Orion Nebula 02-17-12

Comment

Comment by Trevor Woodrow on February 25, 2012 at 3:47pm

Well my freind I am glad you are giving it a go, can't wait to see what you get!

Comment by Philip A Cruden on February 24, 2012 at 7:57am

Hey Trevor, WHAT! I can't stay the moon guy forever:) I have everything ready to go, scope, guiding setup, computer, camera, coffee and cookies, winter clouds are going away that you sent from your island. All that is left is a T-ring and a tube with some glass in it aka Field Flattner. I have a few more weeks to give it all some thought.

Comment by Philip A Cruden on February 24, 2012 at 7:47am

Hey Conor, thanks for the comment on the capture. Yep need to get all the other goodies. I have been shooting afocal for a long time with my Sony F-828 (old tech at this point), other than a few nice shots of the moon, it is not the best way to capture. A friend had loaned me his T1i as he is selling it. Pretty much brand new so this was a bit of a test. He has given me a few more weeks before I pay him because he wants to be sure it is the way I want to go. Great friend, he would not even take my money last Tuesday. The new gear for the camera setup will be pretty much what Steve Coates has, T-Ring and Field Flattner. I need to double check that the Field Flattner will give me enough backfocus using my SCT8 and for my AT6RC I will get an extention ring. By the time all this gets added up it comes pretty close to the price of an affordable CCD so 5% of my brain keeps interupting me. Frustrating, but we all go through it when making the choices when spending money. Thanks a bunch for your input, it really means a lot to me and thank you also for your offer. Too bad you are not around the corner, I'd pop on over, I am sure you could teach me a thing or two.

Comment by Philip A Cruden on February 24, 2012 at 7:11am

Hey Marc, thanks my friend is refusing to get paid until I am 100% sure that DSLR is the way I want to go. He is a good friend and does not even own a scope but he loves the cosmos and has heard all my conversations regarding CCD or DSLR so he has given me a few weeks to be sure.

Comment by Trevor Woodrow on February 24, 2012 at 5:45am

Trying your hand at DSO I see my friend, very nice!

Comment by Conor on February 24, 2012 at 12:58am

Really nice capture, Phillip. Some great detail around the Triangulum region.

I noticed you shot this afocally; afocal shooting wastes _a lot_ of photons. You end up with vignetting, refraction/reflection and aberration from the eyepiece. I notice you used a diagonal as well - probably to get enough backfocus, am I right? This further reduces your light gathering capability. I'd get a T-ring for that canon - I can even send you one as I don't own my 450D anymore - and shoot at prime focus. Prime focus gives you the best possible outcome for shooting DSOs.

Comment by Marc Basti on February 23, 2012 at 1:03pm

Philip, the T1i went from loan to own, cool! You're going to have a good time w/that. G-luck, Marc
PS the mod. is definitely worth it, wait till you see the subs-sweet