450d first light

[Whitters]

Just got a 450D and pulled out my old Tamron 300mm f2.5, imaging at f4. Just learning how to use the camera and only shooting 30second subs. This shot of m8 and m20 is the sum of 10 30 second subs. No calibration and using the astronomic cls clip filter.



I need some help with calibration, are darks and flats collected and processed in the same way with a digi camera as with a CCD? Ta )

[RobertM]

That looks very promissing Paul, should be able to get some nice shots with that.

Robert

[Mac]

Nice start.

As for the calibration frames, take them just the same as you would for the ccd.
Darks, Flats, & Bias. Dont forget RAW,

Mac.

[Whitters]

Thanks Mac

[mickw]

Looks pretty good to me Paul, especially with 30 sec subs.

Pity about the calibration

[Fay]

That is looking good Paul. Hope to get my Canon out again soon


Fay

[MarkS]

Nice field of view Paul and the stars look really sharp.  To catch the Lagoon you must have good visibility to the South!   But is it affected by the Uckfield glow?

You definitely need some bias and flats.  Also, as Mac said, I hope you're shooting RAW.

Why did you do subs of only 30 sec?  At F4 you should easily be able to do 5 min subs.

It looks like a good combination of camera and lens.  Is the camera modified yet?

Mark

[Whitters]

The south horizon is pretty low, but yes Uckfield is due south. Limited to 30 seconds because i don't have a cable release yet, have one on order.  Yep always shoot in RAW I wanted to play with the camera for a bit before I take the scapel to it. Plpan to have a go, hoping not to knacker it. Do you use the Astronomik filter in your camera?

[Carole]

Paul,

I have a 450D and an IFC200U cable which attaches DSLR to laptop (you'll need a USB extension lead as well as that is really too short), and I can do all my settings and capture straight onto the laptop with subs up to an hour long (should you so desire), using Canon Utility Software.  This will also work with APT and Backyard EOS as well, although I haven't used them yet.

Can do darks, Flats and Bias on this too.  Also you can do live view focus.

Nice 30 secs image BTW

Did the Canon come with the cable and software?

Carole

[Whitters]

Thanks Carole,
The camera came witht he standard Canon Software. I may go to sing it with a PC later I was using the magnified liveview for focusing, to see if it could be used with the minimum of kit, as I expect to use it as a portable set-up.
Where did you get the IFC200U cable from, and what does it connect to? USB, Phono Jack?
Took a few darks and Bias frames last nightwill have a go at re-processing the M8 image

[Mike]

Images that look in focus on the LiveView will quite likely not be in focus on the big screen. APT is great as it lets you see live images from the camera. A Bhatinov Mask is also a useful tool.

[Carole]

Sorry, when I say I focus in LIVEVIEW I mean Live view on the laptop (within Canon Utility) so you can blow that up pretty large if you use a bright star.  Yes and APT allows the same thing. 

Where did you get the IFC200U cable from, and what does it connect to? USB, Phono Jack?

the cable came with my 450D, but they are easily obtainable on the internet (just google it).  It attaches to a USB port on the laptop.

The other advantage of using a laptop with Canon Utility is that you can examine the previously captured images while the current one is being taken using Digital Photo Professional (part of the suite), and I think you can also use DPP if using APT in the same way. 

Having tried to use the DSLR on holiday without a laptop (just the camera on a tripod), I would not want to do astro-imaging without a laptop ever again!!!!  Contortions and smallness of screen being the main problems.  

Carole

[Mike]

Paul why are your images always progressive JPEGs?

Looks like a good start.

[RobertM]

Paul,

What I think Carol is saying is just use the Canon->PC cable that came with the camera and use a usb entension cable if you find that too short.  Once you have the camera hooked up to the PC then you can use whatever capture program you want (including that supplied with the camera) to control it and take images.

Robert

[Whitters]

Mike,
'cos people moaned when I saved them as .png's

Robert,
Thanks for the clarification, yep I have one of those. ( Lots infact )