Image options and autofocus in NINA - it matters!

[@thomasbardenwerper9365]

Quiv, THANK YOU so much for taking the time to make these videos! They are all EXTREMELY helpful, VERY well done and are filling a void of info on N.I.N.A. that has needed to be filled for some time now. PLEASE keep them coming and thank you for your outstanding contributions to N.I.N.A. and the astrophotography community! I've been at this hobby for over 30 years (started AP with film) and the last several years have seen such a rapid change, we're really in the golden age of AP. I'm an IT geek, over the years I've tried/bought nearly nearly every AP app out there and I can say with certainty, there's NOTHING like N.I.N.A.. It's simply amazing - mostly, because it simply WORKS - and that's because of people like you. THANK YOU!!!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Wow, thanks for the feedback Thomas!! My own contributions to NINA have been fairly minor compared to the main devs, but I'm still very glad it's such a positive impact! (By the way film AP... wow! Respect!). Wishing you clear skies and great imaging nights!

[@marpro1824]

Thank you so much for this series. Such a good resource to learn about Nina and astrophotography in general. I'm just starting and find this super useful.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

For NINA you should check PatriotAstro's channel, the videos are far more up to date!

[@marpro1824]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek thanks! I'll check them right after finishing your series

[@richardheinsohn2624]

Thanks for another great video. Explaining each of the fields as you use them helps understand the product better.

[@giannispomonis]

That video of yours my friend is very explanatory. Autofocus issues could be so much pain and really turn our look at other places than that of software side, that could be the case. So many variables to take into consideration. Testing testing and testing again to find your best settings guys! I use an EDGE HD 8 and the focusing -as you can understand- is so so much more crucial in that focal length!!!

[@czarpeppers6250]

If you see this, I'm curious if there is a way in NINA to make it actually remember the focus motor position? I find it to be rather frustrating that it doesn't, because in the event NINA crashes or something when you reboot it and connect the motor it resets to position zero, then I have to go into a separate controller to reel it back before reconnecting in NINA and getting it back to the right position. Not to mention some of the other inconveniences this causes.

[@robertcalise8634]

Cuiv I have seen a lot of your images you posted and love them. Now i have seen the skies you have to work with. All i can say is WOW you must be some kind of processing genius to pull those images out of that sky. love your videos

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Beautiful dark skies, aren't they? :D Unfortunately I am no processing genius! I'm very lazy when it comes to processing (or everything, really :) ) so I cut quite a few corners when doing it. I'll probably do a video of my processing workflow as well in the near future (so many video ideas!)

[@-Jantje]

This short and simple explanation makes it so much easier for me to understand - Keep it up 👍

[@kylecormier9930]

Thank you so much for another great video that explains things easily and clearly for us to understand.

[@richardsauerbrun2412]

Thanks Cuiv ... always informative. I have been using NINA for some time now, and have absorbed all your tips. This video may help me get better auto focus routines with my DSLR. I am just outside Phoenix, so I share your struggles with light pollution. I run an 8" SCT so finding the proper focus range and step size has been tough. Too far and the donuts ruin everything.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Wow Richard, I feel your pain - when I was revamping that autofocus code in NINA, I myself had an SCT. I did put in quite a few things that make doughnuts more palatable for NINA than a lot of other solutions. Glad it is working well for you now!

[@davidjennings2733]

Hi Cuiv, Thanks again for a great video. I know I am late to the party but still learning none the less. Question for you on the use of DEBAYER in NINA. I understand that the use of DEBAYER ON setting is for the visual shot, however I take it there is no setting to save the pictures as DEBAYERED already and that this must be done in processing software such as Pixnsight? My first use of my OSC camera, I was surprised to see them all gray and with vertical lines, as it turned out they needed to be DEBAYERED and output mode of RGB. DOH! I did not know this as I am used to shooting with Mono cameras, ASI1600MM PRO and ASI533MM PRO. Thanks for any input or suggestions to my sad ignorance... haha

[@whatmattersmost6725]

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK on NINA Cuiv!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

My pleasure! Although to be honest recently I haven't made much contributions!

[@johnjames378]

Great videos and great explanations. Now I have a better understanding. I've been away from astrophotography for 13 years, its all changed. Used to use a DSLR, now I have a Mono camera with filterwheel. Keep going with your videos please!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Glad this is helpful! The next video is about filter offsets, which should be helpful for your setup. Great choice with a mono camera and filterwheel!

