Answering YOUR Astrophotography Questions!
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- čas přidán 26. 07. 2024
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Answering YOUR Astrophotography Questions!
1. Which filter should I use?
2. Should I use a refractor telescope or a camera lens?
3. Which telescope should I upgrade to?
4. Do I need to modify my camera for astrophotography?
5. Where can I buy used astrophotography gear?
6. What is the right backspacing for my camera and telescope?
7. How do I focus my camera and telescope?
8. How do you power your setup in the field?
9. Do you really leave your gear out in the cold?
10. Which software should I use for image processing?
BONUS: Why don't you sell prints? - Jak na to + styl
"Wait, what style now?" 😂You have the dopest shots!
I agree, and hope to actually get to shoot similar things from a Bortle 9 area
Thank you Trevor for the nice shoutout!
Trevor, in my mind, you and many of your companion Astrophotography channels are rockstars. As a 70 year old retired aerospace engineer the information you collectively have provided saved me money, reduced the learning curve, and in the end have amplified the overall satisfaction and enjoyment of this captivating hobby. I’m still trying to improve my image processing chops. The good news is almost every one of your episodes I pick up a tidbit or technique. I look forward to you next installment.
You forgot the most asked question of all time. "What time did you capture this?" 😂 Another great vid dude 👊🏼
Hello again! it's already almost July
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Here's a tip for extreme cold. Take an ACE Bandage and wrap your Scope and Dew Heater Straps with it. Works like a charm at keeping that ambient heat from escaping.
PS: Hey Trevor I built a really cool battery box power supply utilizing my deep cycle boat battery box lid. It gives you 6 cigarette adapter connections on top if your interested. Reach out to me and I'll send you the specs.
When using my laptop outside I use a small pop up enclosure by a company called icap. They are purpose made for laptops to keep the elements at bay when using outdoors and come in a range of sizes.
I went to Walmart and bought a 2-pack of a collapsible laundry basket for $20. It's large enough tipped on its side for my 10" Surface with room to operate a mouse. I'm going to make a couple reinforced holes to pass power and USB cables through, but it's worked well so far. Could find similar online pretty much anywhere.
@@MikeShipman Thanks Mike... I didn't even know these existed. It's just what I need for my laptop and to conserve space while traveling.
Amazing video Trevor! Lots of really good info!
Super Trevor. Many thanks. Those pictures of photographing in crisp clear winter nights look great.
Love the channel! You kept me interested as I spent nearly 2 years learning and accumulating and refining my equipment. In my limited experience with back focus. Everyone tends to reference the camera requirements. In actuality, as you stated, the back focus depends on the first lense in the optic train. My field flattner required 64mm of back focus. Using the ZWO camera requirement of 55mm it wouldn't even focus. This basic statement " check the camera requirements" just threw more frustration in the process. I have read many post where folks are suffering from the same frustrations. Then when you think you got it just right you buy a filter and figure it out again...Thanks again!
Some super tips there Trevor. Love the last one though, Respect! Thanks for another great video!
Great video. So helpful! Thanks Trevor!
I love your channel so much! I am truly just getting started with this hobby lol and I am not that good yet nor do I have alot of the equipment. You look at some of the other channels our there or posts and it gives you a false sense of what reality is. You on the other hand do really well at showing us and teaching us how to do better! Really appreciate it!
very well done - thank you for this one !
Awesome, from my first image with my cellphone and telescope to dedicated Astro camera and Nina you have been a great inspiration to go for it. Because yeah the learning curve is brutal.
As a mobile DSO photographer I love my Jackery powerbank! I can run everything I need for more time than I'd ever need. I use the Celestron AVX Equatorial Mount and a ZWO ASI533MC Pro running the entire time of the Jackery, from winter weather to summer heat, has never let me down!
A true pioneer in this amazing hobby. Thank you for your dedication Trevor
Power supply: What has worked perfectly for me is running two 12 volt marine batteries connected by 4 gauge wire in a parallel hooked up to an inverter (1500watt). All of this can be found at Canada Tire. I run an AVX mount, laptop, 2nd portable monitor, cell phone, portable speaker and a DSLR all night without a single power glitch. I charge the batteries the next day with a Noco Genius G4 charger. In total it's not cheap and it's not to pretty or light weight but it's been 100% reliable.
Caution: when tightening bolts be careful not to contact the wrench from one post to another... it can cause an arc which can melt your tools and scare the pants of you. I now use a socket wrench to avoid this. Also when disconnecting or connecting be very mindful that your hooking up to the right posts. Lots of videos on CZcams on how to create a parallel set up with multiple batteries and how to manage them. My set up does all add up in cost but it's been worth it.
