The great nebula in Orion

[da_ging]

Taken with an Nex-5N and a Tamron adaptall 200-500mm full manual lens dating from the late 70s.

Decided to see what the old bazooka could do with the stars so did a quick shoot of Orion, moon was out so colours are off and some fainter stuff is missing.

1st up a single shot, iso 6400 0.6 seconds 500mm at f6.9 I think, not edited yet

next the same image but with the same develop settings applied in lightroom as the final image has.

And to show the power of stacking the final image, 104 consecutive shots stacked together with DSS (deep sky stacker) and edited in lightroom with the very same settings as the shot above

 

[D.P.]

Great example of stacking and nice to see something a little different.

 

[sHo0sH]

Really impressive stuff. Such a lot of effort for a picture and totally worth it

 

[Columbo]

Cracking stuff an thanks for sharing, I'm always amazed when I see shots like this.

 

[a1ex2001]

I really must try some astro stuff it always looks amazing, maybe I should have hung onto my cheap m42 400mm!

 

[TheOtherOption]

Very nice pics - that last one is almost identical to my mates results for the same part of the sky!

He's got a nice guided Celestron 'scope with a D7100 and is already looking to buy a new telescope that's about 3/4 times more expensive - looking forward to seeing what that produces!

 

[Genoma]

Very interesting. Did you need the camera on some sort of tracking gear for all those photos?

 

[mattyg]

I nearly hit the buy button on an astrotrac...Still might now after seeing that

 

[da_ging]

I nearly hit the buy button on an astrotrac...Still might now after seeing that

Have been tempted to buy one of those or a vixen polarie for ages, I think it might be time to start saving for one.
I'd like to build a motorised barn door tracker to see what I can get with one of those but each time I try to work out how to do it I end up with a headache

Very interesting. Did you need the camera on some sort of tracking gear for all those photos?

Nope just on a tripod pointed at orion and the shutter clamped down for just over a minute in this case, If I were to take more pictures I would have to recentre it on orion as it moves quite quickly through the frame at 500mm.

 

[Genoma]

Thanks, did you start with it in the centre of the frame or did you frame it at the start for best coverage?

 

[da_ging]

Thanks, did you start with it in the centre of the frame or did you frame it at the start for best coverage?

that was just a quick test so I didn't pay much attention and just dumped it in the centre.

Ideally you would put it just left of centre and then time it until it drifts just right of centre and then when you start taking your shots reposition it every how ever many seconds it took to drift earlier.

As stars tend to look quite poor as you approach the edge of the frame it's always best to keep what your interested in around the centre.

 

[Rojin]

This astrophotography fascinates me, and I love looking at the results. I know nothing about the processes you need to go through, I really need to look into it.