My favorite thing about you is how you make astrophotography accessible. You show us how we can still get started in astrophotography without having to drop thousands on an imaging rig. I’m so thankful I found your channel when I started out and I always tell beginners to start here. Thank you, Nico!!!
It's super rewarding to have grown from my first astrophoto with you Nico to all that i've been able to do and learn from you! Keep doing what you are doing and never stop looking up!
Nico’s Andromeda without a tracker got me started with a Canon R5 and 70-200 at 200mm. I later included a Skywatcher Star Adventure 2i and now shoot with a Redcat 71 WIFD, guide scope/camera and 2600mc pro through asiair on an AM5 mount. Thanks Nico!
This is where I will direct people who ask me what to do on their first night of astrophotography. This is more accessible than most videos on the topic... Well done man!
Thanks Nico for this Video! I never heard about Polaris Flare, but now I tried to shoot it and I got it! During my holydays in Italy alps, very close to Austria, under a very dark sky at 1.300 meters altitude (I measured SQM = 20,95 ), on 5th August night I used a Sony Alpha 7S mirrorless camera, with a lens 50mm at F2,2, at 3.200 iso and I took 540 shots 10 seconds long. I staked them and improved the result with Pixinsight and I'm very surprised of these distant clouds around Polaris star!
One of the best video (i think the best one!) from the first light to the first image you can shoot! This video will boost and spread our passion over the world! Thanks Nico!
Nico, thank you so much for keeping this wonderful hobby relevant and accessible to those without a tracker, such as myself. You never fail to inspire and keep us interested. It is very much appreciated. Props to the users who inspired this idea too. Cannot wait to give it a try!
At my Bortle 6 sky around the pole, I will need about 30 hours to get decent S/N. If I go to Bortle 3 or even 2 I can do just a few hours to see the IFN.🎉 this is very nice tutorial!🎉
I finally got a full zwo setup and haven’t used my DSLR since but I think its awesome you still pump out beginner or cheaper equipment videos to keep the hobby open to everyone!
What is even more cool about this target is that you dont use any filters! Im planning a bortle 1 trip soon and ill put this on the imaging list for sure. Thank you Nico for this amazing and informational video!
Absolutely wonderful, Nico! Slow, steady instructions with great details (that get skipped over by many tutorials). I truly think that I can go reproduce this project from prep to finished image. Thank you so much, Michael
This video has been by far the most simple and most detailed. You get into detail with everything and it makes it so much easier to understand how to start astrophotography thank you
Ive been using photoshop for years to process my astrophotos but this video made it very clear Siril is the way to go. What a fantastic walkthrough, Nico. Youre a library of wisdom for the community
Lately I've been thinking about quitting astrophotography. I've failed multiple times, the gear is really expensive, and I've been on a trip without my camera. But when I saw the notification for this video I thought "man that's soo cool, how did he do that?" Yea I'm not gonna quit any time soon
Thank you Niko, a very easily understood, comprehensive tutorial that, along with your explanations of what is happening, will be a tremendous help for me. Top Man 👊
Wow, what an amazing video. I nearly scrolled past it due to the length of the video but I am so glad I didn't, it was well worth it. Still waiting for some clear nights but I'll definitely be using the techniques from this video. Thanks so much.
This very pedagogical approach in Nico's way of presenting the whole process is just amazing! Now I got a lot of inspiration to use a camera/lens when the night is dark again (I live above 60 degree north) and also reprocess some session from the winter in Siril.
Another great video tutorial. Thanks a lot! Regarding separating the lights, darks, flats and biases, I simply take a photo with my phone-flashlight pointing into the lens in between each of the sets. By this, you get a white picture in between and its´s very easy to keep them apart when looking at the miniatures afterwards.
Thank you for the step-by-step. I've had Siril for a couple of years, but it's just been real estate on my hard drive. I'm looking forward to using it now.
I wish I could subscribe to your channel 1000 more times! Your explanations are so concise and easy to understand. You are a very good teacher. Thank you so much for doing what you do. You have helped me a lot. ❤
Such a great hack! I’m still wowed by how well it works, and your two images were the first I’d ever seen of this object untracked. Thanks again for the inspiration and insight.
😮👍Whoa, never though of even pointing a telescope at that region. Thank you for the amazing video and for a step-by-step guide on how to image the dust without a tracker!