[@tomwall8403]

Thank you for your many very helpful videos. I have a topic suggestion. NINA is a pleasure to use. I'd love to get an auto focuser eventually, but I'm stuck with manual focus, for now. Question: How can NINA be used to do manual focus adjustments, while you're in an imaging sequence, without interrupting the sequence?

[@myshootinggallery3703]

You mentioned dslr's a lot when talking about autofocus, does NINA have autofocus options for dslr lenses? Can I control autofocus on my Canon dslr/lens with NINA?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

NINA can't control directly the lens focus motor of a lens directly connected to a compatible camera body. But it will control the lens when using an adapter like the Astromechanics adapter, and it can control the focuser if the lens or scope is paired with an electronic focuser like the EAF

[@M31glow]

Wow, did I just hear you say that unlinked stretch was your contribution? Great feature!!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!! Yes, I contributed that one to NINA. It was a lot of work, and it is memory intensive, but it made a huge difference for OSC cameras...

[@barrytrudgian4514]

Quiv, thanks for this. I have been using N.I.N.A. for just a couple of months a also putting the lazy philosophy into practice. With an EAF on order and following your tutorials I should be well placed to wheel out a buggy mounted rig, collimate, polar align ( Sharpcap) then back inside to run it all via ethernet. Thanks again.

[@gomanastro]

thanks for this...reviewing this in advance, my sesto senso 2 will be arriving next week to pair with my skywatcher esprit 120 refractor....I hope this will save me some headaches in advance!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Good luck setting it up!

[@materialdialectics]

Well I think I know why I was having trouble with my autofocus now, didn't think of the stretch factor.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Aha! Glad it was helpful :-)

[@MegaDavidmetal]

Hello Cuiv! I have a question for you, all these parameters that you modify in =>images//advanced options in NINA, do they also affect platesolving? I have an extremely noisy camera and it gives me problems in both autofocus and plate resolution. Thanks for the video and greetings from Spain!!

[@enqueir]

another great explanation Cuiv, pleasee come bame back to astro imaging ... :)

[@anata5127]

Your autofocus is set for refocusing after 10% change. Is it 10% change after 1 or 2-3 frames? 10% change to one frame could happen because of seeing or guiding (for example wind gusts).

[@j1will]

Cuiv, this series for NINA are so very helpful, thank you, and Thank you again! I have a question. As I have been adding new equipment items to my set up, like a brand new Sesto Senso 2 focuser, these settings become very important. I also just added the brand new QHY268C camera to my set up. I have noticed however that in NINA, for some reason as I add these new pieces of equipment, somehow NINA is opening up with changes to the personalized settings already in place. For example, my image option had the Annotate image setting turned off, but it was turned on now, and not by me? This happened after adding the new QHY camera, coming from the ASI533 before. And this type of change has happened before with some of the other settings. Have you noticed this issue? I don't like the idea that I have to go back through all of my setting choices to be sure when I start my night session that something I was not expecting to change has been changed unexpectedly. Any ideas for the cause of this, and/or the best ways to save and recall my settings in practice are welcomed. Perhaps this is only expected when changing equipment items? Thanks again!!

[@j1will]

I just discovered why the settings were changed, somehow in NINA it went from my custom profile, back to a default profile. Perhaps this type change can happen when you are adding or changing your gear?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

It usually only happens if an instance of NINA was still runinng (possibly in the background) when NINA is opened - it then reverts to the default profile. One way to avoid that is to make sure to have a custom color scheme, as it will make it obvious when this happens!

[@peterspatz6918]

Do I have the annotation option always to be activated, or only on AF routine?

[@JamesPetruzzi_MyHawaiianImages]

Thank you for Unlinked Stretch! Can always tell a PixInsight user...:)

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Hehehe :) My pleasure! It was a big project, but with big dividends as well!

[@jimwaters304]

Your video are very useful. Can you do a video on histogram usage and using the exposure calculator. Thx

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I will try, but I actually haven't used that feature yet!

[@joseribeiro9564]

made yesterday some tests with NINA autofocus but since i have Canon Lens had to chooose a ascom autofocuser driver to be able to procedd with the autofocus routine and have HFR values, then i proceed to use manual focus and use the graph to assist me, is there any other way to automate this routine with canon lens?