Both batteries are typically at 25% after the entire night of use. They'll be easily charged to 100% and ready to go the following night as long as you put them on the charger early enough in the day.
Thanks Trevor for all your vids, so much of my knowledge comes directly from you... glad you keep the old videos up as my gear matches a lot of your old technology. Thanks for addressing the power issue, I haven't seen much on this subject and I learned by starting fires, melting tools, getting bad advice and generally lacking common sense.
Great stuff Trevor. Trying to find focus is one of those tricky things. When I added a new camera and got the back focus distance correct on my C8 EdgeHD with 0.7 reducer, it seemed to be way off at first but luckily the moon was out!!
So much fantastic advice!
Great Video, Thanks For This, Learned Quite a Bit!!👍
thanks trevor! i love your content by the way :)
Thank you for this!
Hi Trevor. Great video. I'm sharing my experience as far as powering a remote rig. I use a 70 Amp 12 v car battery with a 1000w converter. Computer, cooled camera and HEQ 5 PRO mount, all powered from the converter for 6 hours of imaging. I deplete my battery only by 25 to 40 %.
Fantastic video Trevor!
Another great informative video Trevor 👍👏😊
Thank you very much for all this great content, as a newbie it is extremely informative. A big hi from Scotland 🏴. 👍
Once again Trevor, a wealth of information! And fair play for not wanting to sell your images, and instead teaching others the craft to capture their own.
Hi Trevor, another great video with many useful tips. I’m a retired 66 old guy passioned by astronomy since I a was a kid, but never had the chance to put it in practice until two years ago.
I’ve been following your tips since and I’m most thankful for the info provided, as it helped me a lot. Many thanks
Clear skies
BTW: your videos have always great background music. Where do you get that from ?? 😀
Another great informative video... For remote power I use a Generac i2000 generator.. super quiet & safe for electronics, runs all my gear and another persons from dusk till dawn!!! Clear Skies Trevor!!
As always a great video and so nice to hear your unbiased opinions on these topics. Many questions can't really be answered since there are so many variables to consider. So I have to ask this one based solely on your experience. Question is how have you managed to achieve balance using small widefield refractors (Raptor, Redcat and other small FL scopes) using larger mounts such as the EQ6 R Pro? Smaller mounts and star trackers seem to be more easily influenced by uneven weight distribution while the heavier mounts are less obvious. I appreciate your advice or really anyone that reads this and have dealt with this issue.
Great video Trevor! You answered a ton of questions with this one. I was wondering about the sale of your pictures. I understand it's better to experience it for myself but until I can afford it I'd love to have one of your pictures 🤓! Unless it costs the same as a scope 😆! Another great video I have to save for future reference! I don't remember most of what I just heard 🤔 so I save them too refer to over and over again! Thanks for all the great info!
As usual a GREAT VIDEO! Thanks from Hyde Park NY. (Should wear your pod hat once in a while lol
Great episode, thanks :)
Great video and hints! Thanks for all the help Trevor. Dr B from Manitoba
this really helps me since im new to this
Great video! Very valuable Info for a beginner like me.
My astrophotogeaphy journey so far:
Start: Tripod, Sony a6000, Samyang 12mm f/2. - milkyway nightscapes
Upgrade to star adventurer + samyang 135mm f/2, Evostar Ed72 - Andromeda, Orion, NGC 7000, Cygnus Region, pleiades.
Just modified the a6000.
Plan to upgrade further with guiding and narrowband filter next.
Thanks Trevor some really great info here... I still wonder about condensation issues when I bring my gear inside from -15 Celsius, main concern is the scope and the mount I can zip lock my camera but everything else is too big..
I use an 1100mca deep cycle marine battery with a power inverter to power my gear on excursions. Runs my AVX, dew heaters (on 8 inch newtonian so quite the draw), and my laptop for about 3 days before needing to charge.
Great video , thank you for giving great information
On a telescope there is no infinity setting or indicator because it depends entirely on the back focus spacing Trevor described. Even on camera lenses, the infinity mark is usually inaccurate, requiring manual focusing. And new auto focus lenses have no focus scale at all. Focusing, as Trevor rightly points out, is the toughest task, but once you’ve done it with your gear you are off to the races!
Dude, thanks again, good pointers and good honesty appreciated. Looking forward to the testing of the battery for traveling to dark sky....and hate to brag....but I did get one of your photos :) California Neb.
