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Stone G. · 10-26-2011, 04:41 AM

What started this thread was the question: Is the K200D any good for astrophotography?

While it is great for many astronomical subjects, it's hardly one's first choice for detailed planetary photography. Still, I have great fun in trying to reach the limits with my K200D, and these days, where Jupiter is at its closest to us (48 arcseconds in diameter) is a good time to play.

Images are taken with my K200D and lenses as follows:

1. Cosina Cosinon-W 35mm f/2.8
2. Vixen Polaris R100-L (4" f/10 Newtonian) and Astro 2.5X APO Barlow lens. 100% crop
3. Composite of 2 above and 4 below
4. Same optics as in 2, above - approx. 400% crop

The images 2 - 4 were taken on 25 October 2011 at UT= 00:30 and the objects that you see in 2 and 3 are from left to right: Io - Jupiter - Europa - Ganymede - Calisto.

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

View Picture EXIF

newarts · 10-26-2011, 06:18 AM

Wow! Nice by Jupiter!

Jools · 10-26-2011, 07:18 AM

Impressive!
And good to know as a K200D owner.
Thanks for sharing.

Stone G. · 10-26-2011, 02:18 PM

Thanks newarts and Jools - am glad that you like it!

And thanks to my K200D; there is just "something" about that (CCD) sensor that keeps surprising and/or impressing me.

northofpolaris · 10-28-2011, 01:08 PM

Wow. I never heard of this before and it looks pretty darn amazing. I live right next to LA, so, the only star I can see in the sky is Orion's belt and his armpit haha. I'm kinda jealous.

Gimbal · 10-29-2011, 05:41 AM

This is my first attempt at Andromeda. Eleven 30sec. exposures with an old 135mm f3.5 lens and a K5 with O-gps1 stacked with deepskystacker.

Stone G. · 10-29-2011, 12:28 PM

That is no less than a GREAT photo of the great galaxy in Andromeda!

What ISO setting did you use? And what brand was the lens?

bossa · 10-29-2011, 03:12 PM

Originally posted by Gimbal

This is my first attempt at Andromeda. Eleven 30sec. exposures with an old 135mm f3.5 lens and a K5 with O-gps1 stacked with deepskystacker.

Damn! I'm getting a GPS next week.. fantastic!

bossa · 10-29-2011, 03:20 PM

I'm wondering what a mirror lens would do for this.. obviously a larger objective lens/mirror would get greater resolution. Anyone tried one with the O-GPS1?

Gimbal · 10-30-2011, 01:26 AM

Originally posted by Stone G.

That is no less than a GREAT photo of the great galaxy in Andromeda!

What ISO setting did you use? And what brand was the lens?

Thanks, I used iso 1600 and the lens was an old Pentax K 135 f3.5 shoot wide open.

**interested_observer** · 10-30-2011, 02:28 PM

Well here is my small contribution. The dark sky finder map, is excellent.

Dark Sky Finder

Also, even with my K20 and unable to turn off DFS - dark frame subtraction, I was able to capture quite a bit.

Stars over Sedona, AZ
Lens: Carl Zeiss 28mm f2.8 Distagon
Camera: K20
Location: Sedona Vortax @ Airport
ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 25 seconds
Aperture: F2.8

Just a straight up star shot at 25 seconds, single frame. This was about a hour before the Moon rose and washed the sky out to a degree. Right in the center there is either a faint meteor trail or satellite... I was actually surprised at the outcome, however was hoping for a bit more definition of the Milky Way, so next time I will use use a wider angle lens, either the 12-24/f4 @12 or my 10-17/f3.5 FE @10 and try to stack multiple frames. This is dead center on the Milky Way. I should have put on my FA31 but just used what I had on the camera and I wanted the widest field of view possible. This is really my first attempt and an experiment at that.