Great Nico as always, I remember being fascinated and overwhelmed by your videos about Orion nebula and Andromeda untracked back in 2020/21 which contribute to make me falling in love with astrophotography 😊 I really appreciate the detailed explanation to permit even the very beginner to enter this magical hobby
I finally had a good night to try this. After I set up my normal imaging scope I got my DSLR out with the Samyang 135 and got 899 lights @ 20sec each plus full calibration frames. This tutorial was amazing. I will say, I was NOT expecting my poor computer to take FORTY hours for Siril to run the preprocessing script hahaha. It's a Windows gaming PC with an AMD 5600X cpu and 32GB memory, so not the fastest but certainly not a potato... ouch! It turned out so good, that's the important thing! Bortle 4
Well done! Deep-sky astrophotography without tracking is possible and, thank you for step-by-step lesson, this will make astrophotography more available for newbies.
Hi Nico. I pretty much had followed your exact steps from start to finish. The faint flare was completely different than yours or anyone else's. I feel as though it just won't get any fainter to reduce the amount exposure. Hopefully I can figure it out. But as always, I enjoy the learning and the teaching that you provide for us. Keep up the fantastic work.
Thank you for putting the video together I now know the I can use my camera for Astro photography. As I have only shot the aurora a couple of times. Think of milky ways now so thanks again
Omg, first of all your works are always amazing and I'd really apperciated your efford to make astrophotography so much easier for beginner like me. Second of all, this will be my next deep skp object that I will catch. Love your work and thank you for all the inspiration that you brought to all of us who watched the video.
Whole video is made with "Viewers obviously can't rewind and watch it again" idea behind. Still, great job, perfect explanations about a lot of stuff. Also, good source of scientific background audio, while playing some dumb games =) Siril is quite new thing for me, learned a lot, it doesn't scare me anymore. 1.5 months into all these astrophoto things, damn, what a beautiful rabbit hole =) Thanks for making such videos, really appreciate your hard work
I’m living in the center of the Alps. This year (2024), we had no Springtime but lots of snow, some days snowing until June, it wasn’t raining or not cloudy only from August until September 12th first snowfall down to 950 m altitude (that’s a pretty low altitude). The soil was and still is soaked. Despite of hot August, it wasn’t sufficiently warm to dry it, the humidity was incredibly high, also at places with no light pollution you couldn’t barely see Polaris by eye because of massive haze, totally impossible on the camera screen. To me jaw dropping, seeing Polaris so clearly on the screen of your camera.
I have a tracker and the likes, but these run-and-gun setups are still a lot of fun. It's a night out for me with my telescope, this I can do all the time. and I didn't know about this heavenly body around polaris (idk the English word)
AMAZING!!! 😍 VERY INTERESTING! VERY USEFUL AND HELPFUL! 💪 IT'S A GREAT JOB, MASTER! 👏 I watched it in the one breath 👀 And I So grateful to you for your work!🥹🤝 THANKS!!! ♥️
For people who happen to have a Sony E or Fuji x apsc camera: i really like the Viltrox 75 f/1.2 for fast wide field Astro photos. It has about the same apperture as the Rokinon, but for about half the price ( new ).
I don't know for Fuji mounts but for Sony E for kind of wider telephoto one of best lenses would be Sigma 105mm f1.4 Art it's sharp, no aberration, and aperture is 75 mm against 67.5mm at Rokinon.
Nice video. Since your camera that you used is a crop sensor camera you were actually shooting at 216mm with the 135mm lens. Just wanted to make sure I was converting this properly using 1.6 as the conversion rate.
I would love to see you use this technique and go back to the Witch head Nebula challenge data with Trevor. How different would those images be? Great tutorial. Thank you!
Excellent subject for a tutorial and well-executed as always! For those looking to pull out even more detail, would it be worth it to use a star tracker to enable even longer exposures (60s, 120s, 180s, for example)? Or to use a mono camera with L, R, G, B filters?
Watching this video and I keep getting distracted by the fact that you're using the same tripod/ballhead combination I use. I'm like, did this joker steal my tripod and peel all the stickers off it? 😂
Thanks for this most useful guide ! Amazing how the image processing steps create beautiful artistic images from the dim low contrast telescope output. I have no idea if the final output represents properties of the interstellar dust or selective boosting of measurement system artifacts.
