Wow. I've never even considered 1 shot astrophotography. For dedicated imaging, I always used ~70 images for wide shot astrophotography. Dang dude that is sick!
I loved y'all's interaction/interview and y'all's previous collaboration. Great job, and tip of the hat to you, for inspiring young people and especially girls/women to get involved in science.
At 8:35 now.... I would say that this is fantastic. It shows people that you don't just snap a picture and post it. And it helps when people can see that even experienced people in this field can have a "wtf" moment and how you figure out the issue.
Insanely beautiful shot Nico! - It's unreal to think it's from one single exposure, wow! :-D That D810a really is a beast of a camera, congratulations on getting one my friend!
I enjoyed your live processing. For reasons I'm not going to go into I have to learn this way. It's the way I've learned everything for the past 68 years lol. So I want to hear every detail of your thought and your actions. I love it 👍👍👍
So this was fun. I took a shot at your data (also cropped to get the sensor spots out), but I didn't have the vignette in mine after the ABE. Lots of fun and a neat challenge!
Well timed: I just photographed this area about 2 days ago. I live south of you BTW (SE MA). My problem is processing.... I stink at it so bad, but I keep trying. Will get there soon or later.
your channel has really inspired me to keep trying and learning new things with astrophotography, i only have a dslr and a tripod but i still love taking pictures. im still new but your videos have helped me so much. Thank you man, keep up the great work brotha
Awesome process, I learned some new tricks! I have an hour of rho ophiuchi sitting on my hard drive that I've been trying to get just right, now I'm excited to give it another shot!
Love these videos, like that you describe so much about everything and the new challenges you keep putting up. Could you also tell which Bortle grade the photo was taken on? And I would love seeing a challenge in the future with low vs. high light pollution to see the difference, i.e. 3 vs 7
Interesting idea. Definitely don't have the tracking accuracy to do this myself - I'm using a mechanical tracker with which I never really go above 30 second exposures, even at 135mm. A no flats no darks "challenge" does happen every once in a while for me though, although that's usually when I'm too tired or it's too cold and I don't take darks or flats on the night of. Or when I do my darks at the wrong ISO/shutter speed - that sometimes happens when I swap lenses partway through the night, and only remember to take darks for the second batch of images. I'd never thought of using the image itself as a layer mask before though, I might need to try that in the future. Especially since I find that it's really easy to over-stretch and blow out the highlights too much, that could be useful for highlight recovery or for that little bit of extra oomph to an understretched image.
I enjoyed the video and learned a couple techniques I will definitely try. The MaskedStretch was new to me and looks very promising; it seemed to protect the stars rather well. Also, I was adding the star mask using Linear Dodge (Add) but will try adding the image with stars with screen blend mode; I like what you were able to achieve with the contrast adjustments on the starless image that way. Thanks for sharing your techniques! Rich
Fantastic video Nico! I'm going to give it a try later. I saw that you had trouble with the left of the image after you did Automatic background extraction. Have you tried the Dynamic background extraction at all. It's a bit time consuming, but it might help the image better. I've used it before and it works pretty well for me. One thing I took away from this video is that in auto background extraction. You can change the settings. I didn't know because some of the other video's I've watched said use the default settings. I'm definitely going to try this as well. Thanks once again! Clear skies!!!!!!
Yes, I think my issue was I set the sample radius a bit too high for how tightly packed the stars were on the left side of the image. So it was picking up a lot of the stars in the samples and gave that weird result. 15px would have likely worked a lot better. I never use the default settings with ABE or DBE. The default settings always over-fit for my data. With ABE, i basically always turn the function degree down from 4 to 2. Cheers! Clear skies!
A hint. If one wants to calibrate and/or integrate aligned dslr or mirrorless files it's not necessary to use debayer. On Format Hits just change the word cfa to rgb
I was excited to see this and did some investigation thinking that "an old Nikon" might be something to add to my pile of cameras. Seems the D810a is made of gold 🙂 In any case I'm still going to shoot a bunch of frames with my Sony a7R3 and try my hand at stacking/stretching and watch more YT videos showing the ins/outs of Pixinsight, Sequator, DeepSkyStacker, etc... It seems that with deep sky imaging getting the data is only half the work.
Wow... Did I make a big mistake in my latest video where I process my Crescent nebula? I did separate the stars and nebulosity and added stars only later using the screen blending mode. I see you blend in the entire image... Hmmm, food for thought.
Nah, not a big mistake. Either way can work and I know many prefer to add *only* the stars back in. For my "lazy" style of processing I always do it this way because it avoids artifacts. If you work a starless image and then add just the stars back in, you have to be super careful to avoid artifacts from the star removal process itself. If you do it my way, it results in a bright image that needs to be adjusted with curves, but I find I never get ringing around stars or any of the other problems people talk about with using starless images in processing.
incredible, ive watched this a few times and the detail pulled from this looks like a stacked image. Great work, If only it was simple without using photoshop, and solely in PIXINSIGHT
Great job Nico. I also enjoy your interaction with Helena. Y'all's chemistry is great. As always, I have a question, and I realize it is slightly off topic. So, I am looking to get a star tracker sometime in the next 4-6 weeks. I was planning to get the Skwatcher Star Adventurer 2i, but now I'm wondering if I should wait and get the GTi instead? Are the differences enough to wait and get the GTi or is the 2i good enough?
