Tracker vs. No Tracker for ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY (Shooting the Pleiades)

[@AlynWallace]

Great effort and comparison dude 👏🏻

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Alyn! I always watch your videos when they come up in my feed. Your Sony A7SIII review was excellent!

[@inderjotsingh1520]

Yo I love your work Alyn

[@theonlyitaliangirl]

I agree. Nico, I'm just learning -your video is so thorough and easy to understand. I appreciate the work you put into it. And Alyn Wallace - I follow you too - love your work as well and just bought the MSM - and the Z and V-plates. Can't wait to get started. Eventually I hope to also get a tracker like the one Nico is using as well. Thanks again to both of you for sharing your knowledge and passion. Cheers!

[@zijadzikedzehovic6206]

@@NebulaPhotos Nico, pls have you any video you have made with star tracker?

[@Dylon1981]

Its really inspiring to see 2 astro youtubers interacting and commenting positive vibes to each other.

[@MrBlueSky1987]

Who th would give a thumbs down without the video even being available? :( how could you... this guy is like the Bob Ross of astrophotoghraphy, all his videos are pure positivity and inspiration.

[@quadbot5229]

Probably a flat earther

[@maruftim]

@@quadbot5229 true

[@chrisoriordan6975]

The “Bob Ross” analogy is perfect, Nico has a hypnotic style, enthralling and inspiring

[@vibemunster]

Flattards.

[@dubstepzsi]

Some people just want to watch the world burn unfortunately.........

[@Flo8101987]

When I first discovered your channel I was kinda hesitent because of the lenght of some of your tutorials. My interest started to grow with every video I watched and by now I´m really excited to get my first very own tracker in a couple of days. I highly appreciate that you share all of your knowledge without skipping any secrete trick or step. Hopefully I´ll be able to follow along and get some nice results with the help of your tutorials. Thanks again for sharing your astro-skills with all of us.

[@NebulaPhotos]

That's great Peter. Glad I could help. Cheers, Nico

[@Ghosty2k77]

You speak facts dude

[@marvinracer88]

Very few people are willing to share those secrets and tricks.

[@Astronurd]

@@marvinracer88 They are not secrets

[@spr5033]

This is the best astrophotography guide ever made. Seriously. You literally went through everything 99% of people will ask about.

[@robinell]

You are the SUPER HERO of all amateur astrophotographers!! THANK YOU sir!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Too kind! Clear skies, Nico

[@eddeph]

Thank you for showing such clear results on "no tracking" method across multiple videos. When I started astrophotography I hit a wall of people who kept saying that unless I invest in a tracker there's no point in doing this. Your fine work allowed me (and many others) to dive into this amazing hobby without investing a ton of money into gear.

[@gomanastro]

You have done outstanding job for the beginner with similar equipment....saving them alot of decision-making and wondering....!

[@umutcanarslan7989]

I watched most of your videos. The way you are explaining same things over and over each video requires patiance but for the viewers it really helps learning. Keep it up please 👍

[@dimi86g]

I must say it is really amazing what you can do with very little gear but by paying attention to all the details, i ve been doing this for 2 years now and have a lot of gear but it’s just so satisfying to see what you can do with a camera and a tracker if you have all the information to give you a head start. I spent so much time and frustration even with much better gear and your videos just give all the information you need. I really love that every video just gives you the WHOLE process that is invaluable and it’s sad to see others not being as diligent and educational as you are. THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yep, it is definitely a hobby that rewards experience and attention to detail. I think the one other thing that is hard to conceptualize at first is how big a difference a truly dark sky can make. Clear skies!

[@hotflashfoto]

I watched this over several days just to take it all in. Very nice teaching skills. Thank you!

[@andreasraum5535]

Nico, your Channel is the reason why it’s worth exploring KZbin. Keep up the good work!

[@eddiesurfah5525]

My god at the end, I thought the 'untracked' image was the tracked one because I thought it looked better! We'll blame my untrained eye :') this is an absolutely incredible guide, you are the man. Thank you for this. Never thought without a tracker it'd be possible but now I'm gonna rush off and try myself!!

