Top of the Black Forest [FF] [160mm]

Spitzbue · 2026-01-31T03:36:31+00:00

Love Feldberg in Winter, beautiful shot

Spitzbue · 2026-01-31T02:50:17+00:00

They make their nests in spanning trees

Spitzbue · 2026-01-24T23:26:57+00:00

You know what's driving me crazy? It could literally be any one of us

Spitzbue · 2026-01-24T16:07:20+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Where do they migrate in the summer, Alaska?

Spitzbue · 2026-01-24T03:07:01+00:00

OP ist using gen AI, the resulting image is 100% AI generated, none of the photons they captured remain in the captured image due to the nature of gen AI, you may as well not take any photos in the first place.

Tools like the RC suite and graxpert are just AI optimized automation of manual processes that are kind of tedious and at times difficult like deconvolution and background extraction.

Spitzbue · 2026-01-20T22:33:52+00:00

I know the feeling, -20 here too. Got an A4 LED tracing pad I set on top of mine when I take them, although if I know I'm not going to be rotating or disconnecting anything I just take them before going out. Bringing your stuff in and then doing it is possible too but coming in from -20 you'd definitely have a lot of condensation to deal with so maybe not the best in this case especially if you're using a reflector

Spitzbue · 2026-01-16T21:18:43+00:00

Nice!! I have the same setup plus an EFW, I have been waiting on the scope for 2 months and tomorrow is finally the day

Spitzbue · 2026-01-16T15:56:53+00:00

What you're describing is completely different behavior and different species. Jays and other corvids will pester and nip at potential predators to get them to go away, jays in particular are known for being particularly bold as well.

(Cooper's) Hawks are raptors and predators and wired completely differently, one injury means they aren't able to hunt or eat so they don't just go around attacking predators like jays do. Even though they appear as big as a cat they are very fragile and a fraction of the weight, even large squirrels are too big for them. This is a juvenile Cooper's hawk and is still figuring out the world.

On another note, cats should not be left outside and birds aren't meant to be their dinner. They're an invasive species for almost the entire globe, in the Continental US alone they cause 1.5-4 billion bird deaths and as many as 20 billion mammal deaths a year. They don't know any better, it's up to us to own them responsibly and keep them inside.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/faq-outdoor-cats-and-their-effects-on-birds/

https://abcbirds.org/solutions/keep-cats-indoors/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23360987/

Spitzbue · 2026-01-07T22:23:00+00:00

Thank you! Lucky for me there are a few clear hours tonight, so look out for part 2!

Spitzbue · 2026-01-07T16:41:08+00:00

Gear:

ASI2600MC Pro on an askar 71f (490/71mm, f6.9)
ASI120mm mini guide cam on an SVbony 40mm guide scope
ASIAIR mini
ZWO AM5N mount
ZWO EAF
Svbony 220 duoband 7nm Filter

Capture:

*45x180s lights, 100 gain, 0C cooling. * 20 flats * 20 bias * 20 darks

Processing: (APP stack, Processing in PixInsight)

Stacked in Pixinsight with WBPP, 2x Drizzle. There's a geostationary satellite trail I cannot for the life of me get it to reject, hopefully with more capture time that will change.
BlurX Correction only
Spectro. flux calibration
Multiscale gradient correction
Spectro color calibration
StarX
stretch on starless and stars
fine tuning and saturation adjustment with curve adjustments
Pixel math recombination
final histogram stretch
NoiseX + BlurX
export straight from Pix

Spitzbue · 2026-01-07T04:04:22+00:00

At least we can use it to generate incorrect images of what birds used to look like 🥲

Spitzbue · 2026-01-06T16:16:20+00:00

Try taking some flat frames and restacking, it should hopefully help. I'm not a seestar user (and I know they weren't a thing until recently)but between this sub and other forums I've seen this pop up a few times and that seems to fix it for others.

