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Orion Nebula with DA* 60-250mm lens
Posted By: SointulArt, 01-11-2016, 10:12 PM

Last night the sky was clear and Orion looked magnificent in the sky. This is the first time I have tried to use my DA* 60-250mm lens for an astro photo and I was pleased with the results.
The technical details: Camera: Pentax K5; lens: Pentax DA* 60-250mm f4 zoom @ 200mm and f5.6; ISO =1600, exposure = 15 seconds using Pentax Astrotracer function of O-GPS1 unit. Forty-two shots stacked in DeepSkyStacker and then further processed in Photoshop CS4.

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12-23-2017, 06:59 PM - 1 Like   #16
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Wow. Very impressive, thanks for sharing.

03-22-2018, 07:08 AM - 2 Likes   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by scottab Quote
Incredible image, I would love to try something like this with my K1 and D FA 150-450.
I have never used the Astrotracer before.
I have taken multiple night images and stacked them for star trails. So I am somewhat familiar with that part of the process.
Where and when to aim the lens would be the area that I lack the needed knowledge.
Any suggestions to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Scott.
Find Orion
Find Belt
under belt are 3 star sword
middle star is really the Nebula
03-22-2018, 10:56 AM   #18
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I suspect with Dark frames you could probably go to a lower ISO and still have amazing images like this one. Very nice job.

Was 15s the longest you could go at 200mm and the O-GPS? Or did you just start at 15s for a baseline? Using wide angle you can push the GPS close to the 5 minute limit but I think stacking like you have done is probably the best way to go.

---------- Post added 03-22-18 at 10:57 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by tmoses Quote
Find Orion
Find Belt
under belt are 3 star sword
middle star is really the Nebula
Also a very nice shot Tiger!
03-22-2018, 11:07 AM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by SSGGeezer Quote
I suspect with Dark frames you could probably go to a lower ISO and still have amazing images like this one. Very nice job.

Was 15s the longest you could go at 200mm and the O-GPS? Or did you just start at 15s for a baseline? Using wide angle you can push the GPS close to the 5 minute limit but I think stacking like you have done is probably the best way to go.

---------- Post added 03-22-18 at 10:57 AM ----------



Also a very nice shot Tiger!
I initially tried 30 seconds, but found the tracking wasn't very good, so dropped back to 15 seconds. One thing I have found with the O-GPS unit, is that it sometimes requires several calibrations to get it right, it is a bit fiddly that way at times. Sometimes I could do a standard and precise calibration and it would just work for the night. Other times the calibration would drift or it wouldn't work even for wide angle shots. I've never been able to make sense of what the variables are that differentiate a good calibration to a poor one.

Darryl

Yes, very nice shot Tiger!

03-22-2018, 11:22 AM - 1 Like   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by SointulArt Quote
I initially tried 30 seconds, but found the tracking wasn't very good, so dropped back to 15 seconds. One thing I have found with the O-GPS unit, is that it sometimes requires several calibrations to get it right, it is a bit fiddly that way at times. Sometimes I could do a standard and precise calibration and it would just work for the night. Other times the calibration would drift or it wouldn't work even for wide angle shots. I've never been able to make sense of what the variables are that differentiate a good calibration to a poor one.

Darryl

Yes, very nice shot Tiger!
I suspect that the O-GPS can only track up to four satellites at a time and if you are farther North as you and I both are, it is easy for trees and people to interfere with the signals being received at the GPS. Your car GPS probably tracks 4 to 6 satellites so has more built in error correction available than the Camera model. Accuracy will then suffer and if that happens for even an instant during an exposure, I suspect the default would be to hold the sensor in place if correction data is not being sent. So that image will have trails.

I have done a little astro with my K-50 but the weather over the last month has been horrible and I have found that wind can ruin a night out in the yard, even when you hang a weight under your tripod.

---------- Post added 03-22-18 at 11:32 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by scottab Quote
Incredible image, I would love to try something like this with my K1 and D FA 150-450.
I have never used the Astrotracer before.
I have taken multiple night images and stacked them for star trails. So I am somewhat familiar with that part of the process.
Where and when to aim the lens would be the area that I lack the needed knowledge.
Any suggestions to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Scott.
Here is a link to a skymap site. Very handy! Sky Map Online

This guy has some good info Astrophotography 101: A Lesson Series on Photographing the Milky Way – Lonely Speck
And folks like to use Orion because it is easily recognizable in the Northern Hemisphere and there are multiple nebulas in the constellation
Here is one on Orion Orion Constellation: Facts, Myth, Stars, Location, Star Map | Constellation Guide

Good luck!
03-26-2018, 05:14 AM - 1 Like   #21
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OOPS! I have some nice shots of Orion, but let me make clear this one wasn't mine, I just grabbed it for educational purposes since I was at work, not near my home photo archives.
03-26-2018, 09:09 PM - 1 Like   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by SointulArt Quote
Last night the sky was clear and Orion looked magnificent in the sky. This is the first time I have tried to use my DA* 60-250mm lens for an astro photo and I was pleased with the results.
The technical details: Camera: Pentax K5; lens: Pentax DA* 60-250mm f4 zoom @ 200mm and f5.6; ISO =1600, exposure = 15 seconds using Pentax Astrotracer function of O-GPS1 unit. Forty-two shots stacked in DeepSkyStacker and then further processed in Photoshop CS4.
Excellent! Hope I could do this one day.

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