First light ASI2600mc

[Jockinireland]

Long story Short, the new camera I got just before Christmas needed to go back to vendor and eventually I decided to put a bit more into its replacement and plumped for the ASI 2600mc pro.

At last, after 7 weeks of solid cloud I got a short window to try to grab some images with the new camera. It ended up as only 90 mins total integration but I think its OK for that.

SW 80ED, NEQ6, ASI2600mc, L-eNhance
15 each 180s, 120s, and 60s gain 100.

This is a very quick hash through just to see what I got, stacked APP with Ha-Oiii colour algorith, PP in pixinsight. It a bit grainy when you zoom in tight, I think thats probably because I pushed it too far to get the outer dust and there was just not enough data for that.

ll res is here https://astrob.in/m1494i/0/

C&C very welcome.

[Ken_nneth]

Great capture, you got a lot with just 90 min. Congrats on new camera.
Clear Skies
Kenneth

[Juno16]

Wonderful image and congratulations on your new camera David!

You will be doing some fine work together! Looking forward to your upcoming images!

[BABOafrica]

That looks like one fantastic camera! Beautiful capture ... especially with only 90 minutes.

BABO

[Mac]

Awesome camera and capture. I've been thinking of selling my 533 and move up to this one.

Are you seeing any signs of amp glow? Might be tough to tell with only 180 second subs.

[Greenman]

Nice work here, great work on the core, nicely balanced.

[Jockinireland]

Awesome camera and capture. I've been thinking of selling my 533 and move up to this one.

Are you seeing any signs of amp glow? Might be tough to tell with only 180 second subs.

Hi Steve, thanks for that. Yes, I think it is extremely promising.

On AMP glow there is NOTHING showing on a streched MasterDark of 240s at gain 100, minus10c. Attached is a jpeg of that. Thats with a moderate to strong stretch applied. I have done some darks at 10min just to see - I didnt save them cause right now I'll never do that long, and they looked exactly the same - no evidence of amp glow at all.

I think the 533 is a great camera with probably not that much to draw between it and the 2600mc- for me it all came down to the sensor size and therefore FOV (and to a lesser degree shape - just not keen on that square). Also the heater on the 2600 window was a factor as I am plagued with dew.The 16 bit was another factor but I dont think that really makes that much difference for the types of image I'm likely to take. But there is a BIG difference in cost.

HTH

David

[messier 111]

very nice take , thx .

[Mac]

I think the 533 is a great camera with probably not that much to draw between it and the 2600mc- for me it all came down to the sensor size and therefore FOV (and to a lesser degree shape - just not keen on that square). Also the heater on the 2600 window was a factor as I am plagued with dew.The 16 bit was another factor but I dont think that really makes that much difference for the types of image I'm likely to take. But there is a BIG difference in cost.

Thanks for that David.

That's very promising. The 533 FOV is something to consider but the cost of the 2600 is a bigger issue

[Greenman]

I think the 533 is a great camera with probably not that much to draw between it and the 2600mc- for me it all came down to the sensor size and therefore FOV (and to a lesser degree shape - just not keen on that square). Also the heater on the 2600 window was a factor as I am plagued with dew.The 16 bit was another factor but I dont think that really makes that much difference for the types of image I'm likely to take. But there is a BIG difference in cost.

Thanks for that David.

That's very promising. The 533 FOV is something to consider but the cost of the 2600 is a bigger issue

Isn’t it just, I’m surprised ZWO, don’t have a trade-in and reconditioned sales program. It would probably not make financial sense as the administration costs would be high.

The 533 was a budgetary reach for me, plus my skill set doesn’t justify the cost.

Yours clearly do Steve, as do David’s.

G’wan, you know you want to.

[Mac]

Isn’t it just, I’m surprised ZWO, don’t have a trade-in and reconditioned sales program. It would probably not make financial sense as the administration costs would be high.

The 533 was a budgetary reach for me, plus my skill set doesn’t justify the cost.

Yours clearly do Steve, as do David’s.

G’wan, you know you want to.

Thanks Tony... a bit over a year ago I lacked the skills. I have a far ways to go to get to the level of many on this forum. Practice, practice and having the Obs in the backyard give me much more opportunity for imaging.

I would rather keep the 533 or sell to a local enthusiast before considering a trade to ZWO. If I get a better mount I would put the 533 on the Radian Raptor on top of the ED102 scope. It's a bit heavy for my AVX but I am going to give it a go this weekend when some clear skies are predicted.

[SkyHiker]

Isn’t it just, I’m surprised ZWO, don’t have a trade-in and reconditioned sales program. It would probably not make financial sense as the administration costs would be high.