If money is no issue go for the gti. Its go to and you can use nina and all of the other gizmos combined with a pc. Its a real mount not just a startracker.
@@realmcerono yeah, money isn't too much of an issue, however portability is. I'm a Pimp Gimp, with a right leg that barely functions from the knee down and my left leg is starting to follow suit. I am hoping that I have about 10 years before I'll be changing my name to Hot Wheels. The point being that I can't be lifting, carrying, whatever, 50-60 lbs of stuff. If I can keep it under 25 lbs, thats about the only restriction I have. But thanks for the advice.
@@kevinashley478 yeah you can go with the GTI and a camera with a Rokinon 135mm to start and that’ll be a great wide field light weight setup, moving up to a 200mm f/2.8 canon if you want a little more reach or even the 800mm f/11 RF that he reviewed recently. All good lightweight setups that’ll keep your body from groaning too much!
Hi Sergio, yes for this image I was using a full setup: Askar FRA300 pro telescope, William optics guide scope, zwo guide camera, skywatcher EQ6R mount, Nikon D810a camera. The only thing I didn’t do that I normally would is take calibration frames (and stacking).
Nico, I loved the video and watched it to the end but I'm not sure if you actually gave a final verdict on your Nikon 810A. Did it live up to it's reputation or help you achieve your goal. And do you recommend it for people who may be in the market now for getting into astro. Thanks again. Clear Skies!!
I haven't used it as much as I'd like. I've had some problems with circular banding, but I've read that with the right exposure time on the flats, I might be able to get rid of it. I probably wouldn't recommend it today unless you can get a very good deal or are a bit of a camera collector like me.
@@NebulaPhotos Hi Nico, Thank you very much for your quick and honest reply. If you happen to solve the banding issue(s) that you mentioned, that may make a great future video. Also, what a wonderful advantage to have the ability on the 810A to dial in “any” exposure in camera with out the need for extra accessories.
Great, excellent photo. only one question: why one frame can produce an artefact different than vineting , dust on the train or reflection to make you crop your frame?
I'm not sure I understand the question. Vignetting and dust can usually be corrected with flat fielding, but I did not take flats here since it was a single frame. I could have cleaned the sensor before taking the photos to avoid the dust.
@@NebulaPhotos my question is why crop a single frame, is any artifacts present different than mentioned before? If the guiding is doing incorrectly, the complete frame will be a disaster.
Great video, just mind blowing. May I ask in what Bortle zone this was done? Do you think this can be done in any Bortle zone? I'm sitting in Bortle 6 and have Antares only a maximum of 15 degrees above the horizon. Clear skies, Wolfgang
This was Bortle 4 with Antares about 25 degrees above the horizon. You should be able to get it with your conditions, but I maybe wouldn't go for the single shot challenge, and use the power of stacking to bring down the noise from the light pollution. Clear skies!
Since we can't post links in youtube comments where could we post our entries to the challenge? :-) it was a hard one but at least I tried and would like to show it to you Nico.
Great video, the way you explain and show every steps is always useful. Why do you save the files in 16bits though ? i only use 32bits (except for starnet).
Tons of stuff doesn't work properly in Photoshop in 32 bit mode. And doesn't matter so much after the stretch. 16bits is plenty to work with (no perceptible difference - I could do a video explaining why).
@@NebulaPhotos I'm using The Gimp, so less of a constraint i guess. Thanks for the files btw, i can compare it to my untracked version using the same processing, that's cool.
Great video tutorial as Always Nico. Please keep them coming. I have downloaded the raw file from your link. As I am still a new learner of Pixinsight, not sure is it possible that the file I downloaded is already Debayered ?
Depending on how your PixInsight is setup, it may automatically debayer the raw file when you open it. I think the default installation of PI does this, but I have probably changed mine for some reason so it doesn't.
Hey Nico! Always appreciate your channel! I just came across this video as I was editing my first Rho Ophiuchi. I’ve never seen MaskedStretch before, but it made a huge difference for me. How often do you use it? Does it lend itself to different kinds of targets?
So it was 1x15mn without filter and in bortle 4 ? Nice challenge. However, you probably would have had less noise with 15x1mn (may vary from camera to camera I imagine).
Definitely possible with a cheaper camera. The Nikon D810a is nice, but a similar result could be had with a much cheaper modified DSLR and an intervalometer
@@bhaktibhandari7379My experience is with Nikon and Canon. Nikons have lower noise, Canons have better selection of clip-in filters and other astro accessories/ support. Under $500 - Nikon D5300 or 5600, Canon T4i, Canon T7. Under $1000 - Canon EOS RP (Mirrorless) or Nikon Z30 (Mirrorless)
@@NebulaPhotos Woah! Thanks for all those suggestions! Will definitely save up and buy one. I love astronomy and videography and thus astrophotography is a natural hybrid interest... But I lack a good camera (all I have now is a 10 yr old Nikon Coolpix S8100) ... Love seeing your vids instead. Loads to learn just by watching!!
There is something about you whenever you upload a video about something I end up buying the same thing or somehow find same thing from somewhere. I wanted to have camera like 60da or 810a but could not find any. After you upload this I find 810 a on second hand market. Not only this. When you made a video about mod types I find a camera that is fullspec and had all the filters needed. I end up owning one. There is some thing about your channel that makes me spend all my money.
@@NebulaPhotos you may not know this but there is a Coloured Concentric Rings problem on Nikon d 8XX series I have faced with you might want to check it before wasting alot of time. I have been dealing this last 3 days.