[@pauligle]

possibly the most detailed astrophotography video ever made!

[@hollisbradburyoutdoors3387]

Man. I had to stop it after the intro alone. I am so pumped to watch the rest of it but just had to stop and say I appreciate these videos so much. I have 0 knowledge about this stuff. I have only recently taken any pictures of the night sky and man. You always nail it. Even if I had no interest in this topic you are so easy to understand. So friendly and approachable. Thank you for taking the time to help us novice photographers understand even the small details of what you talk about.

[@cdavidhord]

This is an amazing video. I'm checking everything out as you go. You have the most amazing astrophotography channel available. I view them all, and your's is the most valuable to us. Thank You!

[@martattacks]

There's virtually nobody on KZbin listening to whom I enjoy more. Great videos!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Wow, thanks!

[@Jim_Mundy]

Thank you for the incredible effort and detail you put into these tutorials. It’s like a college class in astrophotography!

[@LucasCosta-tf7bw]

This is by far the most comprehensive video on the subject I have found so far. Very informative and right level of details, specially for beginners

[@valentino826021]

Appreciate all your videos. When we first went into the lockdowns I was looking for a new hobby. I started with all your post processing videos. After about 3 weeks give or take I was able to produce my first Astro pics and even a galaxy. I appreciate your attention to detail and taking it slow during your tutorials. I dunno how anyone interested in astrology or astro photography can dislike this mans videos. Just a bunch of random haters.

[@eottoe2001]

For anyone else but me, too, this might be too much detail, HOWEVER, this was like the keys to the kingdom as far astrophotography goes. Everyone of my questions got answered and shown how to do it. Thank you so much. This was super helpful!!!! ★★★★★

[@Eastbirds_Lee]

This is an incredible video! Very detailed and extremely well constructed. As a photographer and aviation enthusiast/flight simmer i’d like to add two useful comments: - photographer in me says: choosing the widest possible aperture on your camera/lens might not always be the best way to go. Many lenses get somewhat unsharp or show chromatic abberation when they’re wide open. Dial down from say f/2.8 to f/3.5 could significantly increase image quality in terms of color and sharpness. It also helps sharpen the whole field of view and allows for more even distribution of light into the lens as it will get less fuzzy from corner to corner. Pro lenses are a lot less susceptible to these things. So sacrificing a notch of light might in many cases be beneficial for the overall picture, if you can add a bit of exposure time to each shot. - same goes for focal length for anyone reading this: if you can, stick to prime lenses, those are lenses with one fixed focal length only, like a 200mm lens or 24mm lens. Avoid zoom lenses with different focal lengths range because they tend to be unsharp and warp the image throughout the focal length range. If you do have a zoom lens you’d best look online on reviews to see at what focal length (and aperture) the lens performs best. This could mean the difference between a fuzzy and greyish shot and a tack sharp, colorful shot. - the flight simmer in me says: check websites like Windy.com. It’s also very helpful as you can select all sorts of parameters like aerosol, wind, humidity and all kinds of pollutants that are in the skies. Happy shooting!! 🎉💫☄️

[@Paul-jb6rk]

I couldn’t agree more, was also surprised he set it wide open but i guess he wasn’t so much comparing sharpness in this comparison but noise and wanted to get as much light as possible in 30 minutes so his decision does make sense. I would have stopped down to f/4 though and doubled exposure time for better results.

[@Sam-lc5nr]

Your videos are getting better and better 🤩🤩

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks 😁

[@garycampbell9709]

Very tempted to save up for these upgrades, evidently worth it in my opinion. Thanks for sharing your results.

[@kevingumfory]

The very best content creator ! His channel isn't full of infomercial shit ! You get top notch KNOWLEDGE here without having shit crammed down your throat for sale. Niko is bomb. Im very grateful. You can find some reviews on his channel but mostly you're going to learn technique.

[@alabrrmrbmmr]

This is far and away the most helpful video I've seen on night sky photography. I'd all but given up when autoplay served up this gem! Subbed! Great work!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad to hear it James! Clear skies, Nico

[@prakhardixit6287]

I am starting with astrophotography with very basic gear but your videos are really clearing up things for me. Thanks for that.

