• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

AT Shot of the Day Thread

Page 32 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
^ great planetary shots considering you're using just a spotting scope (as opposed to using one that's designed specifically for looking to the heavens)
 
Sunny129 said:
^ great planetary shots considering you're using just a spotting scope (as opposed to using one that's designed specifically for looking to the heavens)
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm really pleased with how they came out. The C90 is a great little grab and go telescope (or a first telescope in my case). I use it on a standard camera tripod which isn't ideal but it works okay enough. Learning to use all the different processing software is the hard part! 🙂

Edit:
I took another shot at Jupiter since the Great Red Spot was visible tonight. Also stacked about three times more exposures than last time.


Jupiter's Great Red Spot & Galilean Moons
 
Last edited:
Awesome, nohr!

DSC00884-L.jpg
 
Nohr said:
Thanks, I'm really pleased with how they came out. The C90 is a great little grab and go telescope (or a first telescope in my case). I use it on a standard camera tripod which isn't ideal but it works okay enough. Learning to use all the different processing software is the hard part! 🙂

Edit:
I took another shot at Jupiter since the Great Red Spot was visible tonight. Also stacked about three times more exposures than last time.


Jupiter's Great Red Spot & Galilean Moons
Click to expand...

Hey man how are you taking pictures of your scope's view?
 
That's a cool shot Spoooon. 🙂

007ELmO said:
Hey man how are you taking pictures of your scope's view?
Click to expand...
My Celestron C90 is threaded in the back. All I have to do is remove the diagonal and screw on a <$10 T-ring adapter. My DSLR attaches to the T-ring like a camera lens.

I'm not sure what you'd need for an Orion XT8. If you have a DSLR I think you'd need a T-adapter, a T-ring and maybe even a barlow. Otherwise you could try taking photos through your eyepiece.
 
I've done my celestial shots through my Orion XT8 and it's not easy. I messed with the little camera mount that you can buy from them for it and it isn't very stable (the bar that pivots on the bottom has locking points that aren't snug enough, so it constantly moves around). Definitely don't get that one if you need a camera mount.

Also, it's fun to get shots with manual azimuth/altitude (it's a challenge with higher magnifications 😵), but if you really want good shots, you'll need tracking.

I messed with that mount for hours and gave up and just ended up doing what I did all along: finding the exact position for the lens to be at and held the camera up to it. I've gotten pretty good at doing it that way, lol.
 
Nohr said:

Saturn


Mars
Click to expand...

Wow that's awesome. I managed to get a few shots of mars and saturn but not that clear.

How do you manage to keep it steady? I find even with my tripod it shakes quite a bit from the wind.





Still incredible to consider that we can see planets so far away like that though.


Here's a few random shots around the yard I took today with my 35mm prime:







Nothing that spectacular but I like the blur effect I can get with that lens.
 
Memorial Day Murph... needless to say, my participation was in keeping with the spirit of the event. This was at Fort Jackson earlier today. I was mega impressed by the dudes that actually completed the challenge.

i-cSzBWW8-L.jpg


i-Z68M5G4-L.jpg


i-Wx7bw3J-L.jpg
 
Red Squirrel said:
Wow that's awesome. I managed to get a few shots of mars and saturn but not that clear.

How do you manage to keep it steady? I find even with my tripod it shakes quite a bit from the wind.



Still incredible to consider that we can see planets so far away like that though.
Click to expand...

Those aren't bad! Mars is especially difficult.

The trick with planets is to take multiple photos and "stack" them in software. I stacked 80-100 exposures for each of those photos and it was a massive improvement over any single frame. It takes time and there's a learning curve but planets come out much better. Here's a guide if you're interested. Some folks have tracking mounts and specialized planetary webcam-like devices that shoot video and stack thousands of individual frames. 😱

It sounds like you could use a better tripod, what do you have? Collapsing the legs to their shortest may help and/or hanging a weight from it if there's a hook available.
 
Nohr said:
Those aren't bad! Mars is especially difficult.

The trick with planets is to take multiple photos and "stack" them in software. I stacked 80-100 exposures for each of those photos and it was a massive improvement over any single frame. It takes time and there's a learning curve but planets come out much better. Here's a guide if you're interested. Some folks have tracking mounts and specialized planetary webcam-like devices that shoot video and stack thousands of individual frames. 😱

It sounds like you could use a better tripod, what do you have? Collapsing the legs to their shortest may help and/or hanging a weight from it if there's a hook available.
Click to expand...

Neat I thought of trying out stacking but never realized it was actually a thing.

The tripod I have is a mid range Dynex one. I bought it from someone who does photography at a somewhat pro level and he would never buy something that's crap, so it may not be top of the line but it's decent.

I find it's not so much the tripod itself that shakes, but the lens at the point of mounting. So even if I hold or weigh down the actual tripod, the lens/camera is actually what moves. Though I imagine a heavier duty tripod may solve that. perhaps something that mounts the lens and camera. I can always try to rig something myself too.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Neat I thought of trying out stacking but never realized it was actually a thing.

The tripod I have is a mid range Dynex one. I bought it from someone who does photography at a somewhat pro level and he would never buy something that's crap, so it may not be top of the line but it's decent.

I find it's not so much the tripod itself that shakes, but the lens at the point of mounting. So even if I hold or weigh down the actual tripod, the lens/camera is actually what moves. Though I imagine a heavier duty tripod may solve that. perhaps something that mounts the lens and camera. I can always try to rig something myself too.
Click to expand...

Another thing to try is mounting it "side saddle", ie portrait mode. I do that with my telescope on my camera tripod w/ball head because it balances better that way.
 
I took this photo back in 2008 when I went to visit my brother in Philadelphia. Recently, I had it printed on this metallic paper with this color saturation (basically, only red was left in the photo) and it looked pretty awesome. Now that the weather is getting nicer in NYC, I need to find some time to get out and shoot with my new T5i and Canon 10-22mm lens.
Love Park by brainonska511, on Flickr
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top