Tracking and Stacking Andromeda AGAIN! Sony 100-400mm

[@vintage_lenses9878]

Your intro when you paint your initials in the sky is just BRILLIANT

[@Mike-1000]

Just what I think too, awesome !!!

[@sympatheticmr_611]

Does anyone know how to do that？

[@Mike-1000]

Gotta to be some sort of computer program, overlapping videos etc. I'm no expert... as you can tell by me explanation lol

[@Green_Lept]

Sympathetic Mr_ Recorded himself against the blue twilight sky then used premier to treat it as a green/blue screen then overplayed footage of the stars he recorded from the same perspective.

[@Mike-1000]

Yep... exactly what he said :)

[@MikeD606]

Ok, a couple of things: 1. You're a great astrophotographer and your images and astrovlogs always inspire me. 2. There are are really only a handful of good astrophotography youtubers; you and Trevor are two of them. 3. What really impressed me is your humility by saying you're not in a position to give editing tutorials and shouting out Trevor. Respect. 4. This gets thrown around a lot on youtube, but I want you to know I really mean it: THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge! I can't wait for the skies to clear for me to get my ass into gear! :) All the best from Slovenia!

[@michaelryan1087]

How bloody lovely.

[@KV89-b3c]

Bravo Slovenia

[@wickedrabbit1173]

He didnt even replay with a thanks

[@MikeD606]

@@wickedrabbit1173 He gave us a

[@wickedrabbit1173]

@@MikeD606 thats all u got

[@victorrcn]

We’ll miss you Alin 😢😢😢

[@dwntwndave]

I love how "real" you are. I just found your channel and am looking forward to watching more of your videos. You got me comfortable in photoshop, after 1.5 years of neglecting the program because it was daunting. Thanks for your contributions, best of luck.

[@ishana6038]

the things you can learn and see from youtube is infinite . channels like this are like gems . mindblowing vlogs !!

[@AtharvaVaidya]

You have my subscription for so many reasons. 1. The no BS, to the point accuracy of everything 2. You know your stuff, and clearly said you can't impart editing knowledge, and gave a shout out to T. 3. Intro. Duh Best part? I don't even own a DSLR

[@newjam9110]

Same. I also ended up doing star trails cause MW is so hard to capture when you only have a shit phone only supports 16s and third party apps aren't compatible like gcam,.... Also cant afford to buy a telescope :(

[@RaysAstrophotography]

Awesome work Alyn! Love your Andromeda! Welcome to Astrophotography Universe!! You seems to have pretty good start! With all your beautiful nightscape work..this is far more easy for you.

[@AlynWallace]

Thanks a lot Ray :)

[@chrisjones3901]

Dont know how old you are but I can tell you younger than me,its lovely to see the younger generations taking such a passionate interest in our beautiful skies.well done.hope SpaceX not stop use with no fancy telescopes enjoying our night skies and take our dreams away.

[@TheFamousMrPaul]

can I just say that I appreciate you saying that you didn't feel that you were in a position to teach something because you didn't have enough experience yet, most people on youtube are jumping to create "master tutorials" on something they have only tried twice and end up giving really bad advice. Thanks for not being one of those people!!

[@isaiahhiggins]

The water, the music, the stars, it's such a beautiful combination. All captured by a skilled photographer, what a great video.

[@TheJuggaloVenom]

A Night sky like that is probably one of the main reasons why I’d move to state that doesn’t have much light pollution 🤦🏾‍♂️ looking up into the night sky is something I’ll never take for granted.

[@dariusdbbowser6329]

WOW! I wasn't expecting an image that clear from a 100-400mm lens. That looks really good.

[@Mike-1000]

Tell you what, I don't even own a DSLR but I love watching your videos and seeing how you create these magical pictures, I'd say it's an art form actually.I was interested and disturbed at the SpaceX Satellites issue as well.Hope they address it.

[@matthewaustria643]

2:56 i love that constellation I've seen it here in Philippines many times last year

[@kunalkulkarni4825]

The end result is an absolute beauty! Love your blogs man...keep inspiring us :)

[@madmike2881]

Love seeing what can be done with the Sony 100-400 as I am really wanting to get this lens! Nice video, thanks!

[@prakashsubbanna]

That's a very nice outcome of Andromeda. Loved the colours and star shapes.