Two hours out side Phoenix is Congress, AZ and it should have skies much darker. This image was pretty much dead center down town Sedona, AZ at the airport which is dark. This would be a "yellow" area (light pollution) on the Dark Skies map link above. Congress, AZ on the other hand, would be in the "gray" - pretty much the same dark sky conditions as Kitt Peak National Observatory outside Tucson. That, I am guessing would probably be worth an additional 1 to 2 f stops. Using the K5 with the ISO maybe pushed up to 16,000 or 32,000 and the GPS/Astrotracker should produce extraordinary good results (or would certainly be worth trying).

v5planet · 10-30-2011, 03:32 PM

Originally posted by Gimbal

This is my first attempt at Andromeda. Eleven 30sec. exposures with an old 135mm f3.5 lens and a K5 with O-gps1 stacked with deepskystacker.

Hey Gimbal, I have a couple questions about this excellent image of M31:

1) Did you have to re-center Andromeda between exposures? 11x30" = 5.5 minutes -- seems a bit long for the O-GPS1 to keep track of at a long focal length.
2) Is this cropped heavily at all, or is M31 big enough to fill most of the frame at 135mm?

Thanks! Looking forward to more.

**pixelsaurus** · 10-31-2011, 02:26 AM

Originally posted by Gimbal

This is my first attempt at Andromeda. Eleven 30sec. exposures with an old 135mm f3.5 lens and a K5 with O-gps1 stacked with deepskystacker.

Hope you don't mind. I tarted up the arms a bit and ran it through Neat Image.

Gimbal · 10-31-2011, 05:10 AM

Originally posted by v5planet

Hey Gimbal, I have a couple questions about this excellent image of M31:

1) Did you have to re-center Andromeda between exposures? 11x30" = 5.5 minutes -- seems a bit long for the O-GPS1 to keep track of at a long focal length.
2) Is this cropped heavily at all, or is M31 big enough to fill most of the frame at 135mm?

Thanks! Looking forward to more.

I don't think I re-centered during the 11 pictures run, and if I did it was only once. (I'm not currently at home so I can't check the unprocessed pictures). I also tried different lenses and length of exposure and re-calibration so there where some re-centering involved, I just don't remember exactly when I did the re-centering.

It is a 100% crop. So 300mm would be even better, (I don't have one though). If one can get the gps to track well enough, that is.

Gimbal · 10-31-2011, 05:14 AM

Originally posted by pixelsaurus

Hope you don't mind. I tarted up the arms a bit and ran it through Neat Image.

No, go ahead.

I've done some more work on it myself, fixing the color balance and boosting the colors also improved things.

10-30-2011, 02:28 PM	#116
interested_observer Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Tumbleweed, Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,707	Well here is my small contribution. The dark sky finder map, is excellent. Dark Sky Finder Also, even with my K20 and unable to turn off DFS - dark frame subtraction, I was able to capture quite a bit. Stars over Sedona, AZ Lens: Carl Zeiss 28mm f2.8 Distagon Camera: K20 Location: Sedona Vortax @ Airport ISO: 1600 Shutter Speed: 25 seconds Aperture: F2.8 Just a straight up star shot at 25 seconds, single frame. This was about a hour before the Moon rose and washed the sky out to a degree. Right in the center there is either a faint meteor trail or satellite... I was actually surprised at the outcome, however was hoping for a bit more definition of the Milky Way, so next time I will use use a wider angle lens, either the 12-24/f4 @12 or my 10-17/f3.5 FE @10 and try to stack multiple frames. This is dead center on the Milky Way. I should have put on my FA31 but just used what I had on the camera and I wanted the widest field of view possible. This is really my first attempt and an experiment at that. Two hours out side Phoenix is Congress, AZ and it should have skies much darker. This image was pretty much dead center down town Sedona, AZ at the airport which is dark. This would be a "yellow" area (light pollution) on the Dark Skies map link above. Congress, AZ on the other hand, would be in the "gray" - pretty much the same dark sky conditions as Kitt Peak National Observatory outside Tucson. That, I am guessing would probably be worth an additional 1 to 2 f stops. Using the K5 with the ISO maybe pushed up to 16,000 or 32,000 and the GPS/Astrotracker should produce extraordinary good results (or would certainly be worth trying). Last edited by interested_observer; 10-30-2011 at 03:17 PM.

