First attempt - M42

[tim.anderson (Tim Anderson)]

My first "successful" deep space object - M42 naturally.

Taken with a Canon 70D on a Long Pernng 110 mm refractor. Sixteen 30-second unguided exposures, then processed to remove a greenish cast from a CLS filter.

Re-ran the base data to produce the second version. Better colour balance and detail.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Nice first DSO Tim! May you have many more.

Tip, to remove the colour cast from any filter, do a manual colour balance setting on the camera first (with filter inline) using a white or grey card, or even the wall. This saves a lot of post processing and can balance the channels without having them clip.

[Regulus (Trevor)]

A pretty good result Tim. Going to enjoy watching you improve so keep posting.
Trev

[tim.anderson (Tim Anderson)]

Originally Posted by Regulus

A pretty good result Tim. Going to enjoy watching you improve so keep posting.
Trev

Updated version using the same data (see the second thumbnail below).

[omegacrux (David)]

No2 looks much better
good 1st try , not an easy target

David

[Ross G]

Good capture Tim, especially for a first attempt.

You have an interesting and rewarding road ahead of you.

Keep it up and good luck.

Ross.

[Neil]

Great effort Tim, I have just bought a 70D, as yet untried at AP, any advice? clear skies.

[tim.anderson (Tim Anderson)]

Originally Posted by Neil

Great effort Tim, I have just bought a 70D, as yet untried at AP, any advice? clear skies.

Neil

For mine, the best feature of the 70D for astrophotography is the built-in wifi. It lets me use the EOS Remote software on a phone or tablet to run the exposures without having to touch the camera.

My advice is to build a BIG library of dark frames - the chip is noisy at high temperatures and in summer it heats up a lot - I'm often seeing the camera reporting 30-35 degrees C during an hour-long session when ambient is around 20 degrees. If you look closely at my pic, you will see the residual thermal noise signature resulting from not having a good master dark.

The camera's ISO response seems a but sharp (if you ramp up the ISO, the results get coarse very quickly) - but that could be a result of my ignorance about controlling it.

It is a fairly heavy camera, and I find I have to pay a lot of attention to balancing the telescope when it is fitted.

The camera has the usual IR filter fitted, so a lot of detail in deep sky objects never makes it to the chip. But since I use it mainly for daylight photography, I live with it. I think the 70D is a great capability/price compromise between the lower-end Canons and the pro-grade units. Thoroughly recommend it.

[Neil]

Thanks Tim, the 70D sounds well suited to AP,clear skies.