If it were artifacts we could assume that each camera + lens would produce different results. Since I have shot this scene many times with different systems (as have thousands of other amateurs) and all our results are similar in morphology, we can be sure it is truly the properties of the space dust we are seeing.
When people ask me how many subframes I need. I tell them I use the Billy Idol Astrophoto Method, I normally get a confused look then I tell them "In the midnight hour, you need more more more".
Beautiful file and fantastic process walkthrough! How long would that processing take you typically (if you weren't having to describe what you're doing)?
With something like this, not long, maybe 20 minutes after the stacking was complete. But keep in mind I've put in hundreds of hours of practice processing astrophotography, so it comes pretty naturally to me at this point.
Nice detailed tutorial. BTW, Siril Background stratch must be used in independent mode (you can select it if click "Advanced") to reveal color, I have no idea why maybe just Siril bug.
i dont got the lens you show, mine is a 70-300, but ill give this a shot! I do have a tracker so that'll probably help! my arms broken though, apologies for any bad typing/spelling.
Great video i do wide field deep sky imaging in bortle 3 skies in gower in Wales United Kingdom. I've got a Rokinon 135mm prime lens and a star adventurer 2i Pro tracking mount and a 1300d dlsr canon camera so i b giving that a go. 📸
Arggllll.... Why didn't I find this tutorial last week? I tried to photograph it last friday and had nothing on my images. By the way - I would recommend a battery dummy which could be connected to a bigger powerbank or powerstation by USB. And don't forget a cheap lense heating!
I've been easing my way back in after a long time away (Nikon F3 and early digital days) and all your stuff has been super helpful. I've tried this and it didn't turn out half bad considering everything that didn't go right. (Bahtinov mask went from IN to CA on its way to NH. Interval code on my OM-1 is bugged at exposure times > 1 sec. All about normal for having fun with AP!) The combination of reviews and tutorials is just great. And you've convinced me to take it slow. I think I know what gear I want, but the camera and tripod are great for now. In the meantime, I need to head over to Patreon! All the best!
Thank you very much for showing this!! It leaves me wondering, why bother with polar alignment, tracking accuracy, long exposure times and all the things that make astrophotography so annoying to me. Also the fact, that you get a stunning photo just using very basic techniques and processing only with Siril just blows my mind! I will take my alt-az mount, use short exposures and use simple processing and will see what I get. This is said by a 90% visual guy 😅
Thanks, and I hope you try it. I have had many people tell me they have tried short exposures with their telescope on Alt-Az and been very impressed by the kinds of results they can get. To answer more fully what you were wondering about: The untracked method works very well for this object since the stars don't move very quickly when you shoot right at the pole (center of rotation). It also works reasonably well anywhere in the sky with much shorter exposures (1-3 seconds) for bright, large objects like many in the Messier catalog. The reason still to bother with polar alignment, tracking, and long exposures is for everything else: dimmer deep sky objects especially ones that need narrowband filters to reveal, but also smaller objects like galaxies outside of M31/33.
@@NebulaPhotos You are the experienced astrophotographer, for sure. But, if one can achieve such a beautiful picture of this IFN(!!), what dim object would withstand this kind of technique? I mean, narrowband filtered, yes. But everything else, especially when alt-az tracked? Maybe the practical difficulty to do something like this on smaller objects, lies in the fact, that large aperture f/2 systems are necessary?
@@Andreas-kw7cc Right, not impossible, but not many people have that kind of fast, large telescope for the smaller objects. And yes, alt-az tracking can help - I want to try that more to see for myself. Best of luck and clear skies!
Just a note for Nikon and Pentax users (maybe others), since you may be doing this in the dark. The lens focuses the other direction. That's something I had to be aware of when I had a Canon DSLR - I had bought some Nikon F mount lenses and adapted them to the Canon body.
A lot of my images look like the beginning of this video, foggy. Very good instructional video that covers a lot and has a lot of details. There are some others out there who no longer have their feet on the ground anymore, they have become more of, look what I did. I am curious why You chose this form of stretching the starless image, instead of using the Generalised Hyerbolic Stretch which has some other options.