Wow amazing!! your video inspired me a lot……I want to move up to deep sky astrophography, so I just bought star tracker 2i pro pack (just arrived and unopened yet) …. I’m going to use it with my Nikon D810…. Can I use it with that combination for single shot like you did…. Please advise…. Thanks so much
You will not be able, nor should you try to do single shots. In term of noise, a 15*1min or 8*2min would probably have been better, and calibration frame ARE important. The Star Adventurer is not a precise enought mount for 15 min exposures (periodic error is really high) and it can only be guided on RA axis. But, you can do a lot with your set-up, just get a good fast prime lens, and you will do amazing wield field images
Sure, you can. It's not going to give you the best result, but it simplifies things. With the Star Adventurer, I'd suggest an 85mm or 135mm lens. A dark sky is also essential if you want something reasonable in just a single shot. Cheers, Nico
Hi Nico, big fan and long time follower of your channel. Since you own few dedicated cameras and shoot Cannon mostly, what was the thought process to use 810A for the project? For a single 15 min tracked shot guessing you most likely used guiding which requires more set up anyway. So guess ease of use over dedicated camera may not be the reason...
Hi Dinesh, No particular reason. As I said in the intro, I just got the Nikon D810a so was excited to try out one of it's unique features of allowing up to 15 minute exposure without a bulb timer.
Could you let me know if pixinsight can't process Canon T7's CR.2 files? Mine, version 1.8, when opening the camera files turns them into pink and has no color adjustment or white balance to fix.
Yes, it can. The photos looking weird with just an autostretch is normal for any DSLR. Try unlinking channels and using stf autostretch like I show at 05:06. And/ or try AutoBackgroundExtractor like I show next - that should also remove a color cast
@@NebulaPhotos I tried, but unfortunately when I do that it's like losing all the color information, when I increase the saturation it doesn't show any color information that would be common to see. I've always liked to stack and process in pixinsight, with cell phone photos, but with the T7 I have to stack in another software to later be able to process in pixinsight due to these problems.
Hey, Nico, just curious about something. Nearly every astrophotographer on TH-cam uses cameras with full frames (when using DSLRs). So what is the difference between full frame and crop sensors that make full frame the popular choice? No rush on a response. It was just something I noticed...
For a given number of MPx and for same technology, a full frame sensor will have bigger photosites then the APS-C ones, allowing a better SNR straight out of the box. This is one of the reason one of the best mirrorless camera is the 12MPX Sony A7s, because it's photosite are huuuge. Also, full frame DSLR are not that expensive (A canon 6D, that is really good already is like 4-500€); at for wield field image, it is always nice to have a bigger sensors. Dedicated camera have smaller sensors, because they are freaking expensive (look at the price of a full frame 6200mm ! ) and if you want really clean images, using a big sensor is a really annoying process (really few telescopes correct a full frame well enough, and fine tuning of the OTA is required, due to tilt, and the filters get really expensive)
@@Thefuror38500 wow. Thanks for the information. That is good to know. I have been looking at full frame cameras, but I think I will have to stick with my T3i for right now. My focus now is getting a star tracker so I can get images with exposures higher than 2 seconds, lol. I will fine tune my upgrades from there.
@@kevinashley478 Some kind of motorised mount is really the way to go indeed ! My advice would be to really define your needs, and buy the best you can get; because having to upgrade mount is annoying ! If you need portability, a star adventurer is good, extrem portability LX4 is awsome, but if you are using it from the backyard, go for at least an EQ-5 or HEQ-5, so you have room for lens/scope upgrade :) I would say that mount > optic > filters > camera in term of importance
@@Thefuror38500 thank you very much for your input. I was planning to use my tax return to get my full setup, but the good ol IRS, every citizen's best friend, has said they will be holding my $9,000 refund as they "verify everything, and they may not give me my refund". If terrorists ever start attacking the IRS or Duke Hospital, I'm switching sides. However, my disability is essentially peripheral nerve damage to my legs. I have to use a brace for my right leg, currently, but now my left leg is starting to play catch up. I know that at some point I will end up in a wheelchair, so I am trying to do things that I want to do that require some mobility before that day comes. As for a mount, I am looking for either the 2i or the new one (braindead moment, can't remember it). I might consider the HEQ6, but only if I get a setup that can stay connected 24/7 as one unit. I'm thinking that if I get to that, I might get an enclosed trailer and mount it to a dolly that I can just roll in and out of the trailer. Or get a trailer that the top and sides are removable. Other than that, I'm not trying to outdo the JWST, so a simple scope, maybe a 60 or 70 will do just fine. Plus I gotta keep the weight limitations in mind for the mount. As for a camera, I don't think I'll ever go with a dedicated camera, or guiding. I'm not trying have set up a command center, I left the army a long time ago, lol. Plus, it's a lot of connecting to do since most locations I'll be going to will not be WiFi friendly zones. So I'm following KISS. I have two goals: I want to get a good image of the Heart and Soul and I want to be able to image the upcoming total solar eclipse. I know that will require special equipment and filters, but I want to see if I can figure out a way to image the eclipse in totality and be able to show it they way it looked to my eyes. I was in totality for the 2017 solar eclipse, and every image I have looked at looks nothing like what I saw with my eyes. I appreciate your advice, though, so thank you
I was using an Orion Atlas mount and guiding setup (William Optics 50mm Uniguide scope with a ZWO ASI290mm mini guide camera). As long as autoguiding is working well to correct the periodic error of the mount, there is no limit to how long you can expose for. I could have probably done an hour long exposure at ISO100!
serious question - what would the advantages of using a ZWO camera over the Nikon D810A? I am still a little bit bummed that the DSLR selection excludes so many great full frame cameras - like the entire Sony class (which I have one of - A7R iii). Understood that Sony is probably the culprit here - not wanting to share with ZWO, but none of their (ether of their) stuff comes cheaply. What advantages does the A have over the standard D810 that you can not make up in processing?