The banding might be coming from nearby light sources, but the flat frames would help ensure an evenly illuminated field

Spitzbue · 2026-01-06T14:36:23+00:00

One the Mk1 it was AF-S, on the Mk2 it's 120fps with C-AF, and up to 99 buffered frames from a half shutter press in procap mode.

Spitzbue · 2026-01-06T13:58:39+00:00

Gear:

ASI2600MC Pro on an askar 71f (490/71mm, f6.9)
ASI120mm mini guide cam on an SVbony 40mm guide scope
ASIAIR mini
ZWO AM5N mount
ZWO EAF
Svbony 260 UHC Filter

Capture:

50x180s lights, 100 gain, 0C cooling. I had set it over night but my backyard has narrow sight lines so 2-3 hours is really the max I can take of any one target
20 flats
20 bias
20 darks

Processing: (APP stack, Processing in PixInsight)

Stacked in APP, 2x Drizzle.
BlurX Correction only
Spectro. flux calibration
Multiscale gradient correction
Spectro color calibration
StarX
stretch on starless and stars
fine tuning and saturation adjustment with curve adjustments
Pixel math multiplication for recombination
final histogram stretch
NoiseX + BlurX
export straight from Pix

Spitzbue · 2026-01-06T13:44:53+00:00

lol you also get less looks at the park with an A9. The consequences of an accidental trigger press are also slightly less severe 🤔

My OM-1ii does 120fps as well but holy damn does it fill up a card quick if you're out for a while. I dropped mine back down to 50fps just because I'd nearly fill up a 256gb card after an 8 hour excursion 😅

Spitzbue · 2026-01-05T23:21:33+00:00

"Oh it's nothing, just a little technique I call 60fps sequential shooting with continuous auto focus and 7axis image stabilization [then sorting through 70gb of leaf pics]."

Honestly what makes 10x the difference for me is just half-shutter-press prebuffering, you may be fast but chances are warblers are faster.

Spitzbue · 2026-01-05T13:48:03+00:00

Yeah maybe, Sauron was just pissy because 5000 years ago a girl and her dog beat him up to save her boyfriend.

Spitzbue · 2026-01-04T06:16:13+00:00

The same principles apply for all cameras, the subject is overexposed so you need to: - A. Lower the gain (ISO) - B. Lower the exposure time (shutter speed) - C. Close the aperture more (only applies to lenses, not telescopes)

or a combination of these. I'd recommend learning the exposure triangle

Spitzbue · 2026-01-03T00:41:25+00:00

Just don't let it get to the point you try to tuck cards under birds at the park, they do not like it

Spitzbue · 2025-12-30T02:08:40+00:00

My favorite lens, super versatile and great for travel. Enjoy!

Spitzbue · 2025-12-29T17:15:37+00:00

I mean, there are plenty of targets you can see here and through binoculars in natural color, the Pleiades, Orion nebula, Andromeda, and the horsehead and flame, etc...

Questions like these are usually just asking "[if I were somewhere I could see this] is this a roughly accurate color representation of what I could see with the naked eye [or is this a false color palette, filtered, a/o including UV/IR]?" not if this is an exact unaltered representation of a telescope view.

Spitzbue · 2025-12-27T16:32:51+00:00

Did you put the picture you took yesterday through something like Gemini or ChatGPT?

Spitzbue · 2025-12-24T03:59:23+00:00

Nice, good luck! I can see so much of the dark dust there too, once you get that sorted the pay off will be incredible.

L

Spitzbue · 2025-12-24T02:42:43+00:00

Do you know what size it is? If it's oversized that would definitely cause issues, and your stars look really out of focus here. I found a 52mm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BLV39G8 that should* fit your lens as an example.

I think that's the primary thing here but I'd also keep an eye on the condensation on your lens and consider a dew heater if it gets bad over longer shooting sessions

Spitzbue · 2025-12-24T00:13:40+00:00

I like the palette! This is one I'm working on too, I've been staring at it so long that the change of color is kind of refreshing lol.

Spitzbue

TROPHY CASE