Imaging comparison thread for different equipment

Use this section to discuss "standard" Baader/Coronado/ Lunt SolarView/ Daystar, etc… filters, cameras and scopes. No mods, just questions/ answers and reviews.
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cmas
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Imaging comparison thread for different equipment

Post by cmas »

Hi there!

There is a wealth of information and images with different equipment and observing conditions in this forum. Additionally there is a pretty good search function in Astrobin but lately I have been trying to find pictures to compare different setups and it is not that straightforward. Thus, I was thinking if we could start a thread in this forum showcasing best images of certain equipment - and information stored in a one thread. H-alpha, CaK, White light - all data would be welcomed. This forum is probably the best place in the world with the most diverse commercial and DIY solar imaging hardware available and the potential is huge and ranging from like 30 mm to, I don't know, 300 mm (?) OTA's :)

The idea:
One could find best examples produced by different imaging setups in one thread and see e.g. what kind of details a Quark can pull with 80 mm or 120 mm OTAs or how does a single stack 60 mm Lunt compare to a 60 mm double stack Lunt or against Coronado 90, how does it look like when using Solarscope 100 mm DS and so on.

What I was thinking:
  • State your setup
  • State the most relevant acquisition details
  • State the most relevant postprocessing details
  • State the location (as a rough idea of sky conditions can be interpreted from this)
  • Post only one to three images per setup showcasing the best of what it can do (details or full disk or proms etc)
If there is such a thread already in this forum, please inform me. I'd be very interested in going through that one!
--------------------------------------------

As an example, I'll start:

Setup: Baader 90 mm D-ERF, TS 80 mm f/6 fpl-53 triplet, Quark Chromosphere, Daystar reducer @ ~0.75x, tilt adapter, ASI178mm
Acquisition details: 12 bit capture @ 30 fps, 5000 frames, 2 ms, gain 65 in Firecapture, bin2
Postprocessing details: Autostakkert3!, best 5 % of frames stacked, ImPPG, Photoshop
Location: Southern Finland
Other notes: This is the best image I could obtain with this setup (I still own this Quark, but the OTA is sold). Imaged before noon while the Sun was still getting up.

Image


H-alpha: Baader D-ERF, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II, Altair Astro 102 f/7, Quark, reducer and ASI174mm.
White light: Baader ASSF 115, Sony SEL 200600G, Sony SEL20TC, Sony A7iii.
Images in AstroBin
Images in Flickr
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Re: Imaging comparison thread for different equipment

Post by cmas »

Well, this seems to be a popular topic. Come on! :D

I will continue with another example. After this I am out of data / examples so please contribute.

Setup: Baader 110 mm D-ERF, Altair Astro Starwave 102 mm f/7 fpl-51 doublet (older batch, design around 2012 I think), Quark Chromosphere, tilt adapter, ASI174mm
Acquisition details: 8 bit capture @ 160 fps, 9601 frames (60 sec data acquisition), 4.8 ms, gain 125 in Firecapture
Postprocessing details: Autostakkert3!, best 5 % of frames stacked, ImPPG, Photoshop
Location: Southern Finland
Other notes: This is the best image I have obtained so far with this setup. The conditions were not optimal: sky was clear though and quite transparent but very windy and my OTA was swinging in the wind quite some amount. Imaged around 10:49 AM local time while the Sun was still getting up and was about 35 degrees above horizon. I had to image in a asphalt parking lot over a near by apartment building.

Image


H-alpha: Baader D-ERF, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II, Altair Astro 102 f/7, Quark, reducer and ASI174mm.
White light: Baader ASSF 115, Sony SEL 200600G, Sony SEL20TC, Sony A7iii.
Images in AstroBin
Images in Flickr
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Re: Imaging comparison thread for different equipment

Post by TareqPhoto »

Nice comparisons.

Based on what did you choose Baader D-ERFs for the scopes?


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Re: Imaging comparison thread for different equipment

Post by cmas »

TareqPhoto wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 1:52 am Nice comparisons.

Based on what did you choose Baader D-ERFs for the scopes?
I have read that Baader D-ERF is not the worst when it comes to the ERF quality. And they are readily available in Europe. For full size ERFs I think they manage thermal flows in the OTAs better than just a small 1.25" filter especially when doing animations. I also like to keep my solar filters in a good shape and not exposing them to too much heat.


H-alpha: Baader D-ERF, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II, Altair Astro 102 f/7, Quark, reducer and ASI174mm.
White light: Baader ASSF 115, Sony SEL 200600G, Sony SEL20TC, Sony A7iii.
Images in AstroBin
Images in Flickr
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Re: Imaging comparison thread for different equipment

Post by TareqPhoto »

cmas wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:56 am
TareqPhoto wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 1:52 am Nice comparisons.

Based on what did you choose Baader D-ERFs for the scopes?
I have read that Baader D-ERF is not the worst when it comes to the ERF quality. And they are readily available in Europe. For full size ERFs I think they manage thermal flows in the OTAs better than just a small 1.25" filter especially when doing animations. I also like to keep my solar filters in a good shape and not exposing them to too much heat.
Yes, fair enough!


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