[@JohdagM]

The Most complete guide I’ve found. Amazing. Thank you!

[@HoshiBeans]

Absolutely loved the video. By far my favorite part is when you revealed the stacked pictures of the star cluster and it appeared to be a Subaru Impreza!

[@SH1974]

Awesome comparison! Thanks and Respect! I had no doubt, that the longer exposed subs bring more depth (even if You'd use only the half total exposure time), but I did not expect the difference that huge. The keyword for good pictures is signal/noise-ratio - and "Signal" comes first... Having very few noise is nice, but it does not bring much if there is also very few signal. Capturing as much as possible signal in each sub brings depth to the final picture, so a tracking system (even if it's just a DIY Barndoor mount) is still(*) more important as I expected. * when I started astrophotography 2 decades ago, we had no digital cameras, we exposed on dia-positive film (i prefered Kodak Ektachrome 200). Single shot exposure over several minutes. Manually/visually guided on the (not motorized) equatorial mount through a small lens telescope. Even aligning that mount (no polar finder scope, no App) was an adventure. And the result came 2-3 weeks later from the photo laboratory. Digital cameras have made so much things so much easier. (but they've also complicated other things...)

[@luludelasnubes]

What a fantastic video tutorial !! I don't even shoot astro, but it's really awesome how you're explaining everything ! Thank you so much.

[@SteveWachira]

You've shot a couple of photos of the night sky, you fell in love with it, and decided that this is your niche? ... You're not alone. I have been looking for a mentor, considering I have ADHD; it has been a struggle! This is Nico Carvers' first video I'm watching and all I can say is, I have found a mentor.

[@fiascothecat2437]

This video must have taken a LOT of hard work. Thank you! It is very educational and inspiring!

[@janoeter9056]

This is one of the best videos on this topic I've ever seen. Must have taken a lot of effort and it shows... Great work!

[@alextphoto6820]

Again, amazing video and tutorial. Your Tutorials for tracked astrophotography and post processing helped me a lot and got me to buy a Star tracker for myself. You explained every step of the processing in a way, that someone who never did astrophotography before can understand how to do it. And that's amazing. Really good work.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Happy to help!

[@912582]

This is 100% the best tutotial I've seen over the years. After years of interest then 1 year of taking advantage of all rare clear nights, I still count myself firmly as a beginner and this is very clear and helpful, (I always forget something). Big thank you!

[@stefanodellanna8452]

I absolutely have not knowledge to Say if you are the best or not, but for sure you are my favourite astroyoutuber! Can't wait for the video :D

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Stefano!

[@GrayGhostRyders]

I have watched many of your videos over the past few months but this one I keep coming back to and continue learning - You have done such an awesome job of sharing how to allow us newbies in this field to understand some of the tools we can use on our own to answer our own specific questions regarding the appropriate shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc. for each of our specific cameras and lenses and tracker. I have read soooooo many books that never provide enough detail to help understand what I need to do in a given circumstance for a given target based on our specific equipment... (“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” @Lao Tzu.) Thank you so very much for continuing to do what you do.

[@CRAIGSCHULER]

Thank you for the video Nico. You mentioned in a previous video that you would be attempting fewer but better quality videos this year and this shows. Thank you for taking the time to produce this 🙏🏻

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Craig, still lots of mistakes, but I am trying to hit a balance between quality and getting the videos out

[@ssbarag]

Nico you are my hero! Interesting, entertaining, you have it all… thank you for all your work

[@bruceb9416]

You have some really good teaching skills . Clear, nicely laid out simplification of what can be some really confusing steps for a new person trying to get into picture taking of the night sky. I got a lot out of this video. thanks.

[@jerrythunder3642]

I'm about to attempt the no tracker Pleiades tonight! Have had the camera for a while, but now it's finally time to see if I can do it. I appreciate the video, Nico!