The advantage of a dedicated astro camera over any general purpose camera, is without any doubt cooling; that allow to remove a lot of unwanted signal. The second big advantage is that you can have a monochrome sensor, that is absolutely awsome to use with propre filters (personnal opinion, color dedicated camera are a waste). Other minor advantage are more mechanical, (compatibilité with astro gear is easier); and no useless features, such as autofocus that is unusable at night. Sony camera tend to be excluded, because of Sony not allowing access to real raw file, they have a filtration algorythm that tend to ruin stars shape (=star eater). First generation Sony only have it after more than 30s exposure, so they are suitable (I use an A7s mk1, and it really, really rock) The "A" version has the inner low pass filter modified in factory to allow Ha signal to be more recorded. A regular D810 would struggle to record the red part of nebulae. However, there is negligible difference between a modded D810 and a D810A
@@Thefuror38500 so a D810 with an added filter could come close to the same performance as a D810A? I have a few ZWO cameras - one is cooled, but they are really priced like they are made of gold. Adding a Nikon to my DSLR "fleet" would make more sense then adding another dedicated astro-cam (on a budget).
@@allenbaylus3378 You need to remove a filter, not add one ! And yes, a modded D810 is absolutely the same as a D810A, there is no other trick than the inner filter ! Consider also options like the Canon 6D, on a budget it is really good, and the A7s mk1
I actually owned a modded D800 for a about a year before selling it to get something else. After buying a used D800 and getting it modded, it would be similar to the price I paid for D810A. And part of my motivation was having the camera for my collection (would like to eventually own all the factory made astro DSLRs)
Wow. I've never even considered 1 shot astrophotography. For dedicated imaging, I always used ~70 images for wide shot astrophotography. Dang dude that is sick!
Thanks, yes, it's nice to test things out. One of the things I enjoy most about having a TH-cam channel.
I love this Nico! Looking forward to watching just now.
Thanks Helena! Hope you enjoy it
I loved y'all's interaction/interview and y'all's previous collaboration. Great job, and tip of the hat to you, for inspiring young people and especially girls/women to get involved in science.
@@kevinashley478 aw I really appreciate that Kevin, thank you so much! Hope you are doing well 🙂
I love the fact that you made a mistake or forgot something but left it in - like the rest of us.
Really nice shot.
Your processing skills are MAD!
I just recently got into astrophotography, and your videos have been extremely helpful starting out. Thank you, Nico!
Brilliant! This changes everything! 10-12 great images each clear night!
At 8:35 now.... I would say that this is fantastic. It shows people that you don't just snap a picture and post it. And it helps when people can see that even experienced people in this field can have a "wtf" moment and how you figure out the issue.
Insanely beautiful shot Nico! - It's unreal to think it's from one single exposure, wow! :-D That D810a really is a beast of a camera, congratulations on getting one my friend!
I completely agree!
Love both your videos 😁
I enjoyed your live processing. For reasons I'm not going to go into I have to learn this way. It's the way I've learned everything for the past 68 years lol. So I want to hear every detail of your thought and your actions. I love it 👍👍👍
Cheers Bruce! Glad you enjoyed it.
I'm actually going after this Sunday night from Bortle 2 skies. Excited to see how it goes! Thank you for this
Beautiful. Photos like this always leaves me in awe!
This man is a god
Lucky! I have been looking for some time for one.
Wow what a fab and informative video Nico. I also learned some new tips on Pixinsight 😊
Thanks Katie! Glad it was helpful
Outstanding image Nico!
Beautiful color and amazing results for a single image!
I really like the Masked Stretch followed be HT.
Thanks for that tip!
Wow, have to tell you that was the most informative video I have run across! thank you for this!
I love videos like this. It gives great tips to bring to my own work flow
So this was fun. I took a shot at your data (also cropped to get the sensor spots out), but I didn't have the vignette in mine after the ABE. Lots of fun and a neat challenge!
Yeah, thinking about it more I think I set the sample radius too high for how packed the stars were on the left.
Well timed: I just photographed this area about 2 days ago. I live south of you BTW (SE MA). My problem is processing.... I stink at it so bad, but I keep trying. Will get there soon or later.
Yeah, just takes lots and lots of practice. Clear skies!
your channel has really inspired me to keep trying and learning new things with astrophotography, i only have a dslr and a tripod but i still love taking pictures. im still new but your videos have helped me so much. Thank you man, keep up the great work brotha
Very good video! Thanks for putting in the time to making this for us
Never really thought it was possible
This is so interesting. I'm sure it's the harder bit than setting up a scope and mount to take an image. I suppose it's an art vs process discussion
Great result from a single exposure, Nico.
I'm trying to imagine the amp glow from a 15 min exposure with my 183 sensor, lol.
😂 The amp glow on that 183 is very distinctive!