[@tomtrubridge84]

It will be interesting to see how you get on with auto guiding the star adventurer, I have recently set my rig up with an ST4 cable from guide port to a pulse control module with USB cable to my Lenovo SSD laptop using PHD and appropriate Ascom software. The thing to remember is to turn off the Dec and use just the RA pulse in PHD. There are not many people doing this on line as yet, Not sure if Trevor Jones has. Anyhow Good luck,look forward to see the results..

[@Daimulis]

Alyn, I also get a similar 50/50 keeper rate with my setup (300mm F4 with 1.4x extender) at 1 minute exposures with some trailing and "double stars". Glad to know I'm not the only one with these problems. :) There tutorials online on disassembly and cleaning of internals/tightening screws to improve gear slippage, but none of these helped me. Thank you and keep up the good work, this channeling is fantastic!

[@rebbel67]

So talented at shooting, and vlogging, so good at explaining stuff in easy to understand language, yet, also very modest. I greatly enjoy your videos, and the results of your outings. Thank you!

[@AlynWallace]

Thanks a lot!

[@PhilJonesIII]

Glad I'm not the only one to get the camera lens misted up. I've lost a couple of long sessions that way and it's no fun when you've been in the cold for a couple of hours. Those lens heaters are ace. Stay off grass wherever possible and absolutely avoid being downwind of trees. They kick out a ton of moisture.

[@WildPhotoShooter]

Excellent image, I always wondered if I could use my long focal length camera lenses for astro photography . I need to buy a EQ mount and motor drive.

[@iandocwra1169]

As always well produced and informative (and personable!). Interesting to hear about the lens hood and lens warmer preventing frost and dew - I have made up a super-long black lens hood (four times the length of the Canon one) which slides over the proprietary hood to provide a lot of extra shielding. Of course this is only good for long focal lengths - anything wide shows the hood at the sides. It works well though - leaving the camera out to take frames all night down to -10C sees no frost on the unwarmed lens.

[@CopperCityPatriot]

It's the camera operator and the lens that make the image. #AlynWallace , is professional with both. Although, photo software, is a BIG must have these days. We use the Tamron 100-400mm (a money saver!), for our Nikon cameras. The results are stunning. DxO Photolab, does help considerably with astrophotography.

[@onalennasehume4586]

0:45 Orion is upside down in the Southern Hemisphere

Huge thanks for this and your other videos. Astrophotography is a subject I've always been greatly interested in but never taken the plunge, until now. I do have a Canon 7D with a couple of telescopic lenses covering short and long zooms. I've also purchased your Lightroom presets - nice work. I'm looking at that Skywalker tracker (can't find the damn thing to buy though...all appear sold out). Hopefully this will allow me to get started with some reasonable photos.

[@mihailssisovs6983]

That diffraction spikes pattern actually looks good and appropriate

[@Mackymcd]

Great result Alyn. Thanks for all the quality content throughout the year and all the best for 2020👍🏻

[@starman1969]

Top work Alyn. The end result was worth the effort. I use a Fornax Lightrack, which uses a friction drive, so is less susceptible to periodic error. It’s a bit heavy though.

[@AlynWallace]

Cheers Stephen. Yeah been looking at that, may try it one day

[@galaxystudio3740]

One thing. If you don't have to, don't take dark frames, they add noise to the final image. If you have to (if you have a lot of hot pixels or amp glow) do a lot of them, even the same amount as light frames or more. You stack light frames to ,,reduce'' noise (you increase signal to noise ratio), and you stack dark frames to do the same, to reduce the random noise. If you take only few of them then you won't have good master dark, and by subtracting noisy master dark from light frames (you subtract master dark from subframes, not stacked light) then you get even noisier light frame. So if you don't have to, don't take darks, and if you have to, and you have ability, use dithering, it's way better than darks, tho it's worth using only in mounts wih motorized RA and DEC.

[@AlynWallace]

Makes sense, cheers

[@AristeidisSfakianos]

It's cool that you got it right just on your second try!I would be delighted if managed to get a photo like this!

[@999K-j8c]

I have seen so many things but that intro is just beyond amazing

[@HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

someone explain to me what the lens warmer does? I've had my lenses out in -20f and not had a perceived issue. I had issues with the battery life of my camera...but not the lens.

[@Jin-Ro]

Me either. But I let my kit acclimatise before I use it. I imagine you do to.