This is Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch implemented within the Star Recomposition window. It's the exact same tool, but if you want all the options you can click the advanced button and scroll down, but I don't find the shadow protection and highlight protection useful for an image like this one where there isn't a huge range of brightness values. IFN is low contrast to begin with, so all you really need are the four basic sliders (black point, symmetry point, stretch factor, and stretch intensity)
Very nice video, I like the way you explain things and make them seem easier that they really are. Your videos made me pull out my equipment after a decade of deep sleep, and start again this wonderful hobby. I have a question though.. you use normally canon dslr, have you ever encounter the canon banding issue? 15 years ago I was shooting with a 350d and I don’t recall having the banding issue I have now with the same camera or a 60d. Do you think this is due to the way software process the photo nowadays? Lately I’m using Siril, but I tried also DSS. If you know any way to avoid the banding, a part from using siril bandind filter (and you have the time) can you make a video on it? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us.
I’ve found the horizontal banding issue is only really an issue for me at ISO800 and lower. That’s one of the reasons why I run Canons at ISO1600 minimum, but prefer 3200 or 6400. What ISO are you using?
I’m using iso800 I will try to go higher. I was asking because i’m in the process to acquire a modified dslr. I live in Italy but i found on the bay a shop in Germany that is selling different models at affordable price. I was aiming to buy a 7d or a 60d. Thanks for the replay
Great video like always Nico 😀,🤩 You're super helpful for all people doing astrophotography.. Nico I got a question... IAM using Askar fra 400 on AM5.. with 2600 mc pro.. ASI air with guiding and dithering... IAM just thinking about to put a second camera on this rig.. canon 6d and samyang 135 taking pictures the same time.. Of course I know I gonna loose some Frames because of dither.. What do you think about the Idea... for example if I set my main camera 120 s exposures f4.. plus dithering every 2 images..and second camera 60 s ex ..so I gonna have plus minus 4 Frames ..and one lost.. Can I use second camera on different target .. or is there any way to synchronise two cameras to not loose the dithering time?
Not possible to synch dithering with ASIAir, so I would suggest doing as you are suggesting and just throwing out bad frames. You may find that due to the very different scales, you don't even have to throw out any frames.
@@NebulaPhotosyes thats interesting..i was thinking how i gonna see the bad frames if the move is 5 pixels on main camera.i need to check the scales..or set my dithering to maybe 10 pix.. thanks for replying and helping Nico👍🤩
My favorite thing about you is how you make astrophotography accessible. You show us how we can still get started in astrophotography without having to drop thousands on an imaging rig. I’m so thankful I found your channel when I started out and I always tell beginners to start here. Thank you, Nico!!!
It's super rewarding to have grown from my first astrophoto with you Nico to all that i've been able to do and learn from you! Keep doing what you are doing and never stop looking up!
Nico’s Andromeda without a tracker got me started with a Canon R5 and 70-200 at 200mm. I later included a Skywatcher Star Adventure 2i and now shoot with a Redcat 71 WIFD, guide scope/camera and 2600mc pro through asiair on an AM5 mount. Thanks Nico!
Can we see the image of andromeda?
Finally found a video which is a really "astrophotography complete tutorial"
This is where I will direct people who ask me what to do on their first night of astrophotography. This is more accessible than most videos on the topic... Well done man!
Thanks Seth!
Thanks Nico for this Video! I never heard about Polaris Flare, but now I tried to shoot it and I got it! During my holydays in Italy alps, very close to Austria, under a very dark sky at 1.300 meters altitude (I measured SQM = 20,95 ), on 5th August night I used a Sony Alpha 7S mirrorless camera, with a lens 50mm at F2,2, at 3.200 iso and I took 540 shots 10 seconds long. I staked them and improved the result with Pixinsight and I'm very surprised of these distant clouds around Polaris star!
Great to hear that Paolo!
3:59 love that meteor, joined at right top side of the frame :)
1:32 too
@@theapexhunter3344 that's an insect
One of the best video (i think the best one!) from the first light to the first image you can shoot! This video will boost and spread our passion over the world! Thanks Nico!
Thanks Marco!
Nico, thank you so much for keeping this wonderful hobby relevant and accessible to those without a tracker, such as myself. You never fail to inspire and keep us interested. It is very much appreciated.
