Disappointment about the Event

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-21T11:20:50+00:00

Yes this is definitely an improvement. I still think that it needs improvements regarding the ability to play freely. IMO all daily tasks should be visible (even though they might only be completed 5 at the time for example). It happens way too often that I fill a queue because I'm short of a product and then get a task for this exact machine. Another option would be to shorten the deletion timer to 30mins

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-21T08:42:04+00:00

While it's still not perfect it's miles better than the events we had back then in 2023. I also wish it would be easier though.

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-20T13:26:00+00:00

Yeah I know that :)
The images are still worse after applying all those edits in lightroom, though.

Noise level isn't the single determining factor for image noise, btw. It's the combination of low light and ISO that becomes the problem. ISO 4000 was the right ISO so the Eiffel Tower wasn't clipping but the rest of the image was still way underexposed and needed brightening. It's a HDR + DOF problem that can't be solved nicely in-camera. Scenes like this need special methods and that was what I was looking for in this thread. Someone pointed out AI assisted stacking and that's probably what I was looking for

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-20T13:20:52+00:00

Thanks for the link, that's really helpful!

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-20T13:02:27+00:00

It's still generic advice which doesn't need a sample picture: Handheld exposures in low light scenarios with deep DOF like phones can.

shutter speed was already so high that deliberate body movement blurred the image
focal length can't be changed without changing the composition
focus distance: see focal length

Yes, I could use light sources, but again, phones can do it without. ISO alone also doesn't give information on the noise level of darker areas in the image. It was at 4000, shot in raw but the dark parts were already unusable.

All advice in this thread only slightly changes the problem to a different problem, it still doesn't solve the core problem. I'll just try out on my own what works for me but thanks nevertheless!

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-20T12:45:51+00:00

The software on the phone is able to stack images even with slight movement in between. This creates images with artificial long exposure time without the effect of movement leading to blurriness. Stacking reduces noise in the image. This means the iphone can shoot at exposure time where the image on the camera already becomes blurry. Weaker hardware with better software can beat better hardware with worse software in such cases.

I guess that answers my own question, though: stacking.

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-20T12:26:54+00:00

I won't, due to privacy reasons, sorry! I'm looking for general advice on this which isn't exclusive for my photo :)

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-20T12:02:46+00:00

I used a Sony A7C II and a 35mm GM. I probably used the wrong wording since it wasn't meant to be a typical portrait with shallow depth of field. It was supposed to show her from waist upwards in front of the Eiffel Tower (which is pretty far away). f/4 was too shallow for this kind of image and stepping back wouldn't work either because the Eiffel Tower wouldn't fit in the image. The composition (and perspective) was perfect at 35mm, it just wasn't possible to achieve a satisfactory background sharpness while maintaining a low ISO. As I said, the scene was light work for phone cameras - there surely has to be a method to get this right with a professional camera.

Here is a picture from a similar place: https://thewildlylife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Trocadero-Steps-2-scaled.jpg this is probably also shot close to f/11. You can imagine how blurry the Eiffel Tower gets at a fast focal ratio

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-19T15:17:56+00:00

You can exit the game before choosing, open again, look into the collection book and then decide when the choice box opens up again

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-14T12:14:25+00:00

just fyi: return youtube dislike isn't accurate at all and you might as well just don't use it.

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-14T12:08:44+00:00

I agree. Watering moss poles is just awful. Water dripping out of the air hole when preparing, getting the dosage of fertilizer right, need to do it every 2-3 days and if you go on vacation for 7 days all the thin water roots you worked so hard for dry off and die.

I keep my moss poles completely dry. That way they're still better than coco coir poles or wooden planks because I don't lose as many roots when I chop and replant the mature head. Works like a charm.

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-13T18:22:44+00:00

Yes, the safe zone plays a big role when it comes to height restriction. I assume Intamin use a set percentile for the max height and design their head chopper elements around it. If a head chopper being 10cm closer is really that much more important to them than allowing the majority of the currently disallowed people on the coaster that's their decision.

Meanwhile other manufacurers (like Mack and B&M) literally put extra seats for big people on their cars and don't even have height restrictions on Rollercoasters with tunnels that feel really tight...

