DSLR Astrophotography 2017 Retrospective - Part 1

[@MrBengourben]

brilliant shots. crispy clear.

[@starwatcherch]

thanks!

[@EliNews]

Great Job! I love the 400mm 5.6L !!!

[@starwatcherch]

Thank You! I love it too :-) It's a fantastic lens for AP and even well usable wide open at f/5.6.

[@KoolKyle_Adventures]

Wow! Amazing stuff

[@starwatcherch]

Thanks!

[@galacticadventurer6694]

Why need expensive mounts when you can do so much with star adventurer ,you are amazing

[@kenmcdougall6106]

Those are really amazing photos - and taken with a 70D too - a great deal of technique and skill in evidence there - I have some of the same kit and have never got anything like this

[@starwatcherch]

Thank you! I quickly recongnized that post processing is really important. It is worth to spend some time to learn all the processing techniques. And IMO PixInsight is the greatest tool (so far) to process astro images. It's incredible how PI can bring the objects out of the raw data! Clear Skies

[@kenmcdougall6106]

Might look that up - have tried a number of others but not that one yet! thanks for the tip!

[@fmls8266]

Nice stuff! I'm just getting started, trying to get the same setup as you but as a Nikon shooter, step by step. You know any good resources online (or books) to gather knowledge on astrophotography and amateur astronomy? Thanks, keep up the good work

[@starwatcherch]

Thank you. I always searched the web for specific questions (about aperture, orientation at the sky, mobile power, bahtinov masks, guiding, ...). Overall I can recommend: photographingspace.com, www.lightvortexastronomy.com or www.astrotreff.de (German forum) but there are many more good pages ;-) Clear Skies

[@Eichetheking]

Faszinierend.

[@fmls8266]

So, I have another question! (sorry for bothering you ahah) Last night I tried my Star Adventurer for the first time ever. Managed to get it polar aligned quite decently and easily, with my surprise, also managed to get decent frames at up to 200 mm or a bit more, unguided. My main concern is: how do you point the camera around freely with your setup? Lets say you want to point something in the opposite side of the tracker, you would need to change the latitude greatly(wont you lose the polar alignment?) or else you would find the camera pointing to the ground, and your frames would be anyways rotated to some degrees at almost any position because you can level the camera. How do you deal with this? isnt it easier to mount another head from the Adventurer to camera/lens? Thanks

[@starwatcherch]

No problem ;-) If you use short focal lengths or no guide scope you can simply attach a ball head. With it you can point the camera in any direction. If you've attached the L-bracket (with counter weight, guidecam...) you have to use the DEC-knob to move the camera in DEC direction (www.star-watcher.ch/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_0010-1.jpg) and of course the RA axis to move in RA direction. Just be careful while unlock/lock the RA axis... (for fine adjustment I use anyway the left/right arrow knobs on the Star Adventurer which moves the RA axis very slightly) Once Polaris is aligned, you can turn RA axis as much as you want, you won't loose the polar alignment. If I move the RA axis after the alignment, I simply check, if Polaris stays in the circle/ring of the polar scope. Hope this helps. if not feel free to ask again. Clear Skies

[@fmls8266]

Thank you very much for the reply, I cant find tutorials about this, I assume its too basic to even think of making one ahah Yes Im mostly using a 14-24 at this point, I used a ballhead because I wanted everything leveled with the ground and composition was too tricky without it. Couldnt figure out a way with just RA and DEC. I will try the L bracket, RA and DEC once I get a decent tele, so in this way you basically get shots not leveled with the ground right(shouldnt matter cause its just sky afterall)? In this case how do you take mosaics?

[@starwatcherch]

Yes, I do not level the ground. And until now, I never did mosaics... If the DSLR is attached directly to the L-bracket it is not possible to level it with the ground. Only with a lens ring attached you'll be able to rotate the DSLR/lens within to level it with the ground. But that works only with longer focal lengths / lenses with a lens ring. CS

[@agentorange1291]

Wenn man den Lacerta Auto-Guider benutzt, ist es dann noch nötig den Star-Adventurer einzunorden?

[@starwatcherch]

Ja, die Einordnung muss dennoch gemacht werden. Der Guider dient lediglich dazu, den periodischen Fehler des Schneckengetriebes des Star Adventurer zu korrigieren. Der periodische Fehler wurde bei mir aber erst ab 280mm Brennweite störend. Unter 280mm gehts auch ganz gut ohne Guider.

[@agentorange1291]

Danke für die Info. Gibt es eigentlich eine Möglichkeit, den Sucher zum Einnordnen scharf zu stellen? Weil ich habe jeweils etwas mühe die Sterne im Sucher zu sehen, weil sie recht unscharf sind. Die rote Beleuchtung hilft zwar etwas, aber nicht sehr viel. Bei solchen DeepSky Aufnahmen muss der SA ja sehr genau eingenordnet sein, vermute ich jetzt mal.