Props to the users who inspired this idea too. Cannot wait to give it a try!
I can’t thank you enough for these tutorials.
Its really incredible that you can take an image like this with just a dslr, lens, and a tripod. Great Work Nico!
At my Bortle 6 sky around the pole, I will need about 30 hours to get decent S/N. If I go to Bortle 3 or even 2 I can do just a few hours to see the IFN.🎉 this is very nice tutorial!🎉
So my Bortle 7 backyard would need about 60 hours LOL light pollution sucks
dude you are an amazing asset to the astrophotography community
I finally got a full zwo setup and haven’t used my DSLR since but I think its awesome you still pump out beginner or cheaper equipment videos to keep the hobby open to everyone!
Thanks Nico! I've always appreciated your no nonsense approach to all aspects of astrophotography.
What is even more cool about this target is that you dont use any filters! Im planning a bortle 1 trip soon and ill put this on the imaging list for sure. Thank you Nico for this amazing and informational video!
Absolutely wonderful, Nico! Slow, steady instructions with great details (that get skipped over by many tutorials). I truly think that I can go reproduce this project from prep to finished image. Thank you so much, Michael
Incredible tutorial. Much more in-depth than anything I have seen before. Thanks a lot!
This video has been by far the most simple and most detailed. You get into detail with everything and it makes it so much easier to understand how to start astrophotography thank you
Yes! I get it! I finally followed an entire video with all the processing, and I get it all! Thanks Nico!
Now that's what I call detailed tutorial! Just what a tyro like me (as far as Siril and Starnet) needs, and gives me the gumption to try. Thanks alot!
Ive been using photoshop for years to process my astrophotos but this video made it very clear Siril is the way to go. What a fantastic walkthrough, Nico. Youre a library of wisdom for the community
Lately I've been thinking about quitting astrophotography. I've failed multiple times, the gear is really expensive, and I've been on a trip without my camera. But when I saw the notification for this video I thought "man that's soo cool, how did he do that?"
Yea I'm not gonna quit any time soon
Thank you Niko, a very easily understood, comprehensive tutorial that, along with your explanations of what is happening, will be a tremendous help for me. Top Man 👊
Wow, what an amazing video. I nearly scrolled past it due to the length of the video but I am so glad I didn't, it was well worth it. Still waiting for some clear nights but I'll definitely be using the techniques from this video. Thanks so much.
How much detailed a video can be, yes
This very pedagogical approach in Nico's way of presenting the whole process is just amazing! Now I got a lot of inspiration to use a camera/lens when the night is dark again (I live above 60 degree north) and also reprocess some session from the winter in Siril.
Another great video tutorial. Thanks a lot!
Regarding separating the lights, darks, flats and biases, I simply take a photo with my phone-flashlight pointing into the lens in between each of the sets. By this, you get a white picture in between and its´s very easy to keep them apart when looking at the miniatures afterwards.
Thank you for the step-by-step. I've had Siril for a couple of years, but it's just been real estate on my hard drive. I'm looking forward to using it now.
I wish I could subscribe to your channel 1000 more times! Your explanations are so concise and easy to understand. You are a very good teacher. Thank you so much for doing what you do. You have helped me a lot. ❤
what a wonderful tutorial.. throughly enjoyed it and hopefully will try and use these techniques.. Thank you !
Fantastic tutorial and result! Thanks, Nico !!!!
Excellent! I will use this for my processing all images.
Thanks for the props on this little hack by me and @themadlawyer. Ur reaction was fun when we submitted to the untracked image challenge 😅
Such a great hack! I’m still wowed by how well it works, and your two images were the first I’d ever seen of this object untracked. Thanks again for the inspiration and insight.
Absolutely inspiring! I love how accessible this video is for newcomers.
Great video. I've recommended it in the MSM Users Group. Your process applies equally well to users of small trackers. 👍
😮👍Whoa, never though of even pointing a telescope at that region. Thank you for the amazing video and for a step-by-step guide on how to image the dust without a tracker!
