This image is of Eta with the 40D through a WO FLT110 and this is my 1st serious attempt at this subject so I am probably a little rough on the colours.
Details :
Modified 40D through FLT110 on a G11
ISO 800
12 x 600 seconds
Darks + Flats
Guiding through Meade ED 80mm with NexGuide
Stacked in DSS
CS4 was used for levels, curves, saturation, selective colour but not too much involved at this stage with my limited experience with Eta.
This subject is certainly very red!! I think the 40D has picked up a fair bit of Ha.
The 1st image is the full frame
2nd is a crop at 75% to show what's going on. You'll see I have lost a lot of star colours and this could be due to the 40D rapidly saturating and not the same dynamic range as a dedicated CCD. I would love to hear any improvements, critique etc. Focussing was done with a Bahtinov mask.
All the best for the festive season and thanks for looking
The colour looks similar to an image I took of Eta with my Nikon D700. My more recent attempts with a mono CCD have much richer looking reds. I presume the difference is mainly due to the lower Ha sensitivity of DSLRs.
I agree that you've lost colour in the stars too. It would be interesting to try some different length exposures and look at how long it takes for the stars to saturate. I have been experimenting with a mix of short and long exposures combining them with the HDR capability of PixInsight. Results so far have been encouraging, giving good star colour without losing faint nebulosity.
The colour looks similar to an image I took of Eta with my Nikon D700. My more recent attempts with a mono CCD have much richer looking reds. I presume the difference is mainly due to the lower Ha sensitivity of DSLRs.
I agree that you've lost colour in the stars too. It would be interesting to try some different length exposures and look at how long it takes for the stars to saturate. I have been experimenting with a mix of short and long exposures combining them with the HDR capability of PixInsight. Results so far have been encouraging, giving good star colour without losing faint nebulosity.
Cheers,
Rick.
Thank Rick for your comments. Star colour I think is always going to be a challenge for long exposure DSLR compared to say a similar sized CCD which appears to have a larger dynamic range. Thanks too for the comment on the colour of the nebula as I toned it down a bit but the modified 40D does pick up a fair bit. I haven't done this one before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by atalas
Great effort Darrin.
Glad you liked it Louie. I have been following your tutorials which has helped me greatly . I just need to spend more time on processing as I just can't wait to throw it into PS and do a quicky on it and out onto the forum.
Looks ok Darrin but it looks a bit out of focus, i did this with my 40D and it was a lot sharper and i also focused with the bahtinov mask.
Thanks Martin. I did use a Bahtinov mask but only at the start of the night. I need to get into the habit of rechecking regularly as I eventually found out.
Hi Darrin, nice image. Try half the exposure time, or same exposure with ISO 400 and that may help produce the star colours. I am just thinking that such a long exposure on bright object could have over exposed the stars and that is why they are all white.
I have got a lot to learn on DSO imaging, and a more learned person may know what is going on more exactly.
Great stuff Darrin, plenty of signal there, I tend to agree with Lester on shorter exposures, Noise look very well controlled with the amount of subs, so ISO 800 is working fine with it
Good punch of reds within the Neb,
Spicy work and good that your having some deep sky time, well !
Pushing out some nice images Darrin but! This one needs some work. I'm sorry but you have worked this one way to hard for the amount of data you have there. It is quite a bright area and really suffers from over processing and insuficient signal in a lot of cases.
Hi Darrin, nice image. Try half the exposure time, or same exposure with ISO 400 and that may help produce the star colours. I am just thinking that such a long exposure on bright object could have over exposed the stars and that is why they are all white.
I have got a lot to learn on DSO imaging, and a more learned person may know what is going on more exactly.
All the best for 2012.
Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. It's something I need to work on!
Quote:
Originally Posted by astronobob
Great stuff Darrin, plenty of signal there, I tend to agree with Lester on shorter exposures, Noise look very well controlled with the amount of subs, so ISO 800 is working fine with it
Good punch of reds within the Neb,
Spicy work and good that your having some deep sky time, well !
Cheers !
Thanks Bob. It's all a learning process and this is the sort of feedback I need.
Quote:
Originally Posted by skysurfer
Nice pic !
Even an *un*modified 40d (with a TV Genesis) yields some red !
Here mine, 6 (raw)frames of 30 seconds @ 1600ASA each stacked with DSS:
This is part of the process I need to work out to extract the most out of the 40D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hagar
Pushing out some nice images Darrin but! This one needs some work. I'm sorry but you have worked this one way to hard for the amount of data you have there. It is quite a bright area and really suffers from over processing and insuficient signal in a lot of cases.
Keep at it.
No need to be sorry. I need the raw opinions otherwise one will never improve. I appreciate your honest opinion and this will help me in the future!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassnut
No, not good, and you know why. Bad focus, colour balance,depth.....
I was wondering when you would ever comment on one of my images. Raw and to the point Fred which I appreciate ; and you've read my mind well!
Darrin...
Hi Darrin, nice colours but your focus is a little out unfortunately. That's all. Other than that you've all other bases covered nicely. You could try running a bit of deconvolution on the pic.
There should be more colour in the stars.
I took a single 300sec exposure of this region some years ago using an unmodded 40D as an experiment.
The result is here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...5&d=1210080801
My pic isn't great but there is lots more colour in the stars than in yours. The scope is different but this shouldn't make that much difference.
Not sure why but there is something up with the processing.
You are an inspiration in that you have a go at everything no matter how hard.
You are zooming forward in leaps and bounds and will be producing great photos in no matter time, leaving the timid in your wake still checking if the stars in their corners are round!
. I just need to spend more time on processing as I just can't wait to throw it into PS and do a quicky on it and out onto the forum. 