10-31-2011, 02:26 AM	#118
pixelsaurus Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Te Kuiti, NZ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 986	Originally posted by Gimbal This is my first attempt at Andromeda. Eleven 30sec. exposures with an old 135mm f3.5 lens and a K5 with O-gps1 stacked with deepskystacker. Hope you don't mind. I tarted up the arms a bit and ran it through Neat Image. Attached Images

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10-26-2011, 06:18 AM	#107
newarts Inactive Account Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Ames, Iowa, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 2,965	Wow! Nice by Jupiter!

10-26-2011, 07:18 AM	#108
Jools Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: SW Wisconsin by way of Venezuela Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,398	Impressive! And good to know as a K200D owner. Thanks for sharing.

10-26-2011, 02:18 PM	#109
Stone G. Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: North Zealand, Denmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,516	Thanks newarts and Jools - am glad that you like it! And thanks to my K200D; there is just "something" about that (CCD) sensor that keeps surprising and/or impressing me.

10-28-2011, 01:08 PM	#110
northofpolaris Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Diamond Bar, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 193	Wow. I never heard of this before and it looks pretty darn amazing. I live right next to LA, so, the only star I can see in the sky is Orion's belt and his armpit haha. I'm kinda jealous.

10-29-2011, 05:41 AM	#111
Gimbal Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,106	This is my first attempt at Andromeda. Eleven 30sec. exposures with an old 135mm f3.5 lens and a K5 with O-gps1 stacked with deepskystacker.

10-29-2011, 12:28 PM	#112
Stone G. Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: North Zealand, Denmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,516	That is no less than a GREAT photo of the great galaxy in Andromeda! What ISO setting did you use? And what brand was the lens?

10-29-2011, 03:12 PM	#113
bossa Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Adelaide Posts: 4,546	Originally posted by Gimbal This is my first attempt at Andromeda. Eleven 30sec. exposures with an old 135mm f3.5 lens and a K5 with O-gps1 stacked with deepskystacker. Damn! I'm getting a GPS next week.. fantastic!

10-29-2011, 03:20 PM	#114
bossa Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Adelaide Posts: 4,546	I'm wondering what a mirror lens would do for this.. obviously a larger objective lens/mirror would get greater resolution. Anyone tried one with the O-GPS1?

10-30-2011, 01:26 AM	#115
Gimbal Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,106	Originally posted by Stone G. That is no less than a GREAT photo of the great galaxy in Andromeda! What ISO setting did you use? And what brand was the lens? Thanks, I used iso 1600 and the lens was an old Pentax K 135 f3.5 shoot wide open.

10-30-2011, 03:32 PM	#117
v5planet Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Seattle Photos: Albums Posts: 1,915	Originally posted by Gimbal This is my first attempt at Andromeda. Eleven 30sec. exposures with an old 135mm f3.5 lens and a K5 with O-gps1 stacked with deepskystacker. Hey Gimbal, I have a couple questions about this excellent image of M31: 1) Did you have to re-center Andromeda between exposures? 11x30" = 5.5 minutes -- seems a bit long for the O-GPS1 to keep track of at a long focal length. 2) Is this cropped heavily at all, or is M31 big enough to fill most of the frame at 135mm? Thanks! Looking forward to more.

10-31-2011, 05:10 AM	#119
Gimbal Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,106	Originally posted by v5planet Hey Gimbal, I have a couple questions about this excellent image of M31: 1) Did you have to re-center Andromeda between exposures? 11x30" = 5.5 minutes -- seems a bit long for the O-GPS1 to keep track of at a long focal length. 2) Is this cropped heavily at all, or is M31 big enough to fill most of the frame at 135mm? Thanks! Looking forward to more. I don't think I re-centered during the 11 pictures run, and if I did it was only once. (I'm not currently at home so I can't check the unprocessed pictures). I also tried different lenses and length of exposure and re-calibration so there where some re-centering involved, I just don't remember exactly when I did the re-centering. It is a 100% crop. So 300mm would be even better, (I don't have one though). If one can get the gps to track well enough, that is.

10-31-2011, 05:14 AM	#120
Gimbal Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,106	Originally posted by pixelsaurus Hope you don't mind. I tarted up the arms a bit and ran it through Neat Image. No, go ahead. I've done some more work on it myself, fixing the color balance and boosting the colors also improved things.

Astrophotography

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