You are so helpful to the community dude! Your content is unmatched 🔥
Great Nico as always, I remember being fascinated and overwhelmed by your videos about Orion nebula and Andromeda untracked back in 2020/21 which contribute to make me falling in love with astrophotography 😊
I really appreciate the detailed explanation to permit even the very beginner to enter this magical hobby
I finally had a good night to try this. After I set up my normal imaging scope I got my DSLR out with the Samyang 135 and got 899 lights @ 20sec each plus full calibration frames. This tutorial was amazing. I will say, I was NOT expecting my poor computer to take FORTY hours for Siril to run the preprocessing script hahaha. It's a Windows gaming PC with an AMD 5600X cpu and 32GB memory, so not the fastest but certainly not a potato... ouch!
It turned out so good, that's the important thing! Bortle 4
i refer your tutorials to everyone starting out and interested, most people have good camera and tripod
Well done! Deep-sky astrophotography without tracking is possible and, thank you for step-by-step lesson, this will make astrophotography more available for newbies.
Nico, absolutely wonderful. This caught my eye as I was going to capture this last year but never got around to it.
Holy cow, don't know where to start. Learned so much new, or, another way to use Siril. Will try that as well, thank you for your efforts!
Hi Nico. I pretty much had followed your exact steps from start to finish. The faint flare was completely different than yours or anyone else's. I feel as though it just won't get any fainter to reduce the amount exposure. Hopefully I can figure it out. But as always, I enjoy the learning and the teaching that you provide for us. Keep up the fantastic work.
Thank you for putting the video together I now know the I can use my camera for Astro photography. As I have only shot the aurora a couple of times. Think of milky ways now so thanks again
Thank you for another great tutorial! I'll definitely have to try this shot out sometime.
Omg, first of all your works are always amazing and I'd really apperciated your efford to make astrophotography so much easier for beginner like me. Second of all, this will be my next deep skp object that I will catch. Love your work and thank you for all the inspiration that you brought to all of us who watched the video.
thank you for sharing your knowledge and this great video.
and I thought I knew my way around Siril. So much new info. Thanks Nico.
Whole video is made with "Viewers obviously can't rewind and watch it again" idea behind. Still, great job, perfect explanations about a lot of stuff. Also, good source of scientific background audio, while playing some dumb games =) Siril is quite new thing for me, learned a lot, it doesn't scare me anymore. 1.5 months into all these astrophoto things, damn, what a beautiful rabbit hole =) Thanks for making such videos, really appreciate your hard work
Loved this. I get so much education from your videos. Thank you.
great master class Nico!!! congrats for this video+
i love the long format videos, so excited!
I'm so excited you made a video on this 🎉
I’m living in the center of the Alps. This year (2024), we had no Springtime but lots of snow, some days snowing until June, it wasn’t raining or not cloudy only from August until September 12th first snowfall down to 950 m altitude (that’s a pretty low altitude). The soil was and still is soaked. Despite of hot August, it wasn’t sufficiently warm to dry it, the humidity was incredibly high, also at places with no light pollution you couldn’t barely see Polaris by eye because of massive haze, totally impossible on the camera screen. To me jaw dropping, seeing Polaris so clearly on the screen of your camera.
I have a tracker and the likes, but these run-and-gun setups are still a lot of fun. It's a night out for me with my telescope, this I can do all the time. and I didn't know about this heavenly body around polaris (idk the English word)
Simply amazing results!
AMAZING!!! 😍
VERY INTERESTING! VERY USEFUL AND HELPFUL! 💪
IT'S A GREAT JOB, MASTER! 👏
I watched it in the one breath 👀
And I So grateful to you for your work!🥹🤝
THANKS!!! ♥️
This was very helpful, thank you!
I want to make another account just so I can like this again. This is the kind of stuff that makes you want to get out.
great video and instructions !!
🤩Grazie per i tuoi video e preziosi consigli!!!!!
I started with a t7. It was a great starting point.
I love your no tracker series.
Very interesting video.
Thanks!
Looking forward to this video.
For people who happen to have a Sony E or Fuji x apsc camera: i really like the Viltrox 75 f/1.2 for fast wide field Astro photos. It has about the same apperture as the Rokinon, but for about half the price ( new ).
I don't know for Fuji mounts but for Sony E for kind of wider telephoto one of best lenses would be Sigma 105mm f1.4 Art it's sharp, no aberration, and aperture is 75 mm against 67.5mm at Rokinon.
those Unsolved Mystery vibes
la reconversion choc d'emmanuel macron...
super tuto! merci
Nice video. Since your camera that you used is a crop sensor camera you were actually shooting at 216mm with the 135mm lens. Just wanted to make sure I was converting this properly using 1.6 as the conversion rate.
