Two versions of Carina Widefield

[avandonk]

I had some old data of Carina taken in Feb 2006. It was 30x120sec at an ISO of 800 taken with the Canon 5DH and Canon 300mm F2.8L at F2.8.
All RAW files converted to 16bit Tiff with ImagesPlus then stacked the odd and even frames separately with RegiStar as medians. Then these two stacked frames were then again stacked with RegiStar as a SUM. This is the equivalent of doubling the exposure to 240secs.
This was then digitally developed with IP and levels and in PS, one version to get all detail in the image and the other to only show the brighter detail.
Here they are
2.2MB
http://avandonkbl.bigblog.com.au/dat...1124131416.jpg
2.0MB
http://avandonkbl.bigblog.com.au/dat...1124131416.jpg

Which one is better?

Bert

[rogerg (Roger)]

Spectacular, a very fine example of Eta.

Roger.

[matt]

Very nice Bert...

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

I like the 2nd one better. Compared with the first one it's like looking through a nebula filter. The nebula is seems to be drowning a bit in the sea of the Milky Way in the 1st one.

PS. Bert, I think you'll have to make the thread a poll, otherwise all you'll get is compliments but no answer to your question.

[Striker (Tony)]

I like the darker 1 Bert,

Even though the lighter one shows more detail I dont like the washed out look.

the second one is much nicer to look at.

Great images Bert

[avandonk]

You are right Steve and Tony. The dynamic range in the data is not good as the ISO was 800, this leads to a washed out look for the brighter data. I will soon get data at an ISO of 200 (or even 100) the dynamic range is much better. I was surprised how much detail was there.
Bigpond just gave me 10MB for a blog (with another bill) so I thought I would try it out.

Bert

[matt]

Sorry Bert.

Didn't see your question, however compliments where they are due. They are nice images

And yes, I'll take the 2nd as my preferred image

[iceman (Mike)]

Lovely image - I also prefer the 2nd.

[RB (Andrew)]

Yep 2nd one for me too.
Looking forward to your new ISO 200's (or lower) Bert.

[avandonk]

I forgot to say if you zoom in to 70% of your monitors resolution, it is the equivalent of an A1 print (36x24 inch nominally or 830x610 mm).

bert

[acropolite (Phil)]

Lovely images, so much detail. I prefer the second as well.

[spearo (Frank)]

Nice work
I prefer the second because, though you could never see this with the naked eye of course, there is something about seeing some dark sky in a picture that makes it more natural to my eye.
might not make sense but I definitely prefer the second darker shot.
cheers
frank

[Garyh]

Both nice shots there Bert, I like both of them, the darker shows the neb of better and the deeper one looks very nice too as this region is a fairly rich part of the milkyway with a lot of that stardust as a backdrop..
Cheers Gary

[tornado33]

Both fantastic, but I too like the 2nd one as the nebula really stands out from the multitude of stars in the Carina Arm. Gee arent these lenses fantastic, with perfectly round stars right to the corner, even with your big 35mm sensor.
Scott