M8 - Lagoon Nebula - wide

[CoolhandJo]

Hi, my last effort on the DSI III (previous post) inspired me to go a bit wider. This shot was 8min x 3 Canon 350D (Not modded) through SW ED80, guided by dsi-c on LX200 10".

I wanted more subs but the wind got the better of the last 3 subs.

No flats, used ICNR, post processing in PS.

I was surprised at the amount of nebulosity there is in this region.

Thanks for viewing.

[Tom Davis]

Yes, lots of nebulosity!

Tom

[multiweb]

Looks like you're well on your way Paul. Focus and tracking look excellent. Nice work. :thumbsup:

[CoolhandJo]

Thanks Marc, ever since the permanent pier I have had better tracking. The focus is due to more patience and the B Mask.

[telecasterguru]

Paul.

Good work.

Frank

[toryglen-boy]

Thats a very nice image, good positioning, and showing lots of detail without the core of the nebula being overcooked.

nice one.


:thumbsup:

[Hagar]

Nice image Paul, It is a very nebulous area. The image looks like it has had a wash in red. When using a DSLR unmodified camera in areas such as this a fair amount of blue will be visible due to the DSLR being quite sensitive to OIII and blue. Nothing wrong with the blue in the core area and the Ha region will still show up as red.

Nice capture. Well done.

[Octane]

Hi Paul,

Not a bad effort at all. But, you may want to fix the colour issues! Something for another attempt, perhaps.

The Lagoon looks like it has been embossed into some kind of material.

Good work.

Regards,
Humayun

[CoolhandJo]

Yea I think it's overprocessing. Only 3 x 8 min subs. The noise is still there giving off that colour embossed look. It really needs another 10 or so subs to be able to get the noise down and then I may not need to use masking.

[CoolhandJo]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their tips on this post. I actioned them and attached is the result. Far less processing was required to achieve a better result. thanks again.

[Hagar]

Much better Paul. Overprocessing is a pitfall we all make and learn by. It is so easy to try to squeaze the very last pixel out of an image but much more dificult to know when to stop.
Nice job.

[Bassnut]

mmm, still very mono chromatic Paul, what happens when you strech green and blue?.

[CoolhandJo]

Fred, not much more happens when I stretch the green and blue. I think its as Doug says - this is as good as it gets. I am leaning towards a good dose of Light pollution and not enough exposure time (23min total) being the cause of it being washed out. But I am open to suggestions from yourself (who knows more than I).

[Bassnut]

Well, if it was an LRGB then the L can overwhelm colour in the RGB, boosting the RGB colour saturation can help, without getting fancy in PS. If you dont get much result from streching G and B then no amount of PS tweaking will help, sounds like you need to get more GB data.

[gregbradley]

I think you aren't going to get much more with that stock Canon filter in front of your chip. Modded 350D will give you all that big Ha red response that will make the world of difference.

A 40D has reasonable red response right out of the box (not as good as modded but better than the other models).

My opinion is that the high point of Canon DSLRs was reached with the 20Da. Even today there are examples of 20Da shots that have not been bettered by later models.

The 20Da could take shots that rivalled more expensive CCDs with long enough exposure time and a dark site.

Maybe time to send your 350D to Eric for the mod. I'd go the clear glass option and get yourself an Xnite CC1 filter for your lens so you can still use it for daytime shots.

Greg.

[CoolhandJo]

Right you are sir. Well said. Will get it modded and go the filter as you state.