[@mahir_m01]

Hey Nico, Thank you for your wonderful tutorials....I've just got into astrophotography and your tutorials help me so much... Can't wait for this one as well... I'm just 15 btw... Hope I will be able to take such type of pics one day...❤️

[@floryda4281]

Nice to hear that young people are interested in astronomy! I was about your age when I started myself. But we had no digital cameras and no internet back then :-) Take care and clear skies!

[@mahir_m01]

@@floryda4281 thx : )

[@ethanlayman1230]

Hows it going

[@epic_playz4283]

Same here im 15! And the mounts are just overpriced for telescopes for me

[@nupurmaity6430]

lovely to see ur dedication for work 💝

[@dannybyrne5088]

I know the tracked version has more detail, but I think I prefer the untracked version 😬 I think it’s the colour of the stars they look more blue than the tracked version, great video again Nico, I recently followed your step by step guide for Andromeda and had pretty good results so thank you for these videos, looking forward to the next one 😎

[@Rich-hy2ey]

Some time ago, there was a Japanese photog who combined OOF images (similar to tracking/non-tracking) with focused images in order to emphasize star colours.

[@StedeBonnett]

There was so much good info packed into just the first 1/3 of this video that I am subscribing to your channel now!

[@markadams9401]

Subscribed sir, I'm just beginning stargazing and want to eventually learn astrophotography, and just a few minutes into this video I knew you are a great teacher.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Mark! Clear skies, Nico

[@Test-bi5rg]

A nice video for getting start with astrophotography, give viewers directions for further tutorials.

[@InterprisesTV]

Wow, you saved us weeks of hard work. Thank you!

[@jasonmatthews8491]

Great tutorial for newbies. I'm slowly getting setup for this type of astrophotography and found this video invaluable.

[@celestromel]

Nico, your tutorials are head and shoulders above those of most of your contemporaries - if not a very well-trained educator, you are a born teacher. So grateful for the knowledge you have shared with me. My greatest wish is for you to give us a tutorial on using ZWO ASIAir Pro. That would be wonderful. Thanks heaps from Mel in Sydney.

[@adiraj5158]

FINALLY!! I really hope the results are close.. im willing to put in the hardwork but i just dont have the money to spend for tracker gear to take pictures... so far ive taken pics of everything from andromeda to the horsehead nebula.. cant wait for this amazing vid!

[@TheAnoniemo]

You could make some basic barn door style start tracker yourself on the cheap.

[@paulstone7421]

Great video. Very comprehensive and easy to follow.

[@dude157]

Thanks so much for these videos, it's saved me so many hours of searching for and reading the right information. Other youtube videos skip right over the important details to tell you things everyone with a day's camera experience already knows. These however are perfect.

[@JTheUsualMultimedia]

Love that I found this channel after @AlynWallace and @astrobackyard collections of tutorials! Everyone helpful, informational, while having enough variance to discern important lessons on this subject. Being in the massachusetts area, Im glad someone is as successful with imaging while battling the variances in weather throughout the year. I tend to use cameras not intended for any sort of framable astrophotography (gopros, phone cameras, so far, entry levels and kits lens next!), so the relatively new focus on youtube creators tutorials on starter level cams and editing has been a MAJOR help to me in both hobby AND business, so I appreciate the hell out of all of your work! Oddly, phones and gopros have been focusing on developing better night photography, and Im even practicng deep sky Super Easy with a phone, which blows my mind that its even possible! Weird objects lately too from satellite swarms to new flying objects of unknown origin (to me anyways LOL) and meteor showers galore... this has been a blast so far!

[@desborneoneil2375]

Great video sir. I follow all of your videos and tutorials from Trinidad where I live. I am newbie and I must say that your instructions are clear and concise. great job. Blessings to you also.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Desborne! I appreciate the nice comment.

[@jaybeckman3749]

Thank you for this exhaustive side by side comparison. Really great info and you have me even more excited to get my SkyGuider! Clear Skies!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Clear skies Jay!

[@NerdAttempato]

OMG... I just have a Nikon d5600 as in your example about choosing the proper ISO value. Thanks a lot your explanation was very very useful!

