Long Weekend Collection Pt2

[midnight (Darrin)]

Well greetings again.

To wrap up my weekend run in the backyard, here are three more photos.

I'm getting the hardware knacked down reasonably good now. Just my processing is lot to be desired. At least that can be done independant of weather.

BTW the teflon trick is still holding up on the EOS t-ring I'm very happy to have found this prime source of drift/flex

i) M45. Canon 7D + 200mm F2.8 operating at F4. ISO800. Stack of 10 x 120 seconds. No darks or flats.
ii) Orion with M42. Canon 7D + 200mm F2.8 operating at F4. ISO800. Stack of 10 x 30sec + 20 x 300sec. The camera is a work camera so it's not a modified one.
iii) M42. FLT110 + modified 40D. Stack of 16 x 10 sec + 21 x 300 sec at ISO800. Only darks (I took flats but when processed in DSS, it looked warped most likely due to an uneven illumination ).

My processing skills are still basic but I have experimented with LAB colour and a few other items to reduce noise. I think the colour is probably a bit too blue.

I hope you enjoy as I certainly have in taking these. Any help/critique in improving these is much appreciated or if anyone wants to have a go at teasing more out, please feel free to do so.

Thanks for looking!

Darrin...

[Ross G]

Hi Darrin,

Great photos.

I really like your M42 and the widefield is amazing.

Thanks.

Ross.

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

You have definately come a long way Darrin, it wasn't that long ago you where chuffed at something alot more modest but then again we all have come from humble beginnings

here is my humble beginnings here

Keep going mate
Brendan

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by bmitchell82

here is my humble beginnings here

Geez, that's better than mine

[gregbradley]

That's a fantastic start Darrin.

The 200mm lens I would get a step down ring as closing down the Iris from wide open causes those multiple diffraction spikes.

The FLT110 image looks very good with perhaps a bit too much noise control and its made it look a bit soft (blurring).

Greg.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

I agree with Greg but time will work wonders Darrin, keep at it it's a great journey

Mike

[CoolhandJo (Paul)]

Great shots - especially the M42!

[midnight (Darrin)]

Originally Posted by CoolhandJo

Great shots - especially the M42!

Thanks Paul. Glad you liked M42.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

I agree with Greg but time will work wonders Darrin, keep at it it's a great journey

Mike

And certainly it is (and watching the $ go out the door on bits and pieces).

Originally Posted by gregbradley

That's a fantastic start Darrin.

The 200mm lens I would get a step down ring as closing down the Iris from wide open causes those multiple diffraction spikes.

The FLT110 image looks very good with perhaps a bit too much noise control and its made it look a bit soft (blurring).

Greg.

Greg I did actually get a set of stepper rings as suggested by Marc (multiweb) and got ready to fit them & then realised I had 77mm rings instead of 72mm for the 200mm lense. The FLT is being "roadtested" to compare it to my trusty old 8"SN. I hope to get back to it soon. Thanks for your comments and noise is an area I really need to work on.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Geez, that's better than mine

Mike, I had to laugh at your comment on that image when you talk about your reaction to seeing what come up on the screen and I must admit I had a similar sensation with the witches head. It is quite addictive once you get the basics sorted out. Thanks for looking too & I have indeed learnt heaps from you guys and gals that are quite seasoned at this game!.

Originally Posted by bmitchell82

You have definately come a long way Darrin, it wasn't that long ago you where chuffed at something alot more modest but then again we all have come from humble beginnings

here is my humble beginnings here

Keep going mate
Brendan

Just the grind of getting through the dejections of poor image after poor image until I finally seem to be coming to peace with the setup. This has kept me going and now wanting to scrutinise everything in the setup. Thanks Brendan.

Originally Posted by Ross G

Hi Darrin,

Great photos.

I really like your M42 and the widefield is amazing.

Thanks.

Ross.

I'm glad you also like M42 as well Ross. The widefield was always one of my main goals (still not right though) after seeing Humayun's version back in 2010 I think which got me start in the 1st place.

Cheers,
Darrin...

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Mike, I had to laugh at your comment on that image when you talk about your reaction to seeing what come up on the screen and I must admit I had a similar sensation with the witches head. It is quite addictive once you get the basics sorted out. Thanks for looking too & I have indeed learnt heaps from you guys and gals that are quite seasoned at this game!.

What I wrote there is no joke, that's exactly how it went, my wife thought I was crazy . I had called her out into the Canberra cold and she gave the obligatory "that's nice dear" then did a double take at my Catholic American Indian antics and... went back inside

Mike

[astronobob (Bob)]

Yep, they are very nice results Darrin, Plenty to admire and much like the wider fields too, Well done

I too did almost the exact same frame as your wide orion and horse with the same lens, well, that adds up eh, Lol, so was particularly interested with this one ! ! Good stuff !


Cheers

[midnight (Darrin)]

Originally Posted by astronobob

Yep, they are very nice results Darrin, Plenty to admire and much like the wider fields too, Well done

I too did almost the exact same frame as your wide orion and horse with the same lens, well, that adds up eh, Lol, so was particularly interested with this one ! ! Good stuff !

Cheers

Thanks Bob. The 200mm lense is certainly a nice weapon !

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

What I wrote there is no joke, that's exactly how it went, my wife thought I was crazy . I had called her out into the Canberra cold and she gave the obligatory "that's nice dear" then did a double take at my Catholic American Indian antics and... went back inside

Mike

Darrin...