Not sure I’ve seen another astrophotographer that has just as good style as they do telescopes! This was a really great video that I’m sure will help so many people. Clear skies!
I solved the filter-DSLR-lens issue for a big chunk of the market. I frequently use a 1.25" Optolong L-eXtreme with my Canon 200D and Rokinon 135mm. Even better for Nikon APS-C users, they can use any lens now with a 1.25. If you're curious, my Etsy shop, same name as here, has all the details.
Incredible Vid!
Small comment about gear when shooting in the cold: Batteries drain a looot faster when the temperature gets low. If it's really cold, your cables can also become brittle and simply snap and break, so be careful when you're tucking them away after they've been outside for a few hours.
Thanks. I'm a beginner and don't actually have a mount or a camera, so I just use a phone to hold it up to the eyepiece
$10 eyepiece mount will save you a lot of pain!
@@Mandragara I saw one by Celestron so I might actually get it, thanks!
@@Mandragara upvote on the adapter, so good
Your last answer was the best one, and at least for me, you have done it.
Congratulation for your 270k subs
Great info as usual Trevor! I'm about to try my new IDAS NBZ for F2/emission Nebs on the Crescent this weekend. I'll let you now how it works. I hope it works great. Bortle 4 here. CS!
It gets into the -30°C temp range for months at a time above the arctic circle and there's 24 hrs of daylight for 2 months in the summer, so the window of time for astrophotography warmer than -10°C is limited where I live... plus there's only one or two mounts that work near or above 70°N...
You are risking your life dude be carefull
damn bro
Great video Trevor but surely the number one question has to be OSC or Mono?
Depends on many factors. To keep it simple : easy, quick and cheap experience : osc ; better detail, takes longer to shoot and process, expensive : mono. Osc are much less sensitive than mono, but they're cheap and can still do narrowband (I do Ha and O3 with a modified Canon 100d). Mono are just going to get you better detail, they're super sensitive, and for Ha for example they capture over 4x the light in the same time, because of the Bayer matrix, which counterbalances the time spent on editing (multiple channels, color mapping etc...) and shooting (changing filters, refocusing if you don't have a motorized focuser). The images are CCD-grade with mono, but it's very expensive overall (mono camera generally 50% more expensive, filter wheel, filters (R,G,B,S,H,O), automated focuser, that gets you around $2000 for asi 1600mm/8 position fw, filters and focuser). Also depends on your shooting style : lightweight portable rig, go osc. Observatory / at home : go mono if you have the money and the motivation. Mono is more efforts, but it's really worth it imo
Hey Trevor, here's an idea re: the question about best filter. How about a tool on your website where you fill in your Bortle value, your target type, your equipment type, and it returns the suggested best filter to use. Might generate some nice traffic for your site :)
I have a lum filter only, and I have a celestron edge 800, I have a ZWO asi 294, my back spacing is 55 mm unless I use the .7 reducer then its 105 mm. I bought a generator for power, the big battery didnt blow my skirt up. I havent got any pics yet as I have only used it once and learned to polar align. I take my rig out again tomorrow for 2nd light.
I do EAA and use the Optolong LExtreme filter and even doing EAA works well.
Thank you sir
I keep telling people about focusing:
1. Focus during the day. Find a tree or chimney just a few streets down. Focus on it. If you can't reach focus, you won't be able to reach focus at night. Find out why you can't, you probably gonna need more spacers or extension tubes between your camera and telescope.
If you can focus on it, keep that focus! At night, you are a few turns away on the focuser from star focus! Inward. You gonna have to turn inward , so your telescope focuser tube moves in , if you focused on a close object during the day. If the moon is out, focus on the Moon!
Excellent episode 👍
I know you're a Canon fan. Have you tried their photo processing software? I've been using it with some interesting results. But I'm not anywhere near ready for the top of the line s/w just yet. They do include a really nice PC to Camera interface to setup astrophotography shots.
Thanks
I am a beginner deep sky astrophotographer and I have a Canon Rebel t5 and a Canon 75mm by 300mm lens. What are targets that are possible to capture without a startracker? And what is a good *affordable* startracker? Sorry for the load of questions! I really enjoy your content and I wish you the best!
Select either Milky Way or Astro Deep Space. Milky Way most any camera and lens, 16mm most common wide, and a f/4 lens will be great. Filters not really needed anymore due to cities using led lighting. Knowing Post Processing software is most key, Lr is a basic and most used. Milky Way can be done from a lit parking lot or over a small lit town as long as the sky is dark above even with city sky glow so no need to go out west it is best over the ocean along the east coast and Gulf. Early season MW arc Feb to Jun with pano gear. Just have fun.