[@vitawhiting7400]

Hi Nico, brilliant tutorial. Much appreciated. Thank you 🙏

[@GarnettLeary]

That’s why I love full frame for static tripod shots. You keep more of the center. Cool comparison.

[@deepbhowmik-cse-3095]

Thanks A Lot 👍 for gifting us this excellent presentation 👏

[@TheSpacePlaceYT]

How is this channel so good!? Amazing video btw. Pleiades is my favorite star cluster and it's nice to see that my favorite KZbin channel is coming around to image it.

[@illcaponesok833]

I’m taking a picture of the Pleiades right now. I don’t have a dew heater, and the I can feel the dampness in air. I’m hoping for the best, but this video will hopefully give me a decent look if things don’t go to plan. Thanks again, Nico!

[@franciscorodriguez275]

Thanks for your sharing your knowledge! You are really inspiring people like me to look up, focus and marvel.

[@INTAL115]

Wow, using the levels is a game changer! Thanks! Was stoked that all the colors just popped on my image. (orion nebula)

[@Sammy10100]

Thank you for the detailed video on this topic. It was very helpful.

[@fintimwhimbim]

What detail! My head hurts, and to think I just bought a telescope to look at the moon! 😂 If I ever decide to do astrophotography then I’ll use this as reference. 👍

[@alivia4907]

I just got the canon r6 and a used tamron 70-200 2.8. So I'm going to try this shot, this weekend without a tracker! Hopefully the clouds cooperate. Thanks for the video.

[@andreguttesen8982]

It is fascinating with the space and the pictures one can take. Gave it a try, after watching several of your videos, I tried with the Pleiades without tracker and common equipment - Canon 5D mk III with a 100-400 lens which could get aperture 5.0 at 200 mm. Living in Nuuk/Greenland, where I managed to find a good place to set up the stand - 64.09 N and 51.41 W - it was minus 8-9 Celsius. Did not get a set of pictures that could be used in Deepskystacker did not find many stars and focus could probably also have been better. Encountered a different problem with light pollution, not from the city though, but the atmosphere in the form of northern lights, temperature played a bit in when the camera eventually froze. As they say, you have to start somewhere.

[@trevorgreen2232]

An excellent presentation and I really appreciate your detail in this presentation Thank you

[@searchresults1246]

So much information, awesome video! It’s hard to think of Somerville without thinking of Leone’s Pizza on Broadway.

[@djfurione]

Thanks for that Man! Very helpfull tutorial. I was looking for something like that for quite some time. Greetings from Poland!

[@isaacteal]

This is one of the more convincing examples in my opinion that I ought to really take the plunge into tracker land. Dang!

[@RafaelCBeltrame]

As always, a great job and a very useful tutorial. Thanks, Nico! Best wishes from Brazil!

[@qfwfqqfwfq6249]

Hi. Thank you a lot. Your explanation is very clear, and I'm going to try to take some pictures as soon as possible. Goo job!

[@adamlicht6614]

Thanks so much for your efforts. I learn so much from watching your videos. Keep up the great work!

[@tylera2226]

Thank you so much I’m hoping I can take my first photos tomorrow using this as a guide. So helpful!

[@richardrogers2110]

Great tutorial. Thanks for making and posting this. I do disagree that you always want to go with the lowest F stop. Most lenses produce sharper images and nearly eliminate chromatic, especially around the outer edges, if you stop down one or two f stops. I've achieved dramatically improved results with astrophotography work by doing this. I can't collect as much light but I can compensate by taking more light images. The extra time and effort is worth it.

[@dr.mainakchakraborty9297]

Fabulous..your are too good..great effort man.

[@jbreezy3146]

Dude you got me like binge watching your videos lol awesome content.

[@adityasoni6185]

The best i was waiting for

[@toddnoseworthy1447]

Excellent video as always.

