Re: [APML] Astrophotography 2004 - Price Shock Horror

[Axel Mellinger <axm2@canopus.physik.uni-potsdam.de>]

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004, Chris Schur wrote:

> [...]
> ccd cameras, a new $12K mount because that mount that
> worked so well with film isnt good enough anymore, and
> of course a complete digital darkroom wtih the
> software alone costing more than the 35mm SLR was.  

Chris,

I have similar feelings from time to time - however, there are many niches
in astrophotography where one can obtain unusual results without making
huge investments. 20 years ago, we saw good astrophotos in small, monthly
doses in the well-known astronomy magazines. Today, we see a stream of
high-quality images each time we check our email. Using high-end equipment
is one way of producing pictures that stand out from the rest - but not
the only one.

I have to admit that I did start CCD imaging last year, but I tried to
minimize equipment cost by using as much of my old equipment as possible.
My Minolta lenses work very nicely with the SXV-H9 (and due to the
smaller chip size I can even shoot at a faster f-stop: 50 mm @ f/2.4 gives
pinpoint stars on CCD, but shows severely elongated stars in the
corners of a 35 mm film image). Besides, I continue to shoot on film
(sometimes in combination with CCD-Halpha).

As for software cost, there are a lot of free alternatives. True, the
learning curve of packages like IRAF, MIDAS, Gimp, etc. may be steeper,
but it saves you $$ that can be spent on new hardware.


Clear skies,

Axel

-- 
Axel Mellinger  <http://canopus.physik.uni-potsdam.de/~axm/astrophot.html>


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