Heck yea to the last statement!
Just picked up my first Dedicated camera, the asi294mc pro, game changer right there 😁 along with 17 other things to get wrong 🤣
Can you make a phone Camera astrophotography challange
Question ; how do you make money apart from CZcams do you sell the pics ??
You're really underrated😭😭😭
Man I want one of those big Celestrons so bad.
The thing is where I live it is hard to sell this kind of stuff when you outgrow them, so as a beginner I prefer buying more advanced stuff so it lasts forever. I know, I know, a beginner should buy a more basic telescope but again, where I live it is hard to sell this kind of stuff so I prefer taking the hit of a bigger learning curve than buying/selling every time I outgrow something.
I live in Costa Rica by the way, glad to know you were here at some point. Hopefully you went near a volcano or something as those spots are pretty high and far from light pollution.
A tip for focusing is to do it during the day. Look for the most distant object you can see.
I tried that when I first started. I was so out on my back focus I couldn't even get my fence to focus! Amazon to the rescue
Hi Trevor - sorry for posting so late, but just now singled over this video: let me know one thing, you often do narrow band mono Picts and then postprocess like in one of your great postprocessing videos shown. Now would it make a difference if you shoot with an achromatic instead of apochromatic? I mean it is narrow...thanks for short heads up :)
Decided to give the clothes a shot!
I’ve had my Celestron CGEM-DX in my SkyShed POD working at -25°C without issues. It is my workhorse mount and it’s always worked well.
These mounts are blowing my mind, my 10+ y/o cgem got me 0.71 total error at 1480mm and full payload capacity with multistar guiding a few nights back
@@highasheaven9239 I run my CGEM-DX with about 18 kg of payload and routinely get about 0.8 guiding error, so I share your amazement. I should be thinking about a replacement for it but as long as it keeps going I’ll keep using it.
How do you feel about GIMP for image processing?
HI Trevor, Can you please clarify something for me. I polar aligned (in Australia) using the PoleMaster for the first time ever! and I wasn't sure what speed to use on the RA Motor when tracking. Is 2x Normal Speed? Or 4x. What SLEW speed reflects the rotation of the earth? Also, should you not use the fine adjustment knobs when the motor is running because you can damage the motor? Instead use the buttons on the controller to fine adjust / center onto your star?
"You may have to change your MOUNT if it's too heavy". I feel attacked. I bought an LX200R 10" SCT and now I've got an EQ6-R Pro on the way. lol.
Hi Trevor. I was wondering if I use my DSLR for astrophotography, should I take off the regular UV filter from the lens? I usually use UV filters on all my lenses for everyday photography but are they any good for astrophotography or are they unnecessary blocking part of the light comming from the night sky? Thanks.
I see amazing pictures on your bacground wall. Is it possible to buy them? Thanks.
Hey does anyone know if i can power the Eq6r pro and the asi2600mc with the asi air?
Backspacing information NEVER comes from the camera manufacturer. Camera manufacturers, like ZWO, provide an example of something like 55mm, which is a pretty common back focus distance, but that's only an example. You should always check with the telescope manufacturer, or reducer/flattener manufacture, to find the correct back focus. As an example, the correct back focus for your Raptor 61 is 55mm, but for the EdgeHD 11 it is 146.06mm...no matter which camera you use.
Hello friend, your sky is quality 7, and the filters you use to what quality would the sky lower, since in the area where I live is quality 4 I do not know if I need a filter of those since near my house there is a led lamp no I know which filter would be the right one, I have the 72 ed evostar tube and the zwo asi 533 mc camera
Thanks
New to AP here.. I have a modified T3i with a Samyang 135mm F2 and a Skywatcher SA mini. I get really good star pictures, but cant seem to get any nebulas to come through. any advice?
Hey Trevor, what video editing software do you use or what do you recommend to start with? Thanks Sean
Idk what he uses but the best out here are definitely : final cut pro/premiere pro. I've heard good things from filmora and davinci (but davinci might be just for color grading, not sure). You can also crack one of them if you don't have the cash (first two are going to be the easiest to crack, and there is a ton of tutorials on them)
Still not sure to go with 60/360 or 72/432...price difference in Germany here is about 100 Eur
One day I'll guarantee come to ur house
Love from India 🙈☺️
your battery answer i just use a power inverter from Canadian tire ... and keep in mind if you start car it will quit if not directly hooked to battery
I'm new to astrophotography. Is it better to take 3 hours worth of photos at (2 minutes ISO 800) or (4 minutes ISO 400)? Thanks
When would you choose a 4nm OIII filter over a 6.5mm? Same with variations of Ha filters, what's the benefit of one over the other and how would we know which to go for?
