G'day Mike, hmmm yes well you did ask...............
Maybe I need to preface my comments with a disclaimer; The comments expressed here represent my opinion and might differ markedly from those of others less opinionated
Really a difficult comparison because the 2 images are totally different in their data content. What feature are you intending to present in these images?
Some emision nebulae are predominantly just that, while others also feature prominent foreground stars and or asterisms; M16 is one of them.
The earlier verion seems to have a slight blue cast, and the star colours are fairly weak. Its strength lies in that the asterism above the nebulosity seems to compliment the nebula rather than compete.
The newer image on the otherhand appears to have a slight magenta cast. It is showing much more pleasing star colouring, maybe because of the contrast with the nebulosity, or maybe more colour saturation. However, the asterism is now in competition with the nebulosity, mostly because of the increased depth bringing the nebulosity into the area of the asterism. Because of this competition, the quality of the star images (IMHO) needs to be such that they harmonise with the nebula instead of being in conflict to it.
Both images seem to suffer from unsharp masking effects on the stars, giving them halos that really detract from the overall effect. This is all the more noticable in the ED80 enhanced image.
On my monitor, both images are improved by adjusting the blue channel black point a tad.
So, having pulled them apart on you..............I think I would give the second image the
, surprisingly, not because of the increased data, rather because it is so pleasing to the eye to see yellow stars, in there mixing it with the blue/whites, but maybe that is just personal bias.
Personally, I never use unsharp masking, instead I tend to favour hi pass layer mask techniques. If you are unfamiliar with this I am about to post some material on the use of it, or maybe Iceman will put it up as an article. I have the images prepared, including a comparison between unsharp masking and hi pass layer mask sharpening; all I have to do is oil up my typing finger and write out the description of how to.
Mike I have tried to be objective and realistic in my assesment of your images,(been a bit picky too
) however,I hope I have been of some help.
best,
Doug
How can you choose? Its like a blind date..the blonde or..but that was years ago
Congratulations
, Yes I saw your b/w or luminecence capture? earlier, thats what made me think about looking in the other images, I often download an image to see what else is there just using brightness/contrast and a look in negative
well there has been no blind dates for a while and I only have 3 dogs to pat
, but its the cabin madness and curiosity I live with.
. I was tending toward the latest version too but couldn't help but be atracted to the more mystical look of the original.
ya's 
(my favourite - me to a tee......NOT!)