Great idea for an Astro Target , thank you and well done on your final Image . Not sure why you called it "elusive" though . Cheers .
I would love to see you use this technique and go back to the Witch head Nebula challenge data with Trevor. How different would those images be? Great tutorial. Thank you!
Excellent subject for a tutorial and well-executed as always! For those looking to pull out even more detail, would it be worth it to use a star tracker to enable even longer exposures (60s, 120s, 180s, for example)? Or to use a mono camera with L, R, G, B filters?
Watching this video and I keep getting distracted by the fact that you're using the same tripod/ballhead combination I use. I'm like, did this joker steal my tripod and peel all the stickers off it? 😂
Thanks for this most useful guide ! Amazing how the image processing steps create beautiful artistic images from the dim low contrast telescope output. I have no idea if the final output represents properties of the interstellar dust or selective boosting of measurement system artifacts.
If it were artifacts we could assume that each camera + lens would produce different results. Since I have shot this scene many times with different systems (as have thousands of other amateurs) and all our results are similar in morphology, we can be sure it is truly the properties of the space dust we are seeing.
Thanks!
When people ask me how many subframes I need. I tell them I use the Billy Idol Astrophoto Method, I normally get a confused look then I tell them "In the midnight hour, you need more more more".
Excellent
Deep Space Astro did a SIRIL episode on fixing your stars wonky shape. Works quite well.
Beautiful file and fantastic process walkthrough! How long would that processing take you typically (if you weren't having to describe what you're doing)?
With something like this, not long, maybe 20 minutes after the stacking was complete. But keep in mind I've put in hundreds of hours of practice processing astrophotography, so it comes pretty naturally to me at this point.
Nice detailed tutorial. BTW, Siril Background stratch must be used in independent mode (you can select it if click "Advanced") to reveal color, I have no idea why maybe just Siril bug.
i dont got the lens you show, mine is a 70-300, but ill give this a shot! I do have a tracker so that'll probably help! my arms broken though, apologies for any bad typing/spelling.
This was impressive. Dang...
I literally learned about this just 2 days ago!!!
Great video i do wide field deep sky imaging in bortle 3 skies in gower in Wales United Kingdom. I've got a Rokinon 135mm prime lens and a star adventurer 2i Pro tracking mount and a 1300d dlsr canon camera so i b giving that a go. 📸
Arggllll....
Why didn't I find this tutorial last week? I tried to photograph it last friday and had nothing on my images.
By the way - I would recommend a battery dummy which could be connected to a bigger powerbank or powerstation by USB.
And don't forget a cheap lense heating!
Could I do this with a Nikon P1000, it's a bridge camera with a 125x zoom. I've always wanted to do this but I only have that camera to help me!
Useful👍🏻👍🏾
I've been easing my way back in after a long time away (Nikon F3 and early digital days) and all your stuff has been super helpful. I've tried this and it didn't turn out half bad considering everything that didn't go right. (Bahtinov mask went from IN to CA on its way to NH. Interval code on my OM-1 is bugged at exposure times > 1 sec. All about normal for having fun with AP!) The combination of reviews and tutorials is just great. And you've convinced me to take it slow. I think I know what gear I want, but the camera and tripod are great for now. In the meantime, I need to head over to Patreon! All the best!
Great video! Would there be any advantage to using an astro-modified camera for this? Specifically, a Canon Ra? Thanks!
As always, another amazing video. - Nico, that lens has kinda no come as far as I can see it here on TH-cam at about 27:40. What’s that for a lens?
Thank you very much for showing this!! It leaves me wondering, why bother with polar alignment, tracking accuracy, long exposure times and all the things that make astrophotography so annoying to me. Also the fact, that you get a stunning photo just using very basic techniques and processing only with Siril just blows my mind! I will take my alt-az mount, use short exposures and use simple processing and will see what I get. This is said by a 90% visual guy 😅
Thanks, and I hope you try it. I have had many people tell me they have tried short exposures with their telescope on Alt-Az and been very impressed by the kinds of results they can get.
