Astro modified DSLR

Silent Shrill

Anyone that is seeking a reasonably priced service to astro-modify their DSLR, give this man a call on facebook. Just search "on/off repairs"

Had mine done by him to full spectrum. Had it back a week later and only 70e + postage. Based in Dublin.

liamtech

very curious about this - what model did you have modded? Im on a budget but been shooting with an Olympus E420 for a while - recently purchased a Nikon D5100 - obviously second hand market is the place for budget minded buyers - havent had a chance to try it out yet

Have you used your modded DSLR yet? Do you notice a massive improvement?

Thx in adv

Silent Shrill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119112370#Comment_119112370

Canon 1300d. No chance to use yet as weather has been wet and cloudy here for nearly 3 weeks. Looks like tonight might be clear enough to try it out. I did check through the scope in daylight and everything had a red tinge........hopefully I'll find out tonight.

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119118730#Comment_119118730

fantastic id love to hear back RE results - Iv been using an E420 but upgraded to a D5100 - like you - no chance to try out on either of my scopes - I did some work over christmas and Jan/Feb with the 420 - i was quite happy with the results - especially considering the nature of my mount being quite old

Orion was my target of choice - good results for a Newbie but obviously only a FAINT hint of red - considering the camera is

• 4/3 Sensor - 10MP
• 15YO
• Unmodded
• the crop is unbelievable given the size of the sensor
• The iso is VERY POOR on the E420 - its still a fine camera for every day use- but put the iso above 200 and the noise is barely tolerable
• The tracking on my LXD75 is 5-10second TOPS - good for its age but poor overall when compared to a modern
• I have two gorgeous scopes but neither is fast - a 8" SCT F10 and a 6" Achro Refractor F8 - (really considering a F5 Newtonian or smaller refractor

Below is a quite modest UnStacked 5 Second exposure - happy for a first timer but poor, considering what i have seen elsewhere

Silent Shrill

I got out last night.....

Not a great deal of time to capture, however, I did get something. Short data time, darks, flats, biases done, stacked in DSS. This has no filters, but the difference in reds showing through is something I could not achieve without the camera being modified. I do have an ir/uv filter which I will use at some stage, and then mix the 2 sets of images in gimp......just for trial.

Your photo is great, for a first timer I would be very happy with it. Things will only get better as you upgrade and learn the massive curve involved with this hobby. We are not in a million dollar observatory, we are in Ireland with wet atmosphere and equipment of a more modest cost. I like refractors, I also have an 8" dob modified for a DSLR....but not used yet. I think my mount would be at it's limits using it, so I am using the Redcat 51 with the Canon. I use the evoguide 50ed as a guide scope and made my own side x side plate. I am awaiting delivery of a more modest 30mm guider to use with the Redcat. I also have a 600mm refractor but not apo, but OK for planets. I'm putting all of my work that I am doing on utube, it might help someone, it might annoy some, and it might just be rubbish to some, but hey......you can't please everyone.

I have put up a utube vid showing the result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hnsASxb-i8

Silent Shrill

That previous post was showing the red that is collected. It was stacked in DSS and then a touch of processing in Gimp. This next photo, (but stacked in Siril and then processed in Gimp), shows a different picture, but it is the same. Siril makes 3 images out of the one photo, so stacking 30 becomes 90 images in Siril. They are linear and are red, green, blue........then you have an option to look at it in autostretch mode. You can work on each colour frame in Siril before saving as a jpeg or whatever to then process in a photo app. Trouble is Siril uses a vast amount of space on your drive, between 20 + 40 gig, so I use a 2tb drive for it. As you see from my image I need much more data to get better pic, but I suppose I am just showing that using various software yields different results, and having great knowledge of photo manipulation is something I'm only really getting into, so my knowledge of it is limited.

I'm sure you know what I mean, but just talking for talking sake....lol.....I suppose someone at some stage may come across this thread and I am just clarifying the "more complete picture" of it all. Anyhow.....

Silent Shrill

Anyone reading this thread:

Feel free to join me on a facebook group I started up. There loads of members.........me!...lol

Astrophotography

https://www.facebook.com/groups/342234568048966

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119126988#Comment_119126988

Just joined!

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119126773#Comment_119126773

Yea i mean i dont know where to start - fantastic results IMHO - im a total newbie myself - love my scopes but SO slow - iv spent a while considering either an F5 Newtonian - or maybe a more modern GOTO Tracker (or both!)

Can definitely see the Red bleeding out of the picture, distinct in areas - very impressive.

Iv had a very poor few nights myself - tracking on the LXD75 is aweful but location not ideal either - tend to have set up problems with achieving alignment (the inability of my tube to see through the newly constructed building next to my place!)

The d5100 is fine anyway - but when i went for something more exciting (the whirlpool galaxy) - the mount turned out to be a disaster - resolved spiral arms but motion blur ruined it completely

I had a shot at some globular clusters though -

It was a mitigated failure but at least i captured some usable images - 1st is Hercules Cluster, second M3 - third is Rose

modest to mediocre, but like i said - total newbie - im surprised i can picture anything identifiable (aside from the moon)

Silent Shrill

We'll continue on the facebook group Liam, thanks.