Large 2M pic of Carina

[avandonk]

Hi all finally got round to organising a site to host pictures.You will find a 2M picture of Carina that I have put up previously, 150k does not do it justice.Tell me what you think.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/avandonk/Carina02.jpg

Bert

[RB]

Absolutely breathtaking Bert!
Well done.

:jawdrop:

Andrew

[h0ughy]

yes exactly what RB said, I got lost finding the edge......

the clarity and the definition o fthe dark nebulae is wonderful

[atalas]

Looks great Bert ! makes me feel like exploring with a magnifier ,very 3D looking .

Louie :thumbsup:

[seeker372011]

stunning image..guess it was a mosaic?was it?

what scope/camera/exposure did you use?

[iceman]

Wow! The keyhole is so clear!

You must be very happy with that shot! It's a stunner. Congrats!

[avandonk]

No not a mosaic.This was taken with a 20D and a Canon 300mm F2.8L at F2.8.The camera was piggy back on a saxon 600mm F5 on a HEQ5 autoguided mount.Toucam to Guidedog to parallel port relay box wired into hand controller.
I used a Hutech nebula filter NBN-PV.The exposures were for 6x271 sec at an ISO of 800.Noise reduction was by a method Tornado33 put me onto using Photoshop.I used registar for stacking and Photoshop for adjusting.Then used GradientXterminator for any residual variation of the 20D's sensor.
It has taken me six months to get to this stage.This is what astrophotography is all about,always learning more.It would have to be the most difficult and demanding form of photography.
I am pleased with one thing, the quality of the optics of the Canon 300mm F2.8L is all they say it is,almost perfect.Try zooming in,you will see what I mean.
All images were RAW to Tiff (25m) and the final image is a 25m tiff which converts to about a 7m jpg.All image manipulation was done in tiff.

Bert

[beren]

:scared2: Wow ...super :thumbsup:

[gaa_ian]

I love It :love:
I now have a new wallpaper for my Laptop :thumbsup:

[avandonk]

Feel free to use it.They haven't privatised the sky yet have they?

Bert

[astro_south]

Wow

ditto to the wallpaper idea

[Itchy]

Very nice indeed Avandonk :clap: Is your 20D modified? If not, the nebula filter has done a great job of bringing out the Ha. Of course a great processing effort as well. Congratulations.

Cheers

[gaa_ian]

Hi Andrew, how's your sky down there ?
I have just been out for a quick peek at Andromeda & Mars !
Clear skies but seeing is average.

[avandonk]

No it is not modified,but when 'processing' kept in mind not to introduce artefacts.The Hutech filters are very good.I can change the nebula filter for the LPR filter and focus does not change!The nice thing about the Canon 300mm F2.8L it has a rear filter holder 48mm ie 2" eyepiece filtersize.Which makes it a very useful astrophotography optic.I am still learning what this system is capable of.What i was attracted to was the fast (F2.8) capabilities of this lens for imaging faint nebulae.
This image was produced in my backyard in Eltham Vic.(20kfrom Melbourne) What it would do at a dark sky site I have yet to find out.

Bert

[astrojase]

which relay box is it bert? kitsrus?

[davidpretorius]

Yes I also now have a new wall paper, stunning image, have you submitted to AS&T?

What magnification, you have your camera piggybacked, so you are not using your optics of your scope, just the stability of your mount???

[Striker]

Awesome Shot Bert....I love it

That 300mm F2.8 must of cost a pretty penny.

[avandonk]

I was thinking of submitting to AS&T finally as in the past I still thought I could do better.The field of view is the full 20D sensor 23.8x15 mm with a 300mm optic gives 4.58x 2.86 degrees.
Yes it is the kitsrus relay box.
Even though the saxon is only an achromat (600mm F5) with the toucam capable of being moved laterally can always find a guidestar without changing the framing of the target object.There is a focal reducer in front of the toucam to give a final focal length of 350mm for the guidescope.
Here is a picture of the setup.

Bert

[davidpretorius]

thanks for the scope picture Bert, very informative for me.
i was not thinking of you using a telephoto on your camera!! silly me!