[@starwatcherch]

Ich kenne das Problem: Entweder sind die Sterne scharf oder der Sucher... Ich hab mich dann mit einem Kompromiss zufrieden gegeben. An einer bestimmten Position war dann beides relativ (brauchbar) scharf. Wenn ich bei 400mm 240s belichte, schaue ich schon, dass ich sehr gut einordne: Initiales Einordnen, gewünschtes Objekt suchen, DSLR und guidescope darauf ausrichten und wieder zurück in die Ausgangsposition zur Kontrolle, ob noch alles passt. Durch das Ausrichten der DSLR/des Guidescopes kann sich das Gewicht minimal verlagern, so dass die Einordnung nicht mehr passt... Bei 400mm und 120s Belichtung belasse ich es meistens bei der initialen Einordnung.

[@agentorange1291]

Konnte diese Woche mal mein Equipment testen und ca. 1h lang den Orion-Nebel versucht zu fotografieren. Da wir das gleiche Guider-Setup haben, habe ich deine Konfig gleich übernommen und den Lacerta entsprechend konfiguriert. Musste dann aber feststellen, dass ich mit aktiven Guider Star-Trails ich Bild hatte. Dachte zuerst ich hätte zu schlecht eingenordert, aber als ich dann zum Test den Guider entfernt habe, war das Bild OK und das mit einem 300mm F2.8 + 1.4 Telekonverter sprich 420mm. Eine ahnung wieso der Lacerta mir Star-Trails lieferte? Möchte nämlich mein Equipment bei mir zuerst korrekt austesten, bevor ich mit ganzen Zeug auf den Gurnigel oder Glaubenberg fahre. Gruss

[@starwatcherch]

Hmmm. Hast Du vor der Session die Kalibrierung durchgeführt (die muss jedesmal vor einer Session durchgeführt werden)? Ich hatte nie Probleme mit trails bei aktiviertem Guiding... CS

[@joshelias8472]

Alien Xenomorph at 3:29 😨

[@seanmolony-redstickastro238]

Hello, great videos. I'm really interested in how your configuration is set up for allowing you to have your counter weights and guide camera attached. I have an Ioptron Sky Guider Pro with a Williams Optics GT71 and dslr setup but cannot see your attachments to allow for the guide camera. Is there a parts list you might be able to share? You can see my setup at www.redstickastro.com. Thanks for making this channel. Well done. Sean

[@starwatcherch]

Hello. Many many thanks! The L-bracket (from the Star Adventurer Astro Bundle) has a screw to attach a ball head or similar on the one side. And on the other side is the (motor-less) DEC axis. See this picture: www.star-watcher.ch/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_5091.jpg I simply attached a Manfrotto ball head to mount the guide scope/cam. More details here: www.star-watcher.ch/equipment/lacerta-mgen-auto-guider/ Hope it helps. Really great pictures on your website!!! And also great equipment!!! CS, Karol

[@seanmolony-redstickastro238]

Thanks so much. I'm going to order hat gear tomorrow. I knew there had to be a solution to this. Mounting on the GT71 threw the balance off just too much. I cannot wait to try it out. Thanks for taking the time to answer and for visiting my site. I'll keep in touch and continue to enjoy your videos now that I have subscribed. Sean

[@seanmolony-redstickastro238]

So are you using the Orion SSAG with the Lacerta mgen or can it be used with PHD?

[@starwatcherch]

No... I use the Lacerta MGEN Cam (mounted on a Orion 50mm Mini Guide Scope) and the MGEN controller. Not the Orion SSAG.

[@alexchong1979]

i tot SA can go 5Kg

[@starwatcherch]

Yes, I'm currently at 3.2kg with my setup (DSRL, 400mm lens and GuideScope). ClearSkies

[@iancar29]

What about the counterweight too? I looks more than 5kg in total. I've a 500mm f4 Nikkor that im trying to get a reasonably priced mount for as only using the iOptron v2 currently up to 200mm.

[@starwatcherch]

I've weighed every single part :-) The setup mentioned in the video with L-bracket, counterweight and counterweight-bar, ball head, guide scope/cam, dslr and 400mm lens is exactly 4945 grams :-) But as far as I know, you can go up to 5kg without the CW. I read somewhere (related to the Star Adventurer): if you use heavy equipment up to 5kg, you have to use the counterweight for balance. You don't have to use the CW necessarly, if you attach only a DSLR/wide-field lens. I know other people who use heavier setups than mine, sucessfully. Of course with the CW. It's really a "great" little mount (IMO) :-) CS

[@alexchong1979]

impressive :) great work

[@starwatcherch]

Thank you :-)