Well I've been playing with Orion shots and DSS for a little bit with some good results with the K-50, GPS Astrotracer and Sigma 70-300mm, DSS seems a little temperamental sometimes and won't stack properly, however this morning it was stacking like a champ so I threw a few sessions worth (before moon has been out) of pics at it, and it stacked to my delight.
I can't remember the exact exposure time DSS came up with but it was over an hour all up.

[Alnjpn]

Great! Amazing that you can do this on a zoom lens. I have an old Sigma 28-300 lens and you have inspired me to try something like this. How long were your shots? I am guessing atrotracer is essential for this but have you ever tried without?

[Grippy]

Great! Amazing that you can do this on a zoom lens. I have an old Sigma 28-300 lens and you have inspired me to try something like this. How long were your shots? I am guessing atrotracer is essential for this but have you ever tried without?

Thanks mate. Never tried it without it, exposures @ 300mm are very short otherwise. Exposures for this were all between 30-50 seconds as I've combined multiple attempts

[Grey Area]

Do you have to re target fairly often? How do you ensure you're keeping the target in the frame?

[jeffshaddix]

Very cool, how many exposures did you take? Dark vs light?

[Grippy]

Do you have to re target fairly often? How do you ensure you're keeping the target in the frame?

I do, every few frames. I position it in the middle and low as it moves up through the frame and I can get a couple more in. I aim it straight at the middle star of the handle of the saucepan, can be seen through viewfinder or on lcd

---------- Post added 12-30-15 at 02:54 PM ----------

Very cool, how many exposures did you take? Dark vs light?

Thanks. This is about 70 frames from 30-50 seconds. 20 matching darks, no bias flat frames, they seem to mess up the stacking.

[Ex Finn.]

That`s pretty darn good!

[Grippy]

That`s pretty darn good!

Thankyou very much mate

[Grey Area]

Hmm, I can usually see very little in viewfinder. Targetting on a single star with a pretty high zoom sounds challenging...how is your camera mounted?

[Grippy]

Hmm, I can usually see very little in viewfinder. Targetting on a single star with a pretty high zoom sounds challenging...how is your camera mounted?

On a Manfrotto tripod, its fairly sturdy but I want a beefier one. I can focus OK through viewfinder but live view with magnification on the stars are pretty big, just try and get it pin sharp

[Grey Area]

Think I just need better stars :-). First target was Andromeda and the stars around it are very dim...going to get a 5mw green laser pointer and mount it to the hotshoe. I'm told the beam quite visible. Hope so, cos the cheap red ones I bought were almost hopeless.

Yes, if it's as bright as they say, I may have the odd Jedi fantasy...I'll be in a dark field where no one can see after all!

[Grippy]

Think I just need better stars :-). First target was Andromeda and the stars around it are very dim...going to get a 5mw green laser pointer and mount it to the hotshoe. I'm told the beam quite visible. Hope so, cos the cheap red ones I bought were almost hopeless.

Yes, if it's as bright as they say, I may have the odd Jedi fantasy...I'll be in a dark field where no one can see after all!

Where abouts are you trying to take it from? I can't see it with naked eyes, it just looks like a star, fairly dim as we are in a city, on the edge of the suburbs though luckily. We've had bushfires around which muck up the sky but some nights are nice and crystal clear.
A couple of hours north of here in the Flinders Ranges the night sky is spectacular. Great to roll out the swag with a campfire and a bottle of scotch, I don't get up that way often though.

[Grey Area]

Normally I'd be in the UK but currently in Cyprus. Over Christmas we had a really bright full moon which messed things up. Convinced myself I could see Andromeda occasionally with naked eye, but the viewfinder showed nothing. Where I live in the UK light pollution will be an issue. Any exposure around 30s gives a pale blue sky rather than black. Unless I want to drive at least a couple of hours, might need to invest in a pollution filter, but my aiming laser is first on the list...

[Grippy]

Normally I'd be in the UK but currently in Cyprus. Over Christmas we had a really bright full moon which messed things up. Convinced myself I could see Andromeda occasionally with naked eye, but the viewfinder showed nothing. Where I live in the UK light pollution will be an issue. Any exposure around 30s gives a pale blue sky rather than black. Unless I want to drive at least a couple of hours, might need to invest in a pollution filter, but my aiming laser is first on the list...

The full moon has thrown a spanner in the works a few nights for me. Luckily it's rising at about 11.30 but being summer its not dark until 9.30 so it doesn't leave much time.

[gtis]

I tried my da*300 mounted on my k5 ,f4 800iso 2.5 seconds exposure
Manual focus 2second timer but the shutter wouldn't fire
Tried it indoors and it fired so the camera and lens fine
Neil