WoW! 1 exposure. Very nice work. Just blown away.... one day i might be able to do this hopefully.😄
Thanks! You'll get there!
One 15 minute exposure remember. Not exactly a standard or even average exposure people would take.
Awesome process, I learned some new tricks! I have an hour of rho ophiuchi sitting on my hard drive that I've been trying to get just right, now I'm excited to give it another shot!
thats pretty crazy great job
Thank you! Cheers!
Excellent video
Great work Nico 😀👌
Giving another meaning to "One Shot Camera."
Love these videos, like that you describe so much about everything and the new challenges you keep putting up. Could you also tell which Bortle grade the photo was taken on? And I would love seeing a challenge in the future with low vs. high light pollution to see the difference, i.e. 3 vs 7
This was Bortle 4. Yes, a challenge video with the different Bortle classes is a great idea.
you are genious
Bizar how much info there is on a seemingly useless picture.great to see 👍👍
Thanks so much for the processing help!!
Interesting idea. Definitely don't have the tracking accuracy to do this myself - I'm using a mechanical tracker with which I never really go above 30 second exposures, even at 135mm. A no flats no darks "challenge" does happen every once in a while for me though, although that's usually when I'm too tired or it's too cold and I don't take darks or flats on the night of. Or when I do my darks at the wrong ISO/shutter speed - that sometimes happens when I swap lenses partway through the night, and only remember to take darks for the second batch of images.
I'd never thought of using the image itself as a layer mask before though, I might need to try that in the future. Especially since I find that it's really easy to over-stretch and blow out the highlights too much, that could be useful for highlight recovery or for that little bit of extra oomph to an understretched image.
I enjoyed the video and learned a couple techniques I will definitely try. The MaskedStretch was new to me and looks very promising; it seemed to protect the stars rather well. Also, I was adding the star mask using Linear Dodge (Add) but will try adding the image with stars with screen blend mode; I like what you were able to achieve with the contrast adjustments on the starless image that way. Thanks for sharing your techniques! Rich
Fantastic video Nico! I'm going to give it a try later. I saw that you had trouble with the left of the image after you did Automatic background extraction. Have you tried the Dynamic background extraction at all. It's a bit time consuming, but it might help the image better. I've used it before and it works pretty well for me. One thing I took away from this video is that in auto background extraction. You can change the settings. I didn't know because some of the other video's I've watched said use the default settings. I'm definitely going to try this as well. Thanks once again! Clear skies!!!!!!
Yes, I think my issue was I set the sample radius a bit too high for how tightly packed the stars were on the left side of the image. So it was picking up a lot of the stars in the samples and gave that weird result. 15px would have likely worked a lot better. I never use the default settings with ABE or DBE. The default settings always over-fit for my data. With ABE, i basically always turn the function degree down from 4 to 2. Cheers! Clear skies!
Dude, your voice sounds exactly like Sean M. Carroll!!
This is one of my favorite object to photograph. It’s just hard to get the colors just right. Good information and good photograph.
Thanks!
Thanks Illia!
Watching just now 😊
A hint. If one wants to calibrate and/or integrate aligned dslr or mirrorless files it's not necessary to use debayer. On Format Hits just change the word cfa to rgb
I was excited to see this and did some investigation thinking that "an old Nikon" might be something to add to my pile of cameras. Seems the D810a is made of gold 🙂 In any case I'm still going to shoot a bunch of frames with my Sony a7R3 and try my hand at stacking/stretching and watch more YT videos showing the ins/outs of Pixinsight, Sequator, DeepSkyStacker, etc...
It seems that with deep sky imaging getting the data is only half the work.
great tutorial, thank you very much!
Awesome result. Did you use a light pollution filter by the way?
Wow... Did I make a big mistake in my latest video where I process my Crescent nebula? I did separate the stars and nebulosity and added stars only later using the screen blending mode. I see you blend in the entire image... Hmmm, food for thought.
Nah, not a big mistake. Either way can work and I know many prefer to add *only* the stars back in. For my "lazy" style of processing I always do it this way because it avoids artifacts. If you work a starless image and then add just the stars back in, you have to be super careful to avoid artifacts from the star removal process itself. If you do it my way, it results in a bright image that needs to be adjusted with curves, but I find I never get ringing around stars or any of the other problems people talk about with using starless images in processing.
@@NebulaPhotos It is worth a try for my Crescent image. Thanks for this!
incredible, ive watched this a few times and the detail pulled from this looks like a stacked image. Great work, If only it was simple without using photoshop, and solely in PIXINSIGHT
Great job Nico. I also enjoy your interaction with Helena. Y'all's chemistry is great. As always, I have a question, and I realize it is slightly off topic. So, I am looking to get a star tracker sometime in the next 4-6 weeks. I was planning to get the Skwatcher Star Adventurer 2i, but now I'm wondering if I should wait and get the GTi instead? Are the differences enough to wait and get the GTi or is the 2i good enough?
If money is no issue go for the gti. Its go to and you can use nina and all of the other gizmos combined with a pc. Its a real mount not just a startracker.
@@realmcerono yeah, money isn't too much of an issue, however portability is. I'm a Pimp Gimp, with a right leg that barely functions from the knee down and my left leg is starting to follow suit. I am hoping that I have about 10 years before I'll be changing my name to Hot Wheels. The point being that I can't be lifting, carrying, whatever, 50-60 lbs of stuff. If I can keep it under 25 lbs, thats about the only restriction I have. But thanks for the advice.
