I still ended up getting moonlight into this shot, because the clouds didn't really clear for me until around 3am. Just once I'd like to get Carina with no moon, no wind, the neighbour's searchlight out, no dew and precise focus. Oh well, one advantage with being out in the middle of the night is that you get to chat with any burglars who may come wandering down the driveway.
This one is a stack 6 x 90secs ASA1600. Canon 350D at prime-focus of LXD-75 SN-8. Camera's onboard noise reduction was On. Images aligned in MaxDSLR, processed in ImageReady and Noiseware. I think this result is a little better than my last one.
Getting correct focus is a problem for me at the moment using the Canon at prime-focus. I use a Hartmann mask but, that doesn't help a lot when attempting to focus via the Canon's very ordinary viewfinder. Even with a 2x magnifier judging focus via the viewfinder is not really a long-term proposition.
Before taking the image below an approximate focus was obtained with a Hartmann mask and then I got more accurate focus by taking a series of short starfield shots and viewing them to check when I was near focus.
Even after all that effort the focus is still not perfect. I'm thinking a Stilleto for the Canon, or some such, is in my future. I've got two Stilletos (35mm Film & CCD) and I'm underwhelmed by their usefulness. I think that maybe for the Canon that's all the choice I have. I haven't got a laptop in my equipment yet so I can't use software for focusing. Does anyone have any ideas on cheap and effective methods suitable for the Canon 350D?
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