Eta Car SW ED80 Comments please

[Nico13]

Hi all,

A great subject and nice and high at the moment so a perfect subject to prove the value of a recent purchase, that being my new SW ED80 and followed very shortly after by an Orion Field Flattener and I think both have just been fully justified by this image.
This is six 3 minute light frames only
ISO 800 from my Pentax K5 SLR
Stacked in DSS and finished in CS5.
I've added a crop of the main part of the image for detail.
NEQ6 Pro mount using PHD guiding, Phillips Tucam with 135mm SLR lens as guide scope.

I'm very happy with the result :) I hope you like it also, all comments welcome.

Thanks for looking.

[andyroo]

That's really nice, but is the second one out of focus? EDIT: Didn't realize it was just a crop! So yeah I just thought it was a bit out of focus.

[Nico13]

Yeh the whole thing could be out of focus a bit as I'm still just focusing by eye through the camera, no mask to help at this stage so yes could be off a bit. Will have to do something soon as it's a bit hard on your knees under the scope and with multi focal glasses :lol: just as well we do this in the dark and no one see's what you get up to, they'd lock you away.

[Meru]

Hi Ken,

Ive recently gotten the same scope and am also using my (old) DSLR to image through. It looks great, I love how flat the image is with your Orion Field Flattener. Out of curiosity, how are you using your 135mm lens with your webcam?

[Iain.k]

Hey Ken

Very nice images well done, Agreed 2nd one is a tad out of focus but still looks great.
Nice job.

[Nico13]

Hi Meru,
I have made an adaptor from old camera parts and machined a back plate to accept the webcam with 1 1/4" nose piece.
A little bit of trial and error to get the focus point correct but it works fine. What I really need to do now is modify the webcam for long exposure as it isn't good enough for guiding in low light area's like the LMC.

[Nico13]

Thanks Ian, yes it was the whole shot that's off a bit as the second image is just a crop of the first but the complete image doesn't look too bad. Definately need a focus mask to help out.

[ballaratdragons]

Stunning results Ken!

I love the FOV.
Wish I could get that FOV on my Mallincam!!!!

[niko]

Ken,

that's a beauty for sure! The focus doesn't look too bad given it's by eye but do yourself a favour and grab a Bat mask - you'll never look back.

cheers

niko

[desler]

I think it's all been said Ken! A mighty purchase that I'm sure will lead to plently of wonderful images.

A batinhov mask will sort your focus issues, but everything else seems to working really well together. Exciting times!

Darren

[mill]

Looking good Ken, great combination :thumbsup:

[Forgey]

Very nice Ken, love the colors.