something else for me Gary. As I understand it CCD technology is preferred to CMOS. IF this is the case how is it that the 300D (CMOS) is preferred (according to CN forum (I"ve posted there as well)) over Nikon and other CCD cameras, excluding dedicated astrophotography cameras, ie DSLRs.

Cheers

[gbeal]

Paul,
beats me, and if I was completely honest this is what sold me on the Nikon, over and above my love for Nikon, and the few Nikkors I had. I reasoned CCD is better than CMOS, right?
Now I honestly don't know. If you look at the results from Nikons and Canons, there is precious little (if anything) in it.
Get what you can afford, and if there are other enticements, such as existing lenses, go with that.
Like I have said few times, you can't go wrong either way.
Gary

[[1ponders]]

Looks like I'll eventually go for the Canon. Might wait til after the xmas period though, (patience is a virtue I hear:whistle:) to see if they come down a bit further in price. Or maybe if I'm really lucky the SBIB ST2000XCM will come down to a comparible price, (in my dreams:P )

:cheers: Thanks for the help Gary

Paul

[seeker372011]

Here's some information I picked up from another forum:

first some links:

http://www.shortcourses.com/choosing/sensors/05.htm

http://astrosurf.com/buil/d70v10d/eval.htm

and here is what some people had to say


quote:

while the Nikon D70 may take a slightly sharper pic. The EOS 300D gives a smoother image at ISO100, less noise. Also the D70 applies post image processing that may be detrimental for deep sky imaging in addition to dark frame subtraction

unquote


BTW the guy who made this comment had pictures published in Sky and Space-last issue

and

quote:
net result looks like the D70 is more sensitive but gets bogged down in its internal processing, so one has to look at the trade-offs and accept the fact that the Canon is best-net-result-wise.

unquote

[[1ponders]]

Thanks for that Seeker372011

[gbeal]

There you go Paul, you really wanted the Canon anyway, this just makes it easier.
Let us all know how it works, when you get it.
Gary

[silvinator]

Hey Paul, if you want some more in-depth reviews on the D70 or 300D, or any other digital camera for that matter, then go to dpreview (http://www.dpreview.com)
The fact that you already have a canon with a good range of lenses, it seems your choice may have already been made. Happy hunting!

[[1ponders]]

Thanks for the link Silvie, I'll check it out.

When I get one and if I ever get a clear night without a big moon, I'll let you know how it goes Gary.

Thanks all

Paul

[gbeal]

Paul,
the DPReview site is good, but really is slanted fair and square at the digital camera enthusiest that doesn't use their gear on the night sky. Still a good look area though.
Don't be put off by the moon, I was, until I tried the Linear shot, and also the M42 trial the other night.
OK so no moon is better than full, but.......................
Gary

[silvinator]

Sorry Paul, I was in a rush posting this morning so I couldn't mention that the dpreview site was geared towards daytime digital photographers. So thanks for pointing it out Gary. It is still a good site nonetheless with a features search that you can use to find digital cameras that would be suitable for astrophotography. For example, you could do a search to see with cameras have a bulb setting, or exposures longer than 30 seconds, something that is useful for night photography.

[gbeal]

Silvie,
yes, and yes it is a very good site. I hadn't considered the search function you mention, so it will be useful for Paul, but I reckon the 300D is already a done deal.
Now you need to get one.
Gary

[[1ponders]]

Bad news Gary and Silvie.

I'd thought long and hard about it, (all of about 4 hours) and decided to go ahead and get the Ted's Camera House deal (300D for $1400 with a 256 meg card and carry bag thrown in) tomorrow,Thursday. Unfortunately my car had other ideas.:(

On my way up to the observatory tonight "something" started to make grinding noises in the front end whenever I turned towards the left. By the time I drove home it was only not making grinding noises when I turned towards the right. And being a 4WD its not going to be cheap even if its only wheel bearings. :sad: :sad: :sad:There goes part of my money for the camera :mad2: :tasdevil: :mad2:

Well I guess the camera can only get cheaper

[gbeal]

Oh No, oh well, as you say they can only get cheaper.
I hope your headache isn't too expensive.
Gary

[[1ponders]]

Good news.

Its *only* going to cost about $200 to get the wheel bearing fixed so in celebration I drove to Brisbane and bought myself a celebratory present. Yep you guess it. A canon 300D. WooHoo!:cool2: :cool: :party: :party: :party:

So all I need to to now is learn how to use it.:P :D Oh and a few more nights without clouds and moon:P

:cheers: :cheers: And happy new year everyone

Paul

[gbeal]

Hey well done.
Using it is easy.Get the appropriate T ring and slip it onto the rear of the scope, perhaps with a focal reducer first.
Use shortish exposures at about ISO800 or 1000. Try some at 30 seconds, and some at 1 minute. You will need about 6 - 10 of them, and stack them in Registax.
Practice makes perfect.
Gary

[[1ponders]]

Way ahead of you there Gary:D

Already have the "T" ring from my EOS500 and I made sure I got all the basic astro gear when I bought the LX, Wedge, Reducer, Off Axis, "T" adapter, variable tele-extender. Just gotta cut down a few trees to make the most of them:P

Now for some serious fun. If I can get away after next Tuesday (when my bearing are being done) I'll get to give the Canon a real workout.

Thanks for your input and have a happy new year

Paul

[beren]

Congrats on your camera Paul ! BTW is your 4WD a pajero , if it is i can understand the wheel bearing problem !

[[1ponders]]

No its a Suzuki Aragorn. Genuine bearing $250. Non-genuine $75. Guess which way I'm going:)

[beren]

:D :whistle: :)