@@kevinashley478 yeah you can go with the GTI and a camera with a Rokinon 135mm to start and that’ll be a great wide field light weight setup, moving up to a 200mm f/2.8 canon if you want a little more reach or even the 800mm f/11 RF that he reviewed recently. All good lightweight setups that’ll keep your body from groaning too much!
@@stevenneaves8079 great! Thanks for the info!
Hi Nico. What a great video. Thank you. For a long exposure like this, did you use a star tracker? Which one?
Greetings from Chile.
Hi Sergio, yes for this image I was using a full setup: Askar FRA300 pro telescope, William optics guide scope, zwo guide camera, skywatcher EQ6R mount, Nikon D810a camera. The only thing I didn’t do that I normally would is take calibration frames (and stacking).
@@NebulaPhotos great! Thanks!
Nico, I loved the video and watched it to the end but I'm not sure if you actually gave a final verdict on your Nikon 810A. Did it live up to it's reputation or help you achieve your goal. And do you recommend it for people who may be in the market now for getting into astro. Thanks again. Clear Skies!!
I haven't used it as much as I'd like. I've had some problems with circular banding, but I've read that with the right exposure time on the flats, I might be able to get rid of it. I probably wouldn't recommend it today unless you can get a very good deal or are a bit of a camera collector like me.
@@NebulaPhotos Hi Nico,
Thank you very much for your quick and honest reply. If you happen to solve the banding issue(s) that you mentioned, that may make a great future video. Also, what a wonderful advantage to have the ability on the 810A to dial in “any” exposure in camera with out the need for extra accessories.
I never shoot calibration frames, never. I have great photos, no issues, way less time on the PC.
Great, excellent photo. only one question: why one frame can produce an artefact different than vineting , dust on the train or reflection to make you crop your frame?
I'm not sure I understand the question. Vignetting and dust can usually be corrected with flat fielding, but I did not take flats here since it was a single frame. I could have cleaned the sensor before taking the photos to avoid the dust.
@@NebulaPhotos my question is why crop a single frame, is any artifacts present different than mentioned before?
If the guiding is doing incorrectly, the complete frame will be a disaster.
Great video, just mind blowing. May I ask in what Bortle zone this was done? Do you think this can be done in any Bortle zone? I'm sitting in Bortle 6 and have Antares only a maximum of 15 degrees above the horizon. Clear skies, Wolfgang
This was Bortle 4 with Antares about 25 degrees above the horizon. You should be able to get it with your conditions, but I maybe wouldn't go for the single shot challenge, and use the power of stacking to bring down the noise from the light pollution. Clear skies!
@@NebulaPhotos Thank you!
Its hard. I am in Switzerland and it is as low in the sky as yours on my bortle 5 sky. Shot over an hour to see whats there... it wasn't much :-(
Your 1 exposure looks better then my 1024 exposures😂
Ha, untracked? Rho is super hard untracked. If it was easier, I'd probably already have a video up 😂
Love your videos!! They are very informative and helpful. For this 15 minute exposure, what ISO did you use??
I used ISO400. Back of camera histogram peak was at around 50%.
I don't know if it posted on your facebook page, but I put my finished version there for you to see.
Found it, thanks!
Great Video, I am waiting for my cooled camera that is stuck in delivery delays due to Chinese lockdown.
Ah, sorry to hear that. Widespread problem right now. Hopefully it gets worked out soon
Pretty impressive for a single sub! :)
Since we can't post links in youtube comments where could we post our entries to the challenge? :-) it was a hard one but at least I tried and would like to show it to you Nico.
nicocarver AT gmail DOT com is my email. Or message me on twitter/instagram.
Great video, the way you explain and show every steps is always useful.
Why do you save the files in 16bits though ? i only use 32bits (except for starnet).
Tons of stuff doesn't work properly in Photoshop in 32 bit mode. And doesn't matter so much after the stretch. 16bits is plenty to work with (no perceptible difference - I could do a video explaining why).
@@NebulaPhotos I'm using The Gimp, so less of a constraint i guess.
Thanks for the files btw, i can compare it to my untracked version using the same processing, that's cool.
@@TheNoon56 Nice, Yes, GIMP is much more full-featured (even no limitations?) with 32-bit files.
Great video tutorial as Always Nico. Please keep them coming. I have downloaded the raw file from your link. As I am still a new learner of Pixinsight, not sure is it possible that the file I downloaded is already Debayered ?
Depending on how your PixInsight is setup, it may automatically debayer the raw file when you open it. I think the default installation of PI does this, but I have probably changed mine for some reason so it doesn't.
Thanks Nico.
Hey Nico! Always appreciate your channel! I just came across this video as I was editing my first Rho Ophiuchi. I’ve never seen MaskedStretch before, but it made a huge difference for me. How often do you use it? Does it lend itself to different kinds of targets?
"You only get ONE shot!" *Pulls out a 16" SCT with a hyperstar
So it was 1x15mn without filter and in bortle 4 ? Nice challenge. However, you probably would have had less noise with 15x1mn (may vary from camera to camera I imagine).
Yes, just for fun
@@NebulaPhotos I admit, it's pretty cool :)
Wow! It's like making the impossible possible!
I just hope it was possible with a cheaper camera, though😭 😅😂
Definitely possible with a cheaper camera. The Nikon D810a is nice, but a similar result could be had with a much cheaper modified DSLR and an intervalometer
@@NebulaPhotos Any good suggestions for a mid-range DSLR mainly for astrophotography (not single-exposure 😀) and good all rounder as well?
