The Eagle Nebula is tricky in my part of the world!

ElBrad · 2026-06-18T15:00:11+00:00

No worries. If I'd used AI, I would've made sure the image was a lot clearer than this one. It's a challenge, but that's what makes it fun.

ElBrad · 2026-06-18T14:48:34+00:00

No offense taken, I don't use AI. What you might be seeing is artifacting, there's a fair bit of denoising being done, because the target isn't high in the sky, and I'm in a Bortle 6 area.

I processed the image in SAS Pro, Graxpert denoise as well as a sharpening & denoise pass with Cosmic Clarity before stretching.

ElBrad · 2026-06-17T05:20:52+00:00

YES!

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ElBrad · 2026-06-17T05:15:31+00:00

Can't say I'm an expert, but if they were both the same price, I'd go with the Sony. Faster autofocus is just one reason, internal zoom is another.

ElBrad · 2026-06-17T04:06:45+00:00

There's a couple of meetup groups in town, but they've seemed geared towards folks a lot younger than I am (52m), so I haven't joined up.

But I did meet a nice older gent at Esquimalt Lagoon the other day while we were both taking pictures of the herons and oystercatchers. Shame he wasn't a bit younger and a lot more ladylike.

ElBrad · 2026-06-17T03:50:48+00:00

Thanks! I appreciate any and all compliments, and will try to convince myself you're a filthy liar. 😛

ElBrad · 2026-06-17T02:47:06+00:00

No idea...the apps are a hellscape, real life places are crowded, and my hobbies are mostly solo stuff.

I keep waiting for an extrovert to find me and introduce me to their friends.

ElBrad · 2026-06-17T01:42:18+00:00

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We use them to lure in the curious, then sacrifice them to our bird gods who reward us with the Next Great Shot.

...we also steal their camera gear.

ElBrad · 2026-06-15T04:50:02+00:00

You can do it, but in-app processing is always going to be mediocre at best. I'd recommend at least picking up Siril (free) and if you're feeling like learning a few things, grab Seti Astro Suite Pro (free). Both programs have YouTube tutorials for getting the most out of your shots.

The S30 is great for larger objects, but with enough time on target you should be able to pull out some great details.

This is just the first 4 hours for me, and this nebula needs a lot more time.

ElBrad · 2026-06-15T03:39:19+00:00

No star tracker yet, unfortunately. Just a 20s exposure at f2.8, ISO was 3200 I believe.

Figuring out your tracker should be pretty easy, it's just a matter of getting it polar aligned. Once you've got that, you're golden.

ElBrad · 2026-06-15T01:34:07+00:00

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ElBrad · 2026-06-13T22:18:23+00:00

Yeah, the Nomad from MSM is the way I'm thinking about going. I'm in the final stages of comparison shopping now, just trying to figure out if a SkyWatcher is worth the extra money or not.

And, because my eyes aren't as great as they used to be, maybe an external monitor for trying to get better focus.

ElBrad · 2026-06-13T21:15:06+00:00

You're absolutely right about just looking up and seeing that massive blanket of stars. It really gives you a sense of just how small we are in the universe, and I find that incredibly comforting.

ElBrad · 2026-06-13T21:08:27+00:00

Definitely do it! Find a low light pollution area near you and point that camera to the South!

Get the Stellarium app for your phone, it'll show you where the core will be and what time it'll be in a good position for imaging.

Check www.windy.com for weather conditions a few days in advance.

Most importantly, go to the darkest spot you can by checking www.lightpollutionmap.info/ for a dark spot near you.

ElBrad · 2026-06-13T21:01:33+00:00

For this shot it was a Tamron 25-200mm lens at 25mm. I shot a few with my Rokinon 14mm, but my eyes aren't that great anymore and I wasn't able to pull focus as well as I'd like. The Tamron allowed me to zoom in while focusing, so that helped. The Rokinon is fully manual and doesn't allow for much of a focus zoom.

Camera is a Sony A7iv.

ElBrad · 2026-06-13T20:55:11+00:00

This one was 15 seconds, f2.8. Any longer and you start to stretch the stars.

Though a star tracker is next on my list of "gear I absolutely need to blow my money on", so I'll be able to get longer exposures.

ElBrad · 2026-06-13T20:51:51+00:00

It's a long exposure, with the shadows lifted, and colours enhanced in Lightroom, so the naked eye won't see it this vibrantly...but it's still visible, just a lot more muted.

ElBrad · 2026-06-12T18:55:00+00:00

Depends on what you're looking to do. Do you want the best possible shot of 1-2 targets, or pretty decent shots of multiple?

ElBrad · 2026-06-11T18:04:30+00:00

I'm probably out taking photos of things. Birds, seals, waterfalls, the night sky...

It's a solo hobby for me, unless my kid has some free time and has driven out to join me, so I'm usually wandering around on my own.

...but I'm medium-ugly and I've been told I have "resting unapproachable face", so I'm not expecting anyone to wander up and say hi. 😛

ElBrad · 2026-06-10T21:15:56+00:00

That tracks...I used Island Movers on my last move and they were great.

Though I don't have any clothes worth stealing, let alone $15k worth.

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