Please submit it, we can then take all your glory!!!

[acropolite]

Fantastic result, I wouldn't bother waiting before submitting; your image is way above the pack. Ok before the uninitiated race out to buy a DSLR and 300mm F2.8 L lens, I'm going to ask the obvious.... Just how much does the 300mm F2.8 Lens cost...

[Striker]

About $10,000 with IS Phil.

Maybe we can all go in some kind of timeshare arrangment...lol

[davidpretorius]

$10,000 ouch!!!

but think of the results!!!

[avandonk]

I've been looking at large glass in Michaels (camera store in Melb.) window for thirty years.Just after I bought the 20D saw the Canon 300mm F2.8L in Michaels second hand window.It was actually a brand new and unused display lens in Japan.Michael's was selling it as second hand.I waited till the grandprix was over and made an offer.Finally got it for $4999.I wanted it more than the IS version as I have heard they are not as sharp.As you can see from the picture the faint stars are all the same size over the whole field,about 2x2 or 3x3 pixels which is about 15x15 micron.The theoretical airy disc size for a perfect optic (ie diffraction limited) at F2.8 is 4 micron.So for a multi element lens it is very good.
I would really like to try it on a full frame Canon the new 5D say.This would result in a field of view of 6.87x4.58 degrees.

One very nice feature of this lens is the whole lens plus camera can be rotated inside a collar on the lens mount.This makes framing an object easy.
Yes expensive, but it performs like it cost.

Bert

[acropolite]

Sounds silly but @ $5K it was a bargain...Tony http://www.baltronics.com.au hire the same lens for a paltry $165/Day or $384/ Weekend; you would want to be sure of the weather though.:D

[avandonk]

Yes, I guess you are correct it is a bargain, as knocked around ones sell on Ebay for about the same price.Most pro. photographers sell them when they are no longer up to scratch.

By the way submitted this picture to AS&T this morning.

Bert

[tornado33]

Yes a stunning shot there, pinpoint stars and perfect guiding/alingment. Excellent lens too sharp out to the edges.
I always thought a 20D would do very well by using the "photoshop" noise reduction method as you dont even get amp glow from a 20D as it turns off the amplifier during long exposures :)
Scott

[avandonk]

Yes thanks Scott.I had hit a brick wall until I used your method for noise reduction at high ISO.All other noise reduction methods I tried left 'dark holes' where the noise was.The Photoshop method was far better as you have control over the noise being removed.

The Canon lens is superb.The 5M jpg or the 24M Tiff of this picture is even better.Would love to try this lens on a full frame to see how good it is to the edge.
Will they bring out a 5DA?Or will Hutech offer a modified 5D?Just dreaming!

Bert

[Iddon]

extraordinary :)
I am just starting now with my 300D - nice to have something to work towards. Saw that lens a $5k USD retail - wow.

[RapidEye]

WOW!!!
Thats stunning!!!

Whens the next flight to Oz???

[avandonk]

Yes here is a picture of the 'great' nebula in Orion at the same scale taken with the same lens

Bert

[CometGuy]

Bert,

What a fantastic image, very smooth and detailed! Looks very sharp all the way across for f2.8. My only other comment is that you have clipped a fair bit of faint detail (i.e your background is a tad dark).

Phil, 300mmf2.8 sells around $7000 new but keep your eyes open for secondhand one. I have also seen a good condition 200mm f1.8 sell for $4000 AUS, that is mean't to be an amazing lens.

Terry

[iceman]

I'd like to see a fullsize version of that Orion shot, Bert!

[avandonk]

Give it a go folks,I was only starting when I took this picture.Ok I'll put it up.

Here it is
http://users.bigpond.net.au/avandonk/Orion_lpr_8_DFRAME_d_PS_small02.jpg


Bert

[davidpretorius]

sorry bert, this one is no good, you will have to give up the copyright on this picture. look i will take it off your hand free of course!

pssst anyone got the email of AS&T?

[avandonk]

I would almost sell all my children for a 200mm F 1.8L!There is only one lens better than a 300mm F2.8L and that is the 200mm F1.8L!Sorry I would not sell my children my ex wives won't let me!

Bert