Canon 60Da first light

[Clancy Lane]

Hi All,
This is a test image taken last Wednesday evening. It is a 5min sub with no processing. Focus was approximate thru Live View and there was no time to adjust the positioning of Eta....I had to beat the rising moon.
I hope to get better as I get more practice....but I think the camera is a keeper!
Cheers!

[MrB]

Looking good Clancy.
I was out last night playing around on the same target ;)
I was only using a 105mm lens @f5.6 tho only on a tripod, shooting at 6400 to get subs down to 10sec, but they still trailed. The 10x zoom on live view is great for focusing!
Even tho the shots were very average they did show promise. Can't wait to get myself set up again and get serious :D

[gregbradley]

That is very promising Phil.

Greg.

[Clancy Lane]

Thanks Simon and thanks also Greg!
I should mention these images were taken thru an Orion 190 Mak-Newt at ISO 800 on a NEQ6 guiding thru an Orion mini guider w/PHD.
You might like to compare these images and see if you can spot any difference?
I can't!
Sorry....there was one thing that required processing in Photoshop........ the color imbalance....... Blue was shifted to the right much more than red & green so it was aligned in levels.

[Star Hunter]

Hit the Shift/Ctrl and L keys all at once in Photoshop and you will get a better image then what you posted.

[MrB]

I find the auto-levels a bit to aggressive.
Manual level adjust in each channel takes only a few seconds more and is more forgiving. See attached.

[Clancy Lane]

Thank you to both Simon and James.

I just tried your tip James and was pleasantly surprised to see the result.......a huge difference!

Now I have to work out what happened so I can picture the process in my mind and repeat it when needed!

Phil

[MrB]

Phil,
It is a level adjust, this link may help:
http://www.middlehillobservatory.co.uk/articles-primers/Levels%20and%20curves.htm

That link is working on mono images. For us DSLR imagers it is the same process except we need to shift the levels of each RGB channel individually for best results.
In PS, Ctrl+L will bring up the adjust dialog, then the drop down dialog will allow you to select each channel, see attached where I have already adjusted the Red channel.

You have some good data. I have been thinking about buying a Mak-Newt.

[Clancy Lane]

Yes Simon! That link is a big help to understanding the process!

Everyone else in the family is down with the flu so I have some time for learning without interruptions......and boy! am I learning.

I am looking fwd to seeing some of your images as well.

The Orion MN190 is a great scope but the focuser leaves a lot to be desired.

I also have the Skywatcher MN from Andrews with the smaller secondary mirror and it is the best scope that I have seen for viewing .

WO binoviewers through the SW are spectacular for planets and brighter DSO's..... much, much better than a normal newtonian.

Have fun

Phil

[Lothar]

Would you happen to have a regular 60D to do a comparison, so we can see the effect that the new IR filter actually makes?
Lothar.

[Clancy Lane]

Yes Lothar!
I had the same idea so took a 5 min image on the same night with my stock 40d.

No processing at all.

You can definately see the difference.

Phil

[Ross G]

Looks good Phil.


Ross.

[Clancy Lane]

Thanks very much Ross....I'm sure that there are going to be many good pics come out of this camera.

Phil

[MrB]

Wow Phil that's a huge difference, particularly when seen side-by-side. Thanks for the comparison!

It's killing me, I need to get mine out there :(