The 533 was a budgetary reach for me, plus my skill set doesn’t justify the cost.

Yours clearly do Steve, as do David’s.

G’wan, you know you want to.

Thanks Tony... a bit over a year ago I lacked the skills. I have a far ways to go to get to the level of many on this forum. Practice, practice and having the Obs in the backyard give me much more opportunity for imaging.

You are being way too modest Steve. I have never seen anyone getting that much out of an AVX since geethq (not sure where he went), but you took it to a new level. If we all followed your logic the camera vendors would be bankrupt.

[MariusD69]

Wonderful image! Great job!

[Mac]

You are being way too modest Steve. I have never seen anyone getting that much out of an AVX since geethq (not sure where he went), but you took it to a new level. If we all followed your logic the camera vendors would be bankrupt.

Thanks Henk. I am sure my mount wasn't made on a Friday afternoon!

I think I've kept AgenaAstro, OPT and ZWO in the green this past year. I am thinking of a new mount this year too, an EQ6-R Pro. We don't live forever.

[Greenman]

Isn’t it just, I’m surprised ZWO, don’t have a trade-in and reconditioned sales program. It would probably not make financial sense as the administration costs would be high.

The 533 was a budgetary reach for me, plus my skill set doesn’t justify the cost.

Yours clearly do Steve, as do David’s.

G’wan, you know you want to.

Thanks Tony... a bit over a year ago I lacked the skills. I have a far ways to go to get to the level of many on this forum. Practice, practice and having the Obs in the backyard give me much more opportunity for imaging.

I would rather keep the 533 or sell to a local enthusiast before considering a trade to ZWO. If I get a better mount I would put the 533 on the Radian Raptor on top of the ED102 scope. It's a bit heavy for my AVX but I am going to give it a go this weekend when some clear skies are predicted.

I would be interested to see how that goes, a Raptor and a 533 is an interesting combo. I’ve seen the AVX with up to 3 weights on with unextended legs supporting much more than you would think possible and still imaging well. Mind you, I expect you need solid ground for those monsters.

[helicon]

Very nice image David and congrats on getting the new camera.

[Gordon]

Congratulations on the new Camera!!!!

It looks like it's going to get a good workout!

[STEVE333]

Hi Davie - Congratulations on the new camera. That's a beautiful image considering the limited time. I'm astounded at the dynamic range because the Trapezium (4 bright stars at the core) are usually blown out, but, they are clearly discernable in your image. That's a real feat considering you also brought out the surrounding dust. Lovely colors and details. I can't imagine a better image with only 90 min total exposure. This camera looks like the real deal!

Cheers,

Steve

[Jockinireland]

Thanks so much for that @STEVE333 , I really appreciate it. I used the three different exposures, HDR Composition and HDRMT in PI and was pretty astonished when it came out so well. The noise is a bit intrusive in some of the clouds and I was putting it down to the short integration. But looking back at my interim images it seems that a least some of it came out of the DBE Process. Before DBE there was what seemed to be a strong gradient top left to bottom right, despite the fact that this was with a l-enhance , but moon was bright and Orion was low above the lights of Galway to my west. I'm trying some repros with reduced or no BE but not really succeeding.

I know you are a dab-hand with PI so would you have any thoughts or suggestions?

But yes the camera does seem like it's a bit special.

Thanks again

David

[STEVE333]

Thanks so much for that @STEVE333 , I really appreciate it. I used the three different exposures, HDR Composition and HDRMT in PI and was pretty astonished when it came out so well. The noise is a bit intrusive in some of the clouds and I was putting it down to the short integration. But looking back at my interim images it seems that a least some of it came out of the DBE Process. Before DBE there was what seemed to be a strong gradient top left to bottom right, despite the fact that this was with a l-enhance , but moon was bright and Orion was low above the lights of Galway to my west. I'm trying some repros with reduced or no BE but not really succeeding.

I know you are a dab-hand with PI so would you have any thoughts or suggestions?

But yes the camera does seem like it's a bit special.

Thanks again

David

There is always some noise around. Here is a technique you can try to see how it works for you.

1) Make a clone of your image.
2) Apply the clone to your original image as a mask.
3) Invert the mask.
4) Open TGVDenoise and adjust the parameters to match those shown in the image below.

5) Apply TGVDenoise to your original image (with the inverted mask on it).

You should see a nice reduction in the noise.

Inverting the mask protects the bright areas while the noise in the darker areas will be significantly reduced.

Hope it works well for you.

If you need more information about how to perform any of the steps let me know. I'm just heading to bed and getting my second vaccination shot tomorrow.

Cheers,
Steve