@@bhaktibhandari7379My experience is with Nikon and Canon. Nikons have lower noise, Canons have better selection of clip-in filters and other astro accessories/ support. Under $500 - Nikon D5300 or 5600, Canon T4i, Canon T7. Under $1000 - Canon EOS RP (Mirrorless) or Nikon Z30 (Mirrorless)
@@NebulaPhotos Woah! Thanks for all those suggestions! Will definitely save up and buy one. I love astronomy and videography and thus astrophotography is a natural hybrid interest... But I lack a good camera (all I have now is a 10 yr old Nikon Coolpix S8100) ... Love seeing your vids instead. Loads to learn just by watching!!
can you do a video about digital telescope like unistellar evscope and stellina?
There is something about you whenever you upload a video about something I end up buying the same thing or somehow find same thing from somewhere. I wanted to have camera like 60da or 810a but could not find any. After you upload this I find 810 a on second hand market. Not only this. When you made a video about mod types I find a camera that is fullspec and had all the filters needed. I end up owning one. There is some thing about your channel that makes me spend all my money.
Ha, sorry to your wallet 💸 😂
@@NebulaPhotos I want to see videos about D810a. I am getting one today and want to see what you do with it.
@@cemoguz2786 Congrats! I have a couple ideas. Might take me a while, but I'm sure I'll do them eventually.
@@NebulaPhotos I am sure you will execute that ideas perfectly. Good luck clear skys.
@@NebulaPhotos you may not know this but there is a Coloured Concentric Rings problem on Nikon d 8XX series I have faced with you might want to check it before wasting alot of time. I have been dealing this last 3 days.
I cant even see this from 54d north and your one sub is better than any of my images of any target lol :(
Wow amazing!! your video inspired me a lot……I want to move up to deep sky astrophography, so I just bought star tracker 2i pro pack (just arrived and unopened yet) …. I’m going to use it with my Nikon D810…. Can I use it with that combination for single shot like you did…. Please advise…. Thanks so much
You will not be able, nor should you try to do single shots. In term of noise, a 15*1min or 8*2min would probably have been better, and calibration frame ARE important.
The Star Adventurer is not a precise enought mount for 15 min exposures (periodic error is really high) and it can only be guided on RA axis.
But, you can do a lot with your set-up, just get a good fast prime lens, and you will do amazing wield field images
Sure, you can. It's not going to give you the best result, but it simplifies things. With the Star Adventurer, I'd suggest an 85mm or 135mm lens. A dark sky is also essential if you want something reasonable in just a single shot. Cheers, Nico
@@NebulaPhotos
Thanks so much. I will try with star tracker and lens 105mm f2.8…..I hope I nail it…. Happy hunting
Hi Nico, big fan and long time follower of your channel. Since you own few dedicated cameras and shoot Cannon mostly, what was the thought process to use 810A for the project? For a single 15 min tracked shot guessing you most likely used guiding which requires more set up anyway. So guess ease of use over dedicated camera may not be the reason...
Hi Dinesh, No particular reason. As I said in the intro, I just got the Nikon D810a so was excited to try out one of it's unique features of allowing up to 15 minute exposure without a bulb timer.
Cool 😎
Hey Nico. What power bank would you recommend to keep the SA 2i running all night?
Could you let me know if pixinsight can't process Canon T7's CR.2 files?
Mine, version 1.8, when opening the camera files turns them into pink and has no color adjustment or white balance to fix.
Yes, it can. The photos looking weird with just an autostretch is normal for any DSLR. Try unlinking channels and using stf autostretch like I show at 05:06. And/ or try AutoBackgroundExtractor like I show next - that should also remove a color cast
@@NebulaPhotos I tried, but unfortunately when I do that it's like losing all the color information, when I increase the saturation it doesn't show any color information that would be common to see. I've always liked to stack and process in pixinsight, with cell phone photos, but with the T7 I have to stack in another software to later be able to process in pixinsight due to these problems.
@@NebulaPhotos Anyway, great video! I'm always following you around here.
i was looking for a wide-field telescope, and i think i have found one.
It's great! I have a review: th-cam.com/video/5h_2D1cP578/w-d-xo.html
Hey, Nico, just curious about something. Nearly every astrophotographer on TH-cam uses cameras with full frames (when using DSLRs). So what is the difference between full frame and crop sensors that make full frame the popular choice? No rush on a response. It was just something I noticed...
For a given number of MPx and for same technology, a full frame sensor will have bigger photosites then the APS-C ones, allowing a better SNR straight out of the box. This is one of the reason one of the best mirrorless camera is the 12MPX Sony A7s, because it's photosite are huuuge. Also, full frame DSLR are not that expensive (A canon 6D, that is really good already is like 4-500€); at for wield field image, it is always nice to have a bigger sensors.
Dedicated camera have smaller sensors, because they are freaking expensive (look at the price of a full frame 6200mm ! ) and if you want really clean images, using a big sensor is a really annoying process (really few telescopes correct a full frame well enough, and fine tuning of the OTA is required, due to tilt, and the filters get really expensive)
@@Thefuror38500 wow. Thanks for the information. That is good to know. I have been looking at full frame cameras, but I think I will have to stick with my T3i for right now. My focus now is getting a star tracker so I can get images with exposures higher than 2 seconds, lol. I will fine tune my upgrades from there.
