skypointer2000
Going Deep - Pushing the Limits of Nightscape Photography
Five years ago, shooting with an astro-modified camera or using a tracking mount was considered extremely advanced. Stacking for noise reduction was little known outside the deep sky astrophotography world and low level lighting was associated with interior-design. Today, trackers are widely used and stacking has become a standard procedure. Astro-modified cameras are now available directly from manufacturers and low level lighting has found its deservrd place in night photography.
Refining known techniques and equipment or shooting from ever more exotic places is great, but where are the future game changers? As deep sky astrophotography has been a constant source of inspiration, future innovations in nightscape photography are likely to come from there again.
In DSO photography, specialized astro-cameras have mostly replaced conventional cameras. They are more sensitive and can be cooled for lower noise. Traditionally however, dedicated astro-cameras have been a bad choice for nightscapes, because their monochrome CCD sensors require long exposure times for each sub. This translates into heavy mounts, the need for filters, a computer and an external power source. All this makes a conventional deep sky imaging rig too complex, heavy and slow for nightscapes, but things are changing:
Several companies are now offering cooled astro-cams with CMOS sensors - the same as those used in the latest photo cameras. Compared to CCDs, they still have drawbacks, but thanks to the lower readout noise, exposure times can be kept much shorter. This allows the use of a simple tracker. Many CMOS astro-cams also come as one shot color cameras (OSC). This lowers their sensitivity compared to their monochrome cousins, but it also simplifies image acquisition.
Furthermore, there now are several solutions to control astro-cameras (and even complete imaging rigs) with tiny raspberry pi computers, through a smart device. You can leave the laptop computer at home and while you still need external 12V power, lightweight lithium power banks are available today.
As there are no obvious showstoppers anymore, I have been waiting for the first astro-cam nightscapes to appear. To my surprise, this did not happen.
I have recently bought a cooled monochrome CMOS camera with a motorized filter wheel for my telescopes. I now have the possibility to try it myself and a few weeks ago, I finally got the chance to abuse it for nightscapes. I made many rookie-mistakes that night and the result is far from perfect, but I consider it a proof of concept, showing the potential of dedicated astro-cameras for nightscapes.
One advantage of such a setup, apart from lower noise and higher sensitivity, is the possibility to shoot through narrowband filters. Despite all my mistakes, the addition of just 15 minutes of narrowband H-alpha data to the image, reveals nebula details I have never been able to record with my astro-modified Canon EOS 6D.
I am not going to put away my beloved 6D anytime soon, but I will certainly continue to experiment with my astro-cam. I still have to find out how it performs with wide angle lenses. These could produce problematic gradients with some filters. However, for longer focal length, close-up nightscapes, it has huge potential and narrow banding should enable me to shoot scenes from heavily light polluted sites, which are impossible to capture in broadband light.
I hope to see a lot more such ‘deepscapes’ in the future. Think out of the box and if you have access to a specialized astro cam or if you have other innovative ideas, start doing some pioneering work with them. I would love to hear about your experiences!
EXIF
ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro
ZWO EFW 36mm motorized filter wheel with Baader HaLRGB filters
ZWO ASI AIR computer for camera control with a Samsung Galaxy S7
Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM @ f/4 and 135mm (resulting focal length 270mm)
iOptron SkyTracker Pro
Celestron Powertank Lithium
Foreground: 5 x 60s Luminance / 5x60s RGB
Sky: 5 x 180s H-alpha / 20 x 30s Luminance / 10 x 30s RGB
Going Deep - Pushing the Limits of Nightscape Photography
Five years ago, shooting with an astro-modified camera or using a tracking mount was considered extremely advanced. Stacking for noise reduction was little known outside the deep sky astrophotography world and low level lighting was associated with interior-design. Today, trackers are widely used and stacking has become a standard procedure. Astro-modified cameras are now available directly from manufacturers and low level lighting has found its deservrd place in night photography.
Refining known techniques and equipment or shooting from ever more exotic places is great, but where are the future game changers? As deep sky astrophotography has been a constant source of inspiration, future innovations in nightscape photography are likely to come from there again.
In DSO photography, specialized astro-cameras have mostly replaced conventional cameras. They are more sensitive and can be cooled for lower noise. Traditionally however, dedicated astro-cameras have been a bad choice for nightscapes, because their monochrome CCD sensors require long exposure times for each sub. This translates into heavy mounts, the need for filters, a computer and an external power source. All this makes a conventional deep sky imaging rig too complex, heavy and slow for nightscapes, but things are changing:
Several companies are now offering cooled astro-cams with CMOS sensors - the same as those used in the latest photo cameras. Compared to CCDs, they still have drawbacks, but thanks to the lower readout noise, exposure times can be kept much shorter. This allows the use of a simple tracker. Many CMOS astro-cams also come as one shot color cameras (OSC). This lowers their sensitivity compared to their monochrome cousins, but it also simplifies image acquisition.
Furthermore, there now are several solutions to control astro-cameras (and even complete imaging rigs) with tiny raspberry pi computers, through a smart device. You can leave the laptop computer at home and while you still need external 12V power, lightweight lithium power banks are available today.
As there are no obvious showstoppers anymore, I have been waiting for the first astro-cam nightscapes to appear. To my surprise, this did not happen.
I have recently bought a cooled monochrome CMOS camera with a motorized filter wheel for my telescopes. I now have the possibility to try it myself and a few weeks ago, I finally got the chance to abuse it for nightscapes. I made many rookie-mistakes that night and the result is far from perfect, but I consider it a proof of concept, showing the potential of dedicated astro-cameras for nightscapes.
One advantage of such a setup, apart from lower noise and higher sensitivity, is the possibility to shoot through narrowband filters. Despite all my mistakes, the addition of just 15 minutes of narrowband H-alpha data to the image, reveals nebula details I have never been able to record with my astro-modified Canon EOS 6D.
I am not going to put away my beloved 6D anytime soon, but I will certainly continue to experiment with my astro-cam. I still have to find out how it performs with wide angle lenses. These could produce problematic gradients with some filters. However, for longer focal length, close-up nightscapes, it has huge potential and narrow banding should enable me to shoot scenes from heavily light polluted sites, which are impossible to capture in broadband light.
I hope to see a lot more such ‘deepscapes’ in the future. Think out of the box and if you have access to a specialized astro cam or if you have other innovative ideas, start doing some pioneering work with them. I would love to hear about your experiences!
EXIF
ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro
ZWO EFW 36mm motorized filter wheel with Baader HaLRGB filters
ZWO ASI AIR computer for camera control with a Samsung Galaxy S7
Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM @ f/4 and 135mm (resulting focal length 270mm)
iOptron SkyTracker Pro
Celestron Powertank Lithium
Foreground: 5 x 60s Luminance / 5x60s RGB
Sky: 5 x 180s H-alpha / 20 x 30s Luminance / 10 x 30s RGB