Cameras
Now we enter into the realm of cameras.
First thing you will have to determine is WHAT are you wanting to capture. A camera that is great for planetary captures may not be up to the task for DSO's. Then you have to decide do you want a dedicated astrophotography camera or do you have a DSLR already that you want to use.
I currently have a ZWO ASI585MC that I use for planetary captures with the NexStar 8se. It does great for that. But when I tried to use it for some DSO objects, I found it was lacking in clarity for the captures with the NexStar 8SE. I have an Apertura 72mm refractor on order currently from HighPoint Scientific (twin to a Williams Optics 73mm and several other similar scopes) that I will be trying this camera with to see if it does well for DSO objects also.
I also have a ZWO ASI533MM Pro that I use for my DSO captures. It is a cooled camera, which allows you to obtain longer exposure times.
I am just getting into the image processing aspect.
This was my first attempt at the HorseHead nebula with the ASI533MM Pro and is a mono only SHO image.
This is the same data after I learned a little more of PixInsight and was able to do some colorization.
And this is one of the more recent after I have figured out a little more PI processing.
This is a more recent capture of M81/M82 (not very many captures) that I processed with PixInSight from the ASI533MM Pro.
I also recently obtained a ASI533 MC Pro... and am playing with it. I have NO filters yet for it, so the below is pure camera/telescope (an Apertura 72mm APO refractor).
You will need to decide if you want a OSC (one shot camera, basically a color camera that captures RGB in one photo) or if you want a mono camera and then use filters with it. If the latter, I would suggest investing in a filter wheel instead of using a filter drawer that you place and remove filters one at a time.
Even if you go with a OSC, you will still want certain filters for it that will enhance the target you are capturing (something that I am still researching for nebula captures).
These filters can be screwed on the front of the camera in the OSC train if it is the ONLY filter you will be using, but if you plan on using several different filters with your OSC, you will want a filter drawer to use.
The
They typically capture with a CFA (color filter array) that referred to as a Bayer matrix, which looks like the below image layout.
Basically what this pattern consists of is in a 4 block area, each square corresponds to 1 pixel. So in the lower left you see a B/G and then above it a G/B, resulting in 2 green, 1 red and 1 blue.
There is some loss of "resolution" when using a OSC, but it is not so drastic that you should allow it to turn you away from them. As you can see in several of our members photos here, they are getting some great data with OSC cameras.
In fact,, I'm currently various ones to purchase for my use, specifically with my NexStar 8se when I want to start trying DSO with it.
First thing you will have to determine is WHAT are you wanting to capture. A camera that is great for planetary captures may not be up to the task for DSO's. Then you have to decide do you want a dedicated astrophotography camera or do you have a DSLR already that you want to use.
I currently have a ZWO ASI585MC that I use for planetary captures with the NexStar 8se. It does great for that. But when I tried to use it for some DSO objects, I found it was lacking in clarity for the captures with the NexStar 8SE. I have an Apertura 72mm refractor on order currently from HighPoint Scientific (twin to a Williams Optics 73mm and several other similar scopes) that I will be trying this camera with to see if it does well for DSO objects also.
I also have a ZWO ASI533MM Pro that I use for my DSO captures. It is a cooled camera, which allows you to obtain longer exposure times.
I am just getting into the image processing aspect.
This was my first attempt at the HorseHead nebula with the ASI533MM Pro and is a mono only SHO image.
This is the same data after I learned a little more of PixInsight and was able to do some colorization.
And this is one of the more recent after I have figured out a little more PI processing.
This is a more recent capture of M81/M82 (not very many captures) that I processed with PixInSight from the ASI533MM Pro.
I also recently obtained a ASI533 MC Pro... and am playing with it. I have NO filters yet for it, so the below is pure camera/telescope (an Apertura 72mm APO refractor).
You will need to decide if you want a OSC (one shot camera, basically a color camera that captures RGB in one photo) or if you want a mono camera and then use filters with it. If the latter, I would suggest investing in a filter wheel instead of using a filter drawer that you place and remove filters one at a time.
Even if you go with a OSC, you will still want certain filters for it that will enhance the target you are capturing (something that I am still researching for nebula captures).
These filters can be screwed on the front of the camera in the OSC train if it is the ONLY filter you will be using, but if you plan on using several different filters with your OSC, you will want a filter drawer to use.
The
old school philosophy was that mono gave you a better image at the cost of having to take more exposures... and that is still somewhat true, as with a mono you use every pixel on the camera for one band (whatever is coming through the filter), but with a OSC you usually get 1/4 of the available pixels red, 1/4 pixels available blue and 1/2 of the available pixels green.They typically capture with a CFA (color filter array) that referred to as a Bayer matrix, which looks like the below image layout.
Basically what this pattern consists of is in a 4 block area, each square corresponds to 1 pixel. So in the lower left you see a B/G and then above it a G/B, resulting in 2 green, 1 red and 1 blue.
There is some loss of "resolution" when using a OSC, but it is not so drastic that you should allow it to turn you away from them. As you can see in several of our members photos here, they are getting some great data with OSC cameras.
In fact,, I'm currently various ones to purchase for my use, specifically with my NexStar 8se when I want to start trying DSO with it.
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