[@stephenmcarthur2250]

Awesome work, I own the Sony 100-400, and you have inspired me to move into deep space Astro. I’ve been shooting Milky Way successfully but have just got a new star tracker, and the auto guiding camera etc is on the way. I have an awful lot to learn so thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@rocknuts]

Same as my Star adventurer Alyn! Periodic error is not great, not terrible, but I always take as many light frames as I can because I know half will get fed to the recycle monster!

[@imaruppaul]

I'm fallen love with your vlogs😍 Keep doing it👌

[@SocksWithSandals]

I did enjoy seeing Lupus below Orion in the still photograph.

[@brianhigginsphoto]

Very nice Alyn...well narrated & produced with a great payoff at the end.

[@richardallen1835]

Just started watching astrobackyard myself. Cool to see you giving the deep sky stuff a crack at the same time. And it looked great

[@Squeller5]

Wow this shot of the Andromeda galaxy looks great! I do have the same lens, ie the Sony 100-400 GM, my camera is the Sony A7R III. So no reason to (immediately) buy a telescope imho. Anyway, this encourages me to start trying this field of photography. Just a question.. what are the settings used? 120 seconds is the exposure time but what the about the focal length, aperture and iso? TIA

[@MrBengourben]

Great result. I can see you slipping towards the deep sky imaging bug. A small refractor will be next!

[@Astrolavista]

I don't believe the coincidence! I've just ordered a CooWoo heater from Amazon plus power brick, then 10 minutes later got a notification for your video where you immediately mention the Coowoo heater I've just ordered. That's so freaky!

[@AlynWallace]

Haha its a sign : )

[@valentinotera3244]

You are happy with that result? Of course, it's awesome!

[@82spoon82]

Surely after seeing some of them like this your dabble will turn into more of a hobby...the final image was just breath taking!

[@St1ckyGreeN]

just found this channel, exactly what i was looking for! amazing content! thank you ♥️

[@nightwaves3203]

Your lagging could be batteries and device components being effected by the cold. Batteries don't give out all their power when real cold. Then some electrical components flake out in high and low temperatures. That's why some companies at least warn of operating temperatures like I'm sure cameras have listed. Good luck looks good.

[@allanjackson9370]

Really nice photo of Andromeda, you should check out Peter Zelinka, he has a couple of videos about the Adventurer tracker and has done one or two if I remember right about setting it up with a guidescope & camera.

[@mentallama9123]

Gotta love that intro

[@kalasag9113]

Hi Alyn - Thanks for taking the time in sharing with us your experience/reviews. Do you by any chance have a step-by-step How-to on how to stack images (take your spectacular andromeda final output for example)? So new to astro-photog and could really use the tricks-of-the-trade from one of the best. Thanks, mate!

[@joeshmoe7967]

Just for fun and learning, you should stack all the images. Even with off round stars DSS will stack. It will give you an idea of how much the extra data will add to the details. Also what ISO did you shoot at. I have the star adventurer and it is a great little rig. Shooting with 300mm and Canon 7D mkii. I use 2 minute subs with no guiding and get good results. I typically shoot 15 frames then check settings etc, just in case something is off.

[@geekdomo]

ooh excited to see this one! I have had the 100-400GM since it was released in 2017. It barely leaves my camera these days

[@amirsaeed8974]

Your photography is outstanding

[@Christophhiessphotography]

Awesome result Alyn! Haven't had the chance to capture the Andromeda galaxy by myself but If you are going to use an autoguider I can definitely recommend you the one from Lacerta, they recently released a new model, the MGEN3. Best wishes from Austria

[@AlynWallace]

Thanks a lot!

[@FarmLapse]

Great video Alyn!

[@sandorattilaottlik7403]

Beautiful picture Alyn, I like those colors!!👏🤩

[@refsjourney]

Sorry I'm not paying attention, but what does dark frame do?

[@whiskydhot3318]

I thought my monitor was blurry. But realized your hands are in focus. Nonetheless, very nice results! Learned a lot from this.

[@gordroberts53]

Outstanding episode! Readiness to teach is a personal thing I suppose. For my part, I learn from everyone of your videos. Thanks for sharing.

[@pholarised6911]

That intro is everything!!

[@davekelly8168]

Simply awesome stuff!! saw the image on FB the other day but only just got round to watching the accompanying video..