To answer more fully what you were wondering about: The untracked method works very well for this object since the stars don't move very quickly when you shoot right at the pole (center of rotation). It also works reasonably well anywhere in the sky with much shorter exposures (1-3 seconds) for bright, large objects like many in the Messier catalog. The reason still to bother with polar alignment, tracking, and long exposures is for everything else: dimmer deep sky objects especially ones that need narrowband filters to reveal, but also smaller objects like galaxies outside of M31/33.
@@NebulaPhotos You are the experienced astrophotographer, for sure. But, if one can achieve such a beautiful picture of this IFN(!!), what dim object would withstand this kind of technique? I mean, narrowband filtered, yes. But everything else, especially when alt-az tracked? Maybe the practical difficulty to do something like this on smaller objects, lies in the fact, that large aperture f/2 systems are necessary?
@@Andreas-kw7cc Right, not impossible, but not many people have that kind of fast, large telescope for the smaller objects. And yes, alt-az tracking can help - I want to try that more to see for myself. Best of luck and clear skies!
Just a note for Nikon and Pentax users (maybe others), since you may be doing this in the dark. The lens focuses the other direction. That's something I had to be aware of when I had a Canon DSLR - I had bought some Nikon F mount lenses and adapted them to the Canon body.
This shit is getting so good
You have to be a perfectionist to do that ,my brain would explode if I tried that, the canon 135 f2L is as good as the Rokinson ?
A lot of my images look like the beginning of this video, foggy. Very good instructional video that covers a lot and has a lot of details. There are some others out there who no longer have their feet on the ground anymore, they have become more of, look what I did. I am curious why You chose this form of stretching the starless image, instead of using the Generalised Hyerbolic Stretch which has some other options.
This is Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch implemented within the Star Recomposition window. It's the exact same tool, but if you want all the options you can click the advanced button and scroll down, but I don't find the shadow protection and highlight protection useful for an image like this one where there isn't a huge range of brightness values. IFN is low contrast to begin with, so all you really need are the four basic sliders (black point, symmetry point, stretch factor, and stretch intensity)
@@NebulaPhotos Wasn't aware of that, hadn't play with all the buttons to notice that. Thanks
Very nice video, I like the way you explain things and make them seem easier that they really are. Your videos made me pull out my equipment after a decade of deep sleep, and start again this wonderful hobby.
I have a question though.. you use normally canon dslr, have you ever encounter the canon banding issue? 15 years ago I was shooting with a 350d and I don’t recall having the banding issue I have now with the same camera or a 60d. Do you think this is due to the way software process the photo nowadays? Lately I’m using Siril, but I tried also DSS.
If you know any way to avoid the banding, a part from using siril bandind filter (and you have the time) can you make a video on it?
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us.
I’ve found the horizontal banding issue is only really an issue for me at ISO800 and lower. That’s one of the reasons why I run Canons at ISO1600 minimum, but prefer 3200 or 6400. What ISO are you using?
I’m using iso800 I will try to go higher. I was asking because i’m in the process to acquire a modified dslr. I live in Italy but i found on the bay a shop in Germany that is selling different models at affordable price. I was aiming to buy a 7d or a 60d.
Thanks for the replay
Niko have you ever used the Seestar S50 for the Polaris flare!??
Great video like always Nico 😀,🤩
You're super helpful for all people doing astrophotography..
Nico I got a question...
IAM using Askar fra 400 on AM5.. with 2600 mc pro.. ASI air with guiding and dithering...
IAM just thinking about to put a second camera on this rig.. canon 6d and samyang 135 taking pictures the same time..
Of course I know I gonna loose some Frames because of dither..
What do you think about the Idea... for example if I set my main camera 120 s exposures f4.. plus dithering every 2 images..and second camera 60 s ex ..so I gonna have plus minus 4 Frames ..and one lost..
Can I use second camera on different target .. or is there any way to synchronise two cameras to not loose the dithering time?
Not possible to synch dithering with ASIAir, so I would suggest doing as you are suggesting and just throwing out bad frames. You may find that due to the very different scales, you don't even have to throw out any frames.
@@NebulaPhotosyes thats interesting..i was thinking how i gonna see the bad frames if the move is 5 pixels on main camera.i need to check the scales..or set my dithering to maybe 10 pix..
thanks for replying and helping Nico👍🤩