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RE: [APML] Astrophotography 2004 - Price Shock Horror
Carlos,
Nice comments. You cover a point that applies to many of us here in the
USA also. Most of us cannot go out and buy the best of the best equipment.
We'd all like to, but it simply isn't financially feasable for most of us.
Instead, like you, we make do with the best we can get. I use an 8" SCT
for astrophotography. Even with that and a Nikon FM10 it is still an
expensive hobby. As several have said already, though, a lot of hobbies
are very expensive. Seems to be a reality of modern life.
When I first got into the hobby a few years ago I was driving a Mazda
Miata. How much astrophotography & telescope equipment do you imagine I
can put into the trunk of my Miata? Not much...so I even had to go out an
buy another vehicle to carry my gear around in. It all adds up to a rather
substantial amount.
To me, it has all been worth it. I've met some great people in my club and
learned a lot about the skies and astrophotography. Fortunately this is a
hobby that it takes some time to grow into. So I've been able to acquire
many of my toys over time. I have not moved over to CCD imaging yet, but
do expect in the next few years to pick up that side of things. When I do,
I plan to keep using film as well.
Bill Drelling
-----Original Message-----
From: Carlos Milovic F. [SMTP:cmilovic@yahoo.es]
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 7:26 PM
To: Discussion of Film Astrophotography
Subject: Re: [APML] Astrophotography 2004 - Price Shock Horror
Hi all! Here are my two cents about this topic
As you know, I am doing astrophotography from Chile. Here the reality of
this field is widely different from what you live in USA or Europe. We
don't have the experience you have, and also we have not the equipment...
Here everithing is much more expensive, due to the taxes (customs),
shipping and becouse the market is by far smaller. Also we don't earn as
much money as you do. In fact, I study at a university, so I can't work to
afford all the cost are involved with our hobby. I still shot with film,
without autoguiders, with common lenses and achromatic scopes, and a small
CG5 mount. But, I know that with my modest equipment I am pushing it to the
limit, and obtaining some of the finest wide field pics. The only
advantages that I have are the skies (I think that I can go to magnitude
21.5 photographycally) and the advanced use of the "digital darkroom".
I know I can't compite with CCDs in deep sky shots. Also
planetary/lunar/solar shots are the field for other media (webcams). But, I
am sure that we film guys have a lot to say with wide field shots,
specially with common photographical lenses. Just go as long as you can,
stack multiple shots and make use of all the arsenal of tool we have in our
computers. I am using Pleiades PixInsight for nearly six months, and I can
say to you that with all those new tools we can do miracles, and obtain
results by far better than using Photoshop or other softwares. But it isn't
only a software advantage. We must apply all we have learn from the ccd
guys with our film images. We can also apply "flat fields". We can improve
the SNR stacking. We can remove the noise aspect of the grainy film with
wavelets, deconvolution, sgbnr, scnr... All that is needed is experience
and innovation.
Of course that if we have better equipment we can obtain better results,
but also I am aware that there are a lot of people here in the poor
countries doing what the can with modest equipment, pushing them to the
limit, and the results that they got only have to envy the resolution of
the high-end scopes you own. And, to be honest, there are some fields, as
wide field and planetery shots, that I have seen even better results.
Well, my last words... I have invested a lot of money (for me, at last) in
my film based equipment (camera, lenses, scanner, etc.) and I plan to
continue shooting wide field pics untill there is no more film left. I know
that it is the only way that I can make top level astrophotographies, and
not be "just another guy".
Regards,
Carlos Milovic F.
-------------------------
Astro & Photo - CMF
http://www.astrophoto.vze.com
-------------------------
Visita "AstroFoto", el foro de astrofotografia en espanol
http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/astrofoto
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