[@donnabrown6756]

I💕 watching your awesome videos. Thanks Sir. Blessings to you from 🇨🇱Texas~USA

[@StevenMusgrovePhotography]

Cracking shot Alyn. Thats something i want to try but need to practice astro in general first.

[@donnydefenders]

Fantastic work Alyn.

[@jasonpalmer2497]

Just as a suggestion try with you count ballance bar and weight to get the 100_400 ballance might help in the tracking. Fantastic job as always clear skies 📷🔭🌌

[@AlynWallace]

Hey Jason. I balance the setup, I just didn't go over it in this video as I covered it in the previous vis with the star adventurer :) clear skies

[@jasonpalmer2497]

No worries I should have noticed in the video 😂🤦‍♂️

[@dowblab]

That jacket looks really warm!

[@joestafford8775]

That looks incredible! It's better than my andromeda for sure. A good example of the star adventurer being used for deep sky imaging is star-watcher.ch. The images they produce are great

[@AL_Masrur]

That drawing intro was so good

[@stevieukuk]

You should shoot flats too, It makes editing so much easier ;) flats was more of a game changer for me than darks!

[@sezaikaya7532]

I wanted to see stars live from Sony camera, but in the 10:36 minute video you showed the star images on the computer where photoshop work was done !!

[@diegogarcia2515]

You know what? I love that astronomy 'includes' cold weather haha!, I love that, I cannot imagine an astronomical night and heat. BTW: new subscriber, (greetings from Mexico!).

[@jarrodames139]

Got a question, I’m new to astrophotography and I just bought a star adventurer pro. I am experiencing balancing issues. I have the declination bracket and an extra weight to support my camera and lens. But I noticed it drifting in the shots and still getting star trails. I’m using a Nikon D850 and a 200-500mm lens. Yes, it’s a heavy set up I know. Also, my stars in the sharpest shots are c shaped? Have you ever encountered this?

[@xe1zlgg]

Hi Alyn... 90 sec for 400mm FL is very good...BUT you may try a more precise polar aling with a Qhy polar scope( with associated software ) to improve polar alingment. Also if you use some kind of cross reticle in the camera ( APT TOOLS has a reticle ) to put in the dead center the stars when doing star alingment... you will improve A LOT your your alingment accuracy... Also try to keep orthogonality in your lens to mount connection....CS

[@AlynWallace]

Thanks Luis. I have a guide cam and scope now so I will try polar alignment with that soon :)

[@Rwm18]

The image turned out fantastic. Sorry cant help but ask.. Was the lens hood a trade off for the light pollution filter so the lens didnt fog up? If not what was the reason for not using it?

[@dhanashekaranm4725]

Wow, the animations where so good

[@Astrolavista]

p.s That's a cracking M31. That Sony seems to make up for the short subs, and you've processed it very tastefully. Also you've tamed the core nicely too, tricky with how much dynamic range this target has. Nice work!

[@AlynWallace]

Thanks a lot!

[@GarnettLeary]

That’s an excellent hit rate. Nice TED Talk too. Nice work.

[@debsankarbhattacharya7547]

Congratulations Alyn and thank you for making the video. I am a follower of your works. I have one question/request: Can you please try (show us) to shoot Andromeda with your moon bazooka (sigma 150-600), single exposure! Just want to know if these telephoto lenses are any help for such deep Astro shooting. Many thanks in advance!!

[@grahamhgraham]

Alyn, if you're getting 40% to 50% success rate at 400mm unguided, this is typical of my own results. You could get closer to 90% but you would need a scope and second camera from ZWO for example and then you need a laptop to run software which makes life a lot more complicated. However, exposures would reach 5 minutes or more so less frames required or lower ISO. This is a great image for the gear you are using.

[@SurferKroky]

Awesome final image man. How did you get away with not using a counterweight when using such a heavy lens ?

[@lukashaag3122]

Hey Alyn I've just started with deepsky photography and yesterday I tried to photograph the andromeda galaxy for the second time in darker area. I'm using the skywatcher staradventurer 2i. I've used the Sony 200600mm objectiv and 30sec exposures and all frames where sharp but andromeda moved slowly but constant out of my frame. What could be the reason for this problem. Thanks for all answers🙌🏼

[@nightskyphotografo4180]

Excellent photos.. do you think you can put a Hydrogen alpha filter on this Sony setup. ??