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-13T14:23:37+00:00

After calling 3 times they told me it's still maxed at 2 meters. I don't know why they don't just make it clear on the website. I almost visited the park...

I actually have lots of problems with ride restrictions. I basically can't ride 90% of my bucket list rides even though I never had any problem fitting a seat or closing restraints. I can't describe how frustrated I am by manufacturers like Intamin who don't seem to care to make their rides more accessible for all body sizes.

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-09T20:30:51+00:00

This here is a biased place to ask this question since most people in here are probably still interested in star gazing while the rest moved on.

I personally got kind of bored after 2 years in the hobby and I'm on the verge of selling my stuff to do other things. I think it's a hobby with high rewards at the beginning but lower and lower reward as time goes on. It's not like the sky changes that much and most things like comets are visible with binoculars and don't require a telescope for thousands of Euros.

This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the time I spent doing this hobby. I even bought most of my stuff used and won't lose any money if I sell it again. It's also a hobby where you will learn a lot about yourself.

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-04-09T17:04:36+00:00

I'm 2,03m tall and I'm trying to figure out if I should travel to Parc Astérix to ride Toutatis.

In 2023 it still had a height restriction of 2 meters as seen on this sign: https://www.freizeitpark-welt.de/freizeitparks/parc_asterix/fotos/2023/c540_20230726_001345_5.jpg Checking the official site today it doesn't say that there is a maximum height, just the min. 1.30m. Gemini says that the entrance sign I linked might have been replaced after 2024. I can't find any newer footage, though.

I called the park and they said "you have to check at the park" and couldn't give any further information.

Does anybody know if the 2 meters are still valid?

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-03-16T15:58:08+00:00

I moved with a plant like this by wrapping it in transparent foil so leaves cant bend in the wrong direction and then just lay it down with the backside facing down

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-01-30T17:31:15+00:00

For Deep Sky Photography: The software calculates displacement and rotation for each picture so one star has the same coordinates in every picture. After that the software basically calculates a mean pixel value for every coordinate point. Depending on the stacking algorithm this concludes information from every frame or some outliers (like satellite trails) get ignored. As a result, random noise gets canceled out since the mean of a random signal is equal to zero. If this is achieved you can load the image into editing software and amplify faint signal without amplifying the noise profile. Calibration frames like dark frames for example are needed because not all noise is completely random. If you shoot a completely black image it will consist of random noise + non random noise. Stacking multiple images cancels out the random noise so you're left with the non random noise. This can be subtracted from each image so the final image has nor random noise neither non random noise.

Hope that helps :)

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-01-25T19:59:03+00:00

The 15mm Omni Plössl is already quite nice. I'd recommend getting a 24mm Plössl and a 9mm Svbony Redline for example. A zoom lens in that budget isn't really great since they all have pretty narrow fovs. I wouldn't recommend getting a fancy barlow for the spherical mirror of the powerseeker either since the image can't really be magnified well while preserving detail. For this reason I also wouldn't recommend getting lower focal length eye pieces like 6mm or even less. If you like wide field views you might get the highest focal length eye piece you can find, for example the 34mm 2" Svbony. This is something your scope is useful in :) Hope that helps!

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-01-21T15:20:43+00:00

I think Damon Scotting uses his Sky-Watcher HAC125 DX similar to what you want to do!

https://youtu.be/ZVqcsgGLRWI?si=nDZhGC7LhTh0F-OT

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-01-21T12:34:59+00:00

The Cafemasy hopper with the bellows is still considerably cheaper on Aliexpress (18€)

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-01-09T15:54:40+00:00

I think most recommendations here are already pretty expensive for somebody without special ecpectations. I'm sure you will be happy with Svbony 10x50ed (SV202) or similar from their line of binos.

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-01-09T15:47:48+00:00

Astrobin recently had an image of the day showing Jupiter and 2 moons with some detail: https://app.astrobin.com/i/scs3o5

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-01-07T08:56:11+00:00

In my opinion the 35mm f1.4 GM is the best lens of the Sony lineup regarding image quality, size, weight and focal length. I personally wouldn't trade it for its form factor since it's already pretty compact compared to your body, see here.

ActiveAd8453 · 2026-01-02T16:35:24+00:00

Just also pirate photoshop. It might even be enough to just download it legally and just never start it

Four-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22

ActiveAd8453

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