Lower wavelength number means lower parasite wavelength. Ha emits at exactly 656.281nm, which means the best filter possible would capture ONLY this wavelength. Unfortunately it's not possible to do, and the best we can do it isolate a certain part of the spectrum. The lower the number (3nm vs 12nm), the smaller the part of the spectrum we are letting through the filter. Ideally, you would get the tightest filter your budget allows (like 3nm chroma ones (up to $1500 per filter)), but since fast F-ratios shift the wavelength a tiny bit, your luxurious filters would only work for your slow telescopes, and an F2 lens/rasa would need other filters. If you don't have a fast OTA, then get the smallest pass through filter you can, ideally the 4 of even 3nm. But to be fair, while going from 12 to 6 makes a bit of a difference, going from 6 to 4 isn't worth it I think, and 3nm are 'reserved' to those with observatories and rigs that are 10-15K+. The point is, get 6nm (even 12 are really nice), and get the right size (depending on your sensor size, 1.25", 2", etc, you don't want your filter to block the corners of your photos!). Brands don't matter to much imo, but astronomik never disappointed me. Clip in vs round : clip in if you have a DSLR and don't plan on changing soon, round if you have a dedicated camera. Mounted vs unmounted : unmounted if you know you're only going to use them with a filter wheel ever, mounted if you may thread them on the optical train directly (mounted ones work with most filter wheels, so I would say get mounted just in case). I have 12nm Ha and O3 and I'm super happy with them!
@@highasheaven9239 Great, thank you!
Whats the difference between
A "RASA TELESCOPE"
And/or "EdgeHD Telescope"
For example :
The rasa 11"
&
The C11 EdgeHD?
I don't know if you have made a video on this yet, but what is the farthest DSO you have captured so far?
Focusing? What about a "Bahtinov" mask?
I have seeing your videos from India
Quacc
I will be getting a 100Ahr LiFePo Battleborne battery.
👍👍
What kind of telescope can explore the space from earth does not matter how much is it.
Please answer
The Initial budget 275,000 $
How do i make those darn clouds go away at night ? (psst.. without keeping me from buying gear ofc)
Say "Cloudus Disappearificus." It works 0.01% of the time
Very very big fan
Is there AstroBackyard merch?
I would love to see that :D
I also want a telescope and take photos like can I make a simple telescope at home please upload a video on it
Making a telescope is very hard, and borderline impossible for photography. There's just too much going on
@@highasheaven9239 but if I uses double achromatic lens and eyepiece of different focal length or fix camera without lens then I think it can be possible to photograph planets
@@harekrishna242 planets are way easier than dsos for homemade telescopes, but we generally prefer to have mirrors because they are cheaper for the same diameter, and thus for the same price we can get much more details in our shots. Lenses aren't necessarily hard to install in a homemade telescope but you're probably going to get a lot of chromatic aberration, both from the not perfect distance between the elements, and from the simple fact that they are lenses in the first place. You're also not going to get great details, maybe you'll have the rings of Saturn but probably not Cassini's division, and you're probably going to see the equatorial belts on Jupiter but that'll be about it. With my 130mm newtonian that I got when I started, that was the best I could capture, and I don't think that a homemade achro will get close to an industrial newtonian. Bottom line is : if you want to build a telescope for fun, go for it! It's going to be amazing and you'll learn a lot. I recommend making a dobsonian though. If you want to take photos, a good homemade Dobson can go a long way but I would much rather go with a skywatcher/celestron telescope. This hobby is hard, and using homemade equipment will just make it harder.
@@highasheaven9239 ya
Why would anyone give this video a thumbs down? I don't get it.
It could happen accidentally, for instance small children hitting random buttons when playing with daddy’s Ipad. Ever noticed why most children channels on CZcams have like 50 million subs? That’s because the children watching those hit every button imaginable. Same goes with accidental dislikes. Ah well this is my own little theory 😉
i am from sri lanka
Isnt astrophotography focus simply at infinity?
It is, but where is infinity? Somewhere in the middle of the focuser, and sometimes that's hard to find, especially since going from perfect focus from nothing at all only takes a turn of the knob!
😅
Buy a dedicated single shot camera don't use a DSLR. Too much of a headache.
Have you ever seen something in the sky you can't identify?