[@Gally80]

Love your videos keep up the great work it’s amazing

[@fugginrambo]

So good man! Thank you for sharing all this and explaining what you've learned.

[@fabriziocanale9768]

Hi, very good images. I have the same setup, Sony A7iii and FE 100-400, but I can’t balance it with the counterweight of 1 kg. May I know what ball head you use, please? Thanks in advance, Fabrizio

[@HerChip]

Just found thus channel! I love this video

[@ringod123]

I have the Star Adventurer and found taking 3 minute subs with a 420mm scope gave me about a 50% keep rate. I'm now using it with the ASIair and autoguiding and can get a keep rate of over 90% now.

[@AlynWallace]

Now we're talking :) I've been looking at the ZWO ASIair as you can just use a tablet which would be great

[@ringod123]

@@AlynWallace It's great, especially since you can use it to polar align with plate solving, much nicer than just using the built in polar scope of the SA, you wont regret buying one, i cant imagine imaging without it now.

[@micr75i]

really good stuff! A couple of things: Deep Sky Stacker if I am not mistaken can give your light frames a score (higher = better) based on the average start circumference. That should catch the frames that you eliminated manually right? In other words you shouldn't need to use lightroom to go through 100 photos to throw away the bad ones but then I don't know how good Deep Sky Stacker is in doing that. Other question: any thoughts on the new Sigma 100-400 for Sony when it comes to Astro? thanks a lot! Look forward to your next videos :)

[@xtm123]

Hi Alyn. I saw that you had a lot of un-acceptable pics because of star trails and you thought it was the star tracker teeth. You might be right about that, but I would recommend checking out a youtube video by Steven Doye titled "Star Adventurer ""Tight Spot"" Clutch Repair." I bought a Star Adventurer a while back and brand new out of the box I was having issues. After following Steven Doye's video, I discovered that there were small paint chips inside that were getting in my gears and binding it up. After removing them and re-assembling, it works beautifully.

[@MikeLikesChannel]

Hi Alyn, what software are you using to control the camera for those long exposures?

[@scotty4418]

Very nice indeed Alyn 👍

[@tony_r_pierce]

Thanks for posting this. I have the Star Adventurer and use the counterweight kit when using the 100-400 GM. I'm not convinced it helps, though, but is supposed to provide for better balance.

[@AlynWallace]

Hm interesting. You done much comparison with and without?

[@tony_r_pierce]

Alyn Wallace I have tried with and without the counterweight setup. The counterweight makes the balance easier to get. But neither setup seems to provide better ratio of usable to unusable images for me so far. I’m going to continue trying to improve using the counterweight setup. The 100-400 focus on my copy of the lens has a light touch and makes focusing and maintaining focus at longer focal lengths a bit tricky for me. And it’s heavy on the Star Adventurer with the counterweight kit.

[@LandsPlanes]

Hi! Im interested in 100-400mm. I have A7III. I wanna do some moon shoots but i dont know the quality of that set. Do you have a photo of moon using that?

[@R.Hogarth]

Alyn, first of all, I know that this video is a couple years old and I apologize for "resurrecting" it. I have a Sony A7R3 and the 100-400GM Lens. I also have a Move-Shoot-Move Tracker. Would the MSM be able to support the A7R3 and 100-400mm lens combination or would that be beyond its capability? Thank you.

[@dr.sommer5069]

Great video! What I so not get is why you just take one picture with a 2 minutes exposure with you skytracker?

[@SimplLivinHiThinkin]

Killer intro!... Breathtaking!!!

[@davidmartin8724]

Alyn, I am still learning the Star Adventurer (as well as this part of astrophotography in general) and last night was one of the first good nights I've had even with clouds (getting 2.5 - 3 minute exposures w the 24mm on Orion w gorgeous reds popping out) - but I had issues two nights ago with it when I thought I was aligned and then had other issues (with a suspected lens decentered) the previous weeks and I was paranoid that I had a tilted sensor after my camera was modded - so I think some of it maybe what you say and some of it is still me learning/user error. Appreciate your videos!

[@tekn0lust]

Hi Alyn! Could you explain periodic error with regards to the Sky Watcher tracker?

[@lordofming]

Thanks to you I really want the 10p 400 mm now...

[@huwpenson2678]

THE MOST BOSS INTRO EVER

[@dylanzehnder5244]

Love it! Thank you Alyn