Widefield on the EQ platform

[iceman (Mike)]

Hey guys.

Tried using the EQ platform to take some widefield shots of the milky way centre, with my camera (Sony DSCP100) sitting atop a tripod which itself is sitting atop the EQ platform.

My camera can only do 30 seconds exposures, followed by an automatic 30 second noise reduction process.

The 3 shots are the result of:
- ISO 400, infinity focus, f2.8
- 3 x 30s exposures each, stacked in registax
- Judicious use of curves and levels in Photoshop (probably overprocessed, but that's ok )
- Noise removal in NeatImage
- Taken from my backyard at approx 7:20pm on Sunday night, 3rd July. Looking forward to trying it again at a dark site!

These are my best and most detailed widefield shots, thanks to the extra exposure time that the EQ platform allows me to use. Previously, without the platform, I could only do 15 second exposures before I'd get star trails. In the future i'll go for more exposures to stack to reduce noise a bit more.

Not quite the beautiful widefields that some others produce here, but with my equipment i'm happy to have gotten some colour and depth to the clouds towards the milky way center.

The 3rd shot shows my sad view to the south (darn trees!), and the top right of the image shows alpha/beta centauri and crux.

Comments welcome.

[ving (David)]

you know you are going to have to upgrade your camera now dont you mike!

well done on getting colour nice shots!

[h0ughy (David)]

Hey mike,

your not allowed to do that, those images are far too good. Once the bar is raised mate there is no turning from the Dark side.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Haha, he's hooked Great shots Mike.

Something I worked out the other day with Imagestaker and Registax. Registax won't give you a much brighter image, which is ok if your individual shots are relatively bright, but Imagestaker adds the brightness of each image as it stacks. Well that's how I think of it anyway. I had a couple of shots that were a bit dark and Registax didn't improve them much. But when I ran them through Imagestacker I was amazed at how much brighter the final image came out.

If you've only got three images and you'd like to brighten the final, try doing all your adjustments first on each image and then stack them. Yes it means doing three sets of processing but the final image might make it worth it.

[dhumpie]

Hey Mike,

That's pretty good for a first try. Maybe I should try some piggybacking on my EQ

Darren

[atalas]

Good stuff Mike ! well done looking forward to seeing more of these shots from you.


Louie

[Thiink]

Well done Mike, great shots!

How were you taking the second and third shots Mike? Press the button manually (wouldnt that bump the camera slightly, or does Registax take care of that)? It'd be great to see what you could do with a DSLR! Anyone around the central coast want to lend one to Ice for a night?

I need a new camera as well, my little P&S just isn't cutting it. I went up top of Mount Panorama (if you dont go up, the Mount blocks the views to the W-NW around my area) last night to take some shots of Venus/Mercury, but the night time performance of my camera is sub-par, and it only lets me take 4S exposures. I dont think I'd be posting what I took in the Photography section.

[Mick (Michael)]

Very nice Mike, love widefield.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Excellent work Mike, you've certainly set the standard in dob (platform at least) imaging... The trees might benefit from some fertiliser (Roundup is a good brand)

[Dennis]

Those are very nice images Mike - a surprising amount of "deep stuff" for such relatively short exposures. Nice composition too!

Cheers

Dennis

[gbeal]

Excellent work Mike, and as others have suggested, time for a DSLR perhaps?
Gary

[beren]

Top stuff Mike , luv those widefield shots

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks very much all for the comments. I'm surprised at how well they turned out, and look forward to taking more at a dark site with more exposures to reduce the noise.

How were you taking the second and third shots Mike? Press the button manually (wouldnt that bump the camera slightly, or does Registax take care of that)?

I used the self-timer in most cases, unfortunately it's a 10-sec timer instead of a 3-sec timer, so it means more waiting around I just try to be careful not to nudge or bump it out of position while pressing the shutter.

I wish I had it remote controlled but i'm not going to bother spending any more money on that camera.

time for a DSLR perhaps?

One day Gary, at > $1300 for the cheapest, it's just not in the budget at this stage.

It'd be great to see what you could do with a DSLR! Anyone around the central coast want to lend one to Ice for a night?

I wouldn't argue with that

[RAJAH235]

Good wide fields, Mike. L.
Have you thought of a bracket for a cable release???

[ving (David)]

maybe a cheap film slr would be a first step mike? you can get a secondhand one for as low as $50 up to whatever... cannon make a bottom of the range one for between $200-$300.
if you want to go there...