First light - C8 and new G-11/350D

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #1 04-05-2008, 05:02 PM

Hey all

Well, the new mount got a work-out this weekend. I'm still getting my head around the G11 and Gemini as well as the new camera. First attempt wasn't too bad, but now I'm armed with a little more experience to get (hopefully) better results next time.

Eta Carinae & Keyhole Nebula
Canon 350D - unmodified
180sec single exposure, no I-CNR ISO1600
Celestron C8 8-inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope @ f/6.3
Losmandy G11 equatorial mount
PHD Guide through William Optics Megrez 80SD

The second shot has a little work done in NeatImage to reduce noise a tad. Now this I need some practice in.

Craig.a.c (Craig) · #2 04-05-2008, 05:06 PM

That is a great pic,`most seem to have to much red in them.

Zuts · #3 04-05-2008, 05:10 PM

Great first light.

I am amazed it came out like that without a flat as I thought F6.3 reducer on a DSLR chip would cause lots of vignetting. Very un-noisy for no ICNR and no dark. It looks like you have a nice setup to be geting on with

Paul

jase (Jason) · #4 04-05-2008, 05:14 PM

On the road to improved images with your new mount Chris. A good first light image to boot. A little noisy, but still pleasing.

h0ughy (David) · #5 04-05-2008, 05:18 PM

wow not a bad effort Chris, those cool nights works wonders for the camera noise

iceman (Mike) · #6 04-05-2008, 05:40 PM

Nice start, Chris. Looks good!
How come just 1 exposure?

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #7 04-05-2008, 05:51 PM

Thanks all

The noise isn't too bad for 1600ISO, but it's still something I'm trying to get to know on this camera. The noise characteristics between my Nikons and this Canon are very different, so time will help here I guess. The night (Friday) was pretty cold, and ice was forming on the camera pretty early on.

Mike - I took quite a few subs, but wanted to see how a single frame would emerge on its own. I'll try and process a few tomorrow.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #8 04-05-2008, 11:11 PM

31 minutes of subs. No dark frames (forgot to take them!)...

I won't be in such a kafuffle next time and remember to do things in a more disciplined frame of mind...

EzyStyles (Eric) · #9 04-05-2008, 11:30 PM

very nice shot chris for first light and nice colours too.

Ric · #10 05-05-2008, 12:50 AM

Hi Chris, a fine first light for your camera and setup. nice colour and detail and the stars look quite tight guiding wise.

Looking forward to more of your your images.

Cheers

edwardsdj (Doug) · #11 05-05-2008, 01:06 AM

Very impressive first light image Chris

I'd be thrilled with that one.

asterisk (Geoff) · #12 05-05-2008, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omaroo

31 minutes of subs. No dark frames (forgot to take them!)...

I won't be in such a kafuffle next time and remember to do things in a more disciplined frame of mind...

Still pretty good even though.

Cheers