@@kevinashley478 Some kind of motorised mount is really the way to go indeed !
My advice would be to really define your needs, and buy the best you can get; because having to upgrade mount is annoying !
If you need portability, a star adventurer is good, extrem portability LX4 is awsome, but if you are using it from the backyard, go for at least an EQ-5 or HEQ-5, so you have room for lens/scope upgrade :)
I would say that mount > optic > filters > camera in term of importance
@@Thefuror38500 thank you very much for your input. I was planning to use my tax return to get my full setup, but the good ol IRS, every citizen's best friend, has said they will be holding my $9,000 refund as they "verify everything, and they may not give me my refund". If terrorists ever start attacking the IRS or Duke Hospital, I'm switching sides. However, my disability is essentially peripheral nerve damage to my legs. I have to use a brace for my right leg, currently, but now my left leg is starting to play catch up. I know that at some point I will end up in a wheelchair, so I am trying to do things that I want to do that require some mobility before that day comes. As for a mount, I am looking for either the 2i or the new one (braindead moment, can't remember it). I might consider the HEQ6, but only if I get a setup that can stay connected 24/7 as one unit. I'm thinking that if I get to that, I might get an enclosed trailer and mount it to a dolly that I can just roll in and out of the trailer. Or get a trailer that the top and sides are removable. Other than that, I'm not trying to outdo the JWST, so a simple scope, maybe a 60 or 70 will do just fine. Plus I gotta keep the weight limitations in mind for the mount. As for a camera, I don't think I'll ever go with a dedicated camera, or guiding. I'm not trying have set up a command center, I left the army a long time ago, lol. Plus, it's a lot of connecting to do since most locations I'll be going to will not be WiFi friendly zones. So I'm following KISS. I have two goals: I want to get a good image of the Heart and Soul and I want to be able to image the upcoming total solar eclipse. I know that will require special equipment and filters, but I want to see if I can figure out a way to image the eclipse in totality and be able to show it they way it looked to my eyes. I was in totality for the 2017 solar eclipse, and every image I have looked at looks nothing like what I saw with my eyes. I appreciate your advice, though, so thank you
Kinda seemsnlike EAA, excepting uou are post processing instead of on the fly.
How in the heck did you keep round stars with a 15 minute exposure. What were you using to track may I ask.
I was using an Orion Atlas mount and guiding setup (William Optics 50mm Uniguide scope with a ZWO ASI290mm mini guide camera). As long as autoguiding is working well to correct the periodic error of the mount, there is no limit to how long you can expose for. I could have probably done an hour long exposure at ISO100!
I wonder, how did You shoot 15min without overexposing??
just how...
serious question - what would the advantages of using a ZWO camera over the Nikon D810A?
I am still a little bit bummed that the DSLR selection excludes so many great full frame cameras - like the entire Sony class (which I have one of - A7R iii).
Understood that Sony is probably the culprit here - not wanting to share with ZWO, but none of their (ether of their) stuff comes cheaply.
What advantages does the A have over the standard D810 that you can not make up in processing?
The advantage of a dedicated astro camera over any general purpose camera, is without any doubt cooling; that allow to remove a lot of unwanted signal. The second big advantage is that you can have a monochrome sensor, that is absolutely awsome to use with propre filters (personnal opinion, color dedicated camera are a waste). Other minor advantage are more mechanical, (compatibilité with astro gear is easier); and no useless features, such as autofocus that is unusable at night.
Sony camera tend to be excluded, because of Sony not allowing access to real raw file, they have a filtration algorythm that tend to ruin stars shape (=star eater). First generation Sony only have it after more than 30s exposure, so they are suitable (I use an A7s mk1, and it really, really rock)
The "A" version has the inner low pass filter modified in factory to allow Ha signal to be more recorded. A regular D810 would struggle to record the red part of nebulae. However, there is negligible difference between a modded D810 and a D810A
@@Thefuror38500 so a D810 with an added filter could come close to the same performance as a D810A?
I have a few ZWO cameras - one is cooled, but they are really priced like they are made of gold.
Adding a Nikon to my DSLR "fleet" would make more sense then adding another dedicated astro-cam (on a budget).
@@allenbaylus3378 You need to remove a filter, not add one ! And yes, a modded D810 is absolutely the same as a D810A, there is no other trick than the inner filter !
Consider also options like the Canon 6D, on a budget it is really good, and the A7s mk1
why not mod a d800? theyre like 400 bucks
I actually owned a modded D800 for a about a year before selling it to get something else. After buying a used D800 and getting it modded, it would be similar to the price I paid for D810A. And part of my motivation was having the camera for my collection (would like to eventually own all the factory made astro DSLRs)
Isn't 15 minutes long enough for stars looks like trails?
I was using a telescope mount that tracks the stars and a guiding system to make the mount very accurate.
@@NebulaPhotos ah yes. now I get it. Congratulations, phenomenal photo and editing.
is it better to take a single for ex. 30min. exposure or do i get the same quallity if i stack 60 x 30secs. exposures?
It depends on a lot of factors, but for most people/setups/skies, the 60x30 sec. will give the better result IMO.
Same
You should sent this image to an iPad, they are amazingly good at manipulating Astro photos, just try it.
👍👍
At what ISO was the original shot ? :)
ISO 400
p̷r̷o̷m̷o̷s̷m̷ 😔