[@AcmeAstro]

Thanks! One tip, you could use N.I.NA to focus. Connect your camera and turn on annotate image under settings imaging. As you take your test frames you will visually see the fwhm go up and down. 👍

[@atlassilverbraid]

I had the Pleiades outside my flat today. It was there outside the window, so I took advantage. You could see it with the naked eye, so I took 288 photos at 1 second exposure, but the stacker didn't work that well. I am going to keep working at it to see what comes up. I might not get the nebulosity because I might not have enough exposure, and I am in the city centre, which is not a dark sky. Tonight was the first clear sky for a few days in Leicester. I would have better results if I was at home in Valencia because the sky is always clear there and I can go to the mountains. Fingers crossed. I did take one photo of the Orion nebula, and that was awesome.

[@DaCraziness]

your videos are the best! So thorough and well articulated. Thank you :)

[@tony_r_pierce]

Nice job on this, lot of work, good explanations.

[@RahilSethi]

I'm beginning to get some grip on Photoshop post-processing! I watched your M31 processing and now getting a hold of the pattern. Still a lot to learn about such a powerful software with so many features! Great video! Thanks!

[@carvrodrigo]

You put a lot of effort into your videos!!! Such great content! Congratz and many thanks

[@jbflores01]

EXCELLENT tutorial! Thanks for the detailed instructions!

[@raphaelcoelho1557]

I recently used my modifyied camera to photograph Orion. I realizaed that I capture much more the IR. However, the blue glow and the blue in a general way has been reduced. So, I came up with a different approach I dont know if anyone did it. I read about capturing the luminosity of different RGB channels with Monocrome cameras and corresponding filters. Then use the results as the luminosity of each RBG channel in Photoshop. Therefore, I realized the non modifyied camera I have filter the IR and also capture more of the other colors (even better since it is an A7III against the mod T7Ia ). Then I decided to steach with both cameras and then blend the two final images. At the end all the blue nebula around stars close to Orion could be recovered . If we can blend several shots aligning them or blend different monocrome captures of each RGB channel, why could not we blend from different sensors with the same settings? Looking at the T7I before modificatoin, I observed that it already capture almost no blue compared to A7III. Só it seems that mod was not responsable for all the blue alimination. Maybe an A7III modifyoed would bring more blue anyway. However, the idea com blending from diferente sensors due to better quality in part of the capture seems to be interesting. In my case A7III blending with T7Ia bring results up to other level.

[@diegoperezvaldes3207]

What a great video, I learned a lot !! I've been in wide-field astrophotography for a while and I've only recently been learning and reading in deep space. The use of saddle really helps a lot, greetings from Chile.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad you enjoyed it! Clear skies Diego!

[@SiegfriedGlina]

Wow. Loads of good information here. Thanks.

[@shan8748]

It was an amazing session for understanding the details for any beginner. Thank you! Really appreciate it!

[@Nochift138]

Love your videos. I bought this exact same lens (Canon 200mm f/2.8L) based on your recommendation and love it.

[@rahulsandil315]

Amazing content man, you're a true inspiration for budding photographers

[@jasonborg7272]

Outstanding class

[@BillSands2112]

Nico you Rock! I really enjoy watching your well put videos. I have not done a picture myself yet but hopefully I will.. Thanks again and keep them coming

[@fakharhaider6269]

thanks for covering such an important topic in a very comprehensive way

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad you liked it!

[@watermelonhelmet6854]

An easy way to understand ISO is that it's not making your sensor more sensitive to light, it's just amplifying the signal created by the light hitting your sensor. So, think of it like recording sound. There's the sound you want to record and background noise. If the sound you're recording is loud enough, it will drown out the background noise and you won't hear it. That's like taking an image with lots of light. The signal created by light hitting your sensor is overpowering the sensors 'noise'. But, if the sound you're recording is really quiet and you get around the lack of volume by amplifying the recorded sound, the background noise will get amplified as well.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Well said. With astrophotography, we need people to get that base understanding and then understand there is a noise term associated with ISO called readout noise that typically goes down by increasing ISO, and that while this has no impact on daytime photography, can have a much bigger impact on stacked astrophotography.

[@SteveZodiac777]

Great video - most useful content very well explained. Thank you!

[@AstroPixUK]

Watched the video in full this morning, simply fantastic. Thanks Nico, really enjoying your content. This really makes me want to persevere more with my Skyguider pro I've brought to take camping.