Re: [APML] LMC with TAK FSQ-106

["Monte Wilson" <montezinho@bigpond.com>]

Dear Philip,
                 Your comments give me hope. I had four frustrating months
of equipment problems and it is so nice to be getting somewhere with it.

I just use a "x10" loupe on the ground glass of the camera (take off the
prism first of course!). The TAK focuses so sharply I have never been let
down by this method.

I am very happy with E200. There is so much it can do and 1 stop of push in
the process doesn't hurt the grain too much (+2 does IMO).

You are right we are blessed with the sky, you guys are blessed with a
market big enough to support your hobby making equipment affordable enough
etc... Finding and buying stuff for our hobby down here is not easy. On the
bright side, we love to show Americans the sky down here. We get a group
every few months who make the trek down to see what it is all about. You can
see what we do at www.asnsw.com

The Magellenic Clouds are really something to see. No one is ready for them
when they see them for the first time.

Do your eyes a favour and come down sometime!

Regards

Monte





----- Original Message -----
From: "Philip Perkins" <philip@astrocruise.com>
To: <astro-photo@seds.org>
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 10:10 AM
Subject: Re: [APML] LMC with TAK FSQ-106


> Monte,
>
> An outstanding shot!  Somehow you even managed to get half-decent OIII
> response out of E200 <g>  Seriously, results like this could get me to
> reconsider my view about this film.  Anyway, the huge vista and enormous
> detail of this shot gives about the most impressive rendition of this
> object that I have seen.  It's extremely sharp, which impresses me even
> more considering that you use the pentaprism on the Pentax 67.  How do you
> focus - I assume that you use a focus magnifier of some sort?
>
> This sort of shot helps to emphasise the richness of deep sky objects that
> are available south of the equator.  And when one considers that most of
> the jewels in the region of Orion and Sagittarius are truly southern
> hemisphere objects, I don't think that the northern hemisphere competes
> really (even though it pains me to admit it)..
>
> --Philip
>
>
> At 07:37 19/08/02 +1000, you wrote:
> >I'll try to answer all the questions. Yes the hot spot is alive and well.
I
> >will post a shot maybe later today that shows it well. It is not too bad
if
> >you don't wind the contrast up too much but if you are really trying to
> >image something faint it will be an issue. To see it, get a tak picture
and
> >use equalize in PS. You can see it as a big circle of soft light going
> >around most of the frame. It is not a small spot in the middle but rather
a
> >classic vignetting with the edges getting fainter. With a mask and some
sexy
> >Photoshop work (which is beyond my skill level at the moment) you could
get
> >rid of it. In shots like the LMC you really cant see it because the
central
> >image of the LMC disguises it.
> >
> >At the risk of sounding annoyingly modest, I think I can do a better one
> >next month. I want to get properly aligned. Even this shot shows a small
> >amount of trailing. When you do an hour there is so much more to see in
the
> >centre of the galaxy and with more meat on the film so to speak I wont
have
> >to wind of the contrast so high.
> >
> >But must admit to being pleasantly surprised with it.
> >
> >Thanks for your comments - it makes standing out in the cold worthwhile.
> >
> >Monte
>
>
>
> Philip Perkins - philip@astrocruise.com
> Wiltshire UK & Luberon France
> Astrocruise - http://www.astrocruise.com
>
>
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