18 replies to this topic

[TerryWood]

Again, the weather called for cloudy skies...but I looked out my window and saw some clearing so I hurriedly set up. Then the clouds arrived in droves. I waited and waited and waited... then finally saw my chance and was able to obtain two brief captures of less than 2 minutes each. Then the clouds took over again and this time for good.

 

This was my first time utilizing a NexImage 5 camera. I'm not used to it yet and was fiddling around quickly hoping to get something, anything.

 

Here is the result of the first capture. I think Jupiter was at 27 degrees elevation with lots and lots of clouds.

 

Nice to test a camera and get the Great Red Spot and a transit all in one!

 

Image converted to png for posting.

 

V/R

 

Terry

 

 

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[davidmcgo]

Awesome image!  I’m watching the same thing with my C11 but Io is off the disk now and GRS is getting close.

Tried a sketch but haven’t done it in so long my skills are very rusty and in steady moments there’s about a factor of 10 difference in fine scale detail vs what I could hope to put on paper.

 

Dave

[TerryWood]

Thanks Dave (and Augustus)! One thing that's apparent is that my image has a brown cast about it as viewed on my Ipad. It looks whiter on my computer. I'm going to have to figure out how to rectify that situation.

 

I bet it looked awesome in the C-11! I might take my C-11 out tomorrow night, depending on the weather. The seeing forecast is good-to-excellent. That rarely happens. I wonder if it will actually pan out like that. Speaking of sketching, that's another thing that I would like to get proficient at. There's just something about a fine sketch I find mesmerizing.

 

V/R

 

Terry

Edited by TerryWood, 07 August 2020 - 11:55 PM.

[Toddeo]

Great image! Nice capture for your first time out with the Ni5. On one of my laptops- the color looks great!

[cbwerner]

Thanks Dave (and Augustus)! One thing that's apparent is that my image has a brown cast about it as viewed on my Ipad. It looks whiter on my computer. I'm going to have to figure out how to rectify that situation.

Terry,

 

Check out this search link at B&H Photo - it shows products that will calibrate your monitor.

[TerryWood]

Great image! Nice capture for your first time out with the Ni5. On one of my laptops- the color looks great!

Thanks Todd! Even in not-so-great conditions, it seems like the NexImage is providing just a bit more detail and a more natural rendering. Maybe it's just my imagination, I don't know. I'm hoping the weather holds out because it's supposed to be clear later on tonight. Right now there are some major gray clouds off to my southwest. 

 

I have a dual setup tonight just to play around with both the Q3.5 and Q700.

 

V/R

 

Terry

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[TerryWood]

Terry,

 

Check out this search link at B&H Photo - it shows products that will calibrate your monitor.

Thanks Chris! I'll look into those. I'm hoping to find something that will help me obtain the correct color balance for viewing on IOS devices like my Ipad. Then again, maybe there isn't such a thing. I suppose I could just save the images on my Ipad, adjust them, then re-post two sets of images (one from the computer and one from the Ipad).

 

V/R

 

Terry

[TerryWood]

Thanks everybody, I appreciate all of the "likes!"

 

V/R

 

Terry

[Mike Allen]

Beautiful image of the red spot and eclipse shadow north of it.  Looks like your Vixen mount handles the weight of the two instruments very well.

[TerryWood]

Thanks Mike! The GPDX does handle it well. I actually had too much counterweight. I need a small 4 pounder to replace one of the 8 pound counterweights. That will do a better job. I ordered a Tak finderscope and bracket which I plan to mount in the center of the bar. Will need to have it drilled though to accept the Tak screws. The Q700 is nice, but I'm wondering if a Tak 60 or 76 (with focal reducer) would be better for a lightweight, widefield companion. I also have a TeleVue Genesis f/5. Maybe that would fit the bill alongside the Q. It's not compaact though, which is more what I'm aiming for.

 

V/R

 

Terry

Edited by TerryWood, 12 August 2020 - 10:06 PM.

[Optics Patent]

If you look at the RGB histogram when editing, you'll see a big peak at left for all that dark sky, and three low curves, with red extending farthest right and blue extending the least. 

Pay with white balance (pick a white area to balance, then adjust percentage strength down until it looks OK) or with the upper right ends of the tone curve lines (keep them straight at first).

 

It may help to do a test with a heavily cropped image with minimal black sky (which also could be balances at the lower left ends of the curves.

Then adjust the highlight closer to the bright end, then drag the middle of the white curve down to create more contrast and reveal color.

 

I wouldn't normally modify and repost your image except that I took the post as something of an invitation.

Before:                                                                                                              After:

[TerryWood]

Thanks Ben, I really like it! Though I would probably meet somewhere in the middle because the edges are a little darker than I personally prefer. But that is just a personal preference. I'll have to start paying more attention to the histogram during capture, because I usually just eyeball the screen. Thanks again for the tips and the adjustments! V/R Terry

[Optics Patent]

Thanks Ben, I really like it! Though I would probably meet somewhere in the middle because the edges are a little darker than I personally prefer. But that is just a personal preference. I'll have to start paying more attention to the histogram during capture, because I usually just eyeball the screen. Thanks again for the tips and the adjustments! V/R Terry

I agree.  Limb darkening is real, but contrast enhancement to get darker areas in the image gives a too-dark limb.  The easy solution is to cheat with a circular mask and brighten only the outer area to restore the perceived look.

 

[TerryWood]

I definitely have a lot to learn. I'm mainly using Gimp for the adjustments. I have an old Photoshop disc stored away somewhere here. I need to find it and start seeing what I can do with it. I had been using Lightrooom, but for some reason the colors do not translate well when I post images. Thanks again, I'll keep on it! V/R Terry

[Optics Patent]

I use easy and inexpensive ACDSee

[cbwerner]

I love ACDSee. Used it for a while, moved to Lightroom, moved back to ACDSee (largely because of my opposition to Adobe's subscription model, but still).

[TerryWood]

I may give it a try! Lightroom and Gimp have a lot of flexibility, but anything new certainly couldn't hurt! I'm trying to go for natural looking final images without over-processing, but it's a fine line that I have yet to master. The absolute best that I've seen in this regard is by nicolasM (see link below). His images have a natural rendering and still brings out the detail. No offense to any of the other imagers out there!

 

(you'll need to scroll up after the link opens)

 

https://www.cloudyni...sm#entry7858240

 

V/R

 

Terry

Edited by TerryWood, 14 August 2020 - 06:43 PM.

[cbwerner]

Yeah, that's a pretty nice processing job.

[psybiggs]

Amazing, fantastic processing job.