New camera first light

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Bought a second hand Pentax K-5 as an upgrade to the K-x. I like this camera, even though it's 4 years old now. It has a few unique features, like the GPS unit (which I don't have yet) that can be used to track the stars by moving the sensor. Might be a good alternative to the polarie type drives for portable use. It's 16MP and has ISO settings up to 51200! Higher ISO is like more magnification right?!

IC4628, The Prawn Nebula in Scorpius is a tricky one for unmodified cameras due high levels of Ha. My K-x struggled at this one. I caught it just above the trees before it dropped too low. 32 x 1 minute subs at ISO 3200, ED100 at F7.2 with Orion 0.8x focal reducer, Lumicon Deep Sky filter, Pentax K-5, HEQ5 pro goto unguided. Will try it again one day with more subs.

Bigger at Astrobin. http://astrob.in/104359/0/

47 Tuc, NGC104, only got 8 x 30 seconds at ISO 800 before the clouds rolled in! Same setup as above, minus the Deep Sky filter.

Astrobin - http://astrob.in/104363/0/

NGC6231 near the prawn, 12 x 1 minute subs at ISO 800.

http://astrob.in/104364/0/

[SimmoW (SIMON)]

No1 and 3 are my faves here, beautiful objects. Bloody good guiding for manual!

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Simon. The PA must be fairly close. I set it with an angle meter!

[Mick (Michael)]

Very nice Kevin

[SimmoW (SIMON)]

What's an angle meter? Link?

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Mick.

Simon, it's just a toll to measure angles. I used them to align my satellite dishes back when I was doing a lot of satellite stuff.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=a...w=1920&bih=927

Edit, what's a toll? LOL Sometimes I write stuff even I don't understand. Oh TOOL I meant tool.

[LightningNZ (Cam)]

Nice images Kevin.

Actually, I really like your analogy between magnification and ISO! That's because it's fairly accurate, although it's brightness rather than magnification. What doesn't change is resolution with an eyepiece, or in the case of ISO it's the Signal to Noise Ratio.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Cam.

The SNR of course gets worse with higher ISO on any camera, but for higher ISO the K-5 is a teensy bit better than the K-x. This is where I need to go back to guiding to get that ISO down with longer exposures. I'm just being lazy at the moment, but I like being lazy.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Really nice images Kevin!

Particularly like your 47 tuc, good colour to this.
Looks like the new camera has plenty of potential.

Cheers,

Justin.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Justin. Yes the potential is there. I just need more time. See, I want pics in less than 90 minutes. Going over that I have to do multiple sessions. But 90 minutes isn't enough for a lot of targets and that's where my dilemma lies.

[Retrograde (Pete)]

Very nice Kevin - great to see some of what the K-5 can do

[NeilW]

Excellent shots Kevin. I've got a K-5 too....nice to see some Pentax on the forum. Do you use any software for camera control, or are you just going manual? PK Tether is about all we have, but it's not that sophisticated.

Cheers,

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Pete and Neil.

No software, just stand alone camera and me. I can't believe how long the lithium battery lasts compared to using AA's on the K-x. It seems I can shoot all night with this thing on one charge! It mustn't draw much power.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Beautiful Kevin! I especially like the coloured stars in 47 Tuc

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Dunk.