Inspired to try my new 72-ED (1 Viewer)

Fowl Mouth · Oct 23, 2010

Hey all. Just picked up an Astro-tech AT72-ED, roughly a month ago. Mainly purchased it as a wide field scope for astrophotography...galaxies, nebulae, stuff like that. But since I've yet to find time to get under the stars, I figured I'd try my hand at birds. Got the following shot earlier this week, and was fairly happy with the results, especially considering it's my first effort with such a setup. Astro-tech Field Flattener and 36mm extension tube used, and shot with a Canon 20D. 50% or so crop. After seeing what Paul can do with a small scope and a barlow, I'm considering picking up an Antares 1.6x 2".

mooreorless · Oct 23, 2010

Excellent shot Jason, maybe this will keep you from wanting a Canon 500 f4 L someday.

I agree about Paul and am thinking of getting a barlow myself.

cango · Oct 23, 2010

Good indeed. Good detail and nice model.
took the liberty to up the contrast a bit and some light Denoise. Hope you don't mind it.

Fowl Mouth · Oct 23, 2010

mooreorless said:
Excellent shot Jason, maybe this will keep you from wanting a Canon 500 f4 L someday. I agree about Paul and am thinking of getting a barlow myself.

Thanks, Steve. I don't know if anything will keep me from lusting after a Canon 500 1:4 L, except possibly a Sigma 500 1:4.5 EX. I will say, though, that it gives me more to consider regarding the possibility of a moderately priced larger refractor, such as an Orion 110 ƒ7 ED. And that scope would actually be purchased for birding, as a happy compromise for the 7x more expensive Canon 500 L.

I feared the idea of jumping into digiscoping due to loss of AF, but manual focusing isn't impossible. It simply requires an additional learning curve like any other facet of the hobby.

Fowl Mouth · Oct 23, 2010

cango said:
Good indeed. Good detail and nice model.
took the liberty to up the contrast a bit and some light Denoise. Hope you don't mind it.

No mind at all. In my defense, I struggle with some shots. I'm often arguing with myself as to whether I should mediate the gamma to reveal more fine details, or push the contrast to make the image pop. I pulled back on this shot to show off the feather details. I also find red to be difficult with back lit monitors, as it tends to look over saturated to me.

The biggest problem might be that I just picked up a new monitor after 5 years. The old LCD was something I was used to. The newer one is cleaner, but also harder to color balance by eye. I often think about getting a calibration kit for it.

Musoman · Oct 23, 2010

Nice work FM. lovely shot.

Is that a Cardinal ?

Fowl Mouth · Oct 23, 2010

Musoman said:
Nice work FM. lovely shot.

Is that a Cardinal ?

Thank you, Muso! Sorry I forgot to label this little beauty. Yes, Cardinalis cardinalis, Northern Cardinal, adult male.

Fowl Mouth · Jan 13, 2011

I brought out the 72ED again today, for only the second time as a lens. The ultra bright post snow storm conditions allowed me to shoot at ISO200 and 1/800sec in the shade. I took the liberty of shooting as many feeder birds as I could, hoping to achieve focus on enough of them to finally evaluate how sharp this lens is. I managed about a half dozen good shots, but being that I'm on my way to sleep now, I only had the time to process one.

House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus (female)
Canon 20D, ISO200, 1/800sec, Astro-tech AT-72ED, AT Field Flattener, 56mm of extension tube, monpod and gimbal head.

Fowl Mouth · Jan 13, 2011

These are 100% crops from the above image. #1 is untouched out of camera. #2 is sharpened at 1px radius and level modified to brighten.

bluedubius · Jan 13, 2011

Looking good!

thornlv · Jan 13, 2011

Starting to look very promising, good enough detail - maybe could look into baffles to improve contrast a bit.

Musoman · Jan 13, 2011

Looking great ! - you have your eye in with this set up.

I played with your uncropped first one Jason, hope you dont mind.

Just a bit of levels and contrast

Musoman · Jan 13, 2011

would help if i posted it :smoke:

Fowl Mouth · Jan 13, 2011

thornlv said:
Starting to look very promising, good enough detail - maybe could look into baffles to improve contrast a bit.

Thanks, thorn. The scope already has a number of internal baffles. I believe the lack of contrast might be my own gamma manipulation, aka user error?!?

Fowl Mouth · Jan 13, 2011

Musoman said:
Looking great ! - you have your eye in with this set up.

I played with your uncropped first one Jason, hope you dont mind.

Just a bit of levels and contrast

Thanks, Pete. And no I don't mind. You guys are making me realize that I need some additional learning with level manipulation. I will admit that I often struggle with two issues. First, backlit shots in dark shadows. Second, I do a have tendancy to worry about making sure that I can see all of the details in an image. Obviously that is a personal issue that I may need to reevaluate.

Musoman · Jan 13, 2011

I'm not too bad with Adobe CS, which is what i use, but there are others here who have mastered post processing to a much better degree

Keep at it Jason, your photos with little processing seem to be much better than mine !

alphan · Jan 14, 2011

Jason, you are a true birder. Barely 4 hours after you good night your bird, you are back again. A small scope like this would be handy as a walkabout scope. Now I only carry my 75-300 around unless specifically for birding trips.

Paul Corfield · Jan 14, 2011

Fowl Mouth said:
Thanks, thorn. The scope already has a number of internal baffles. I believe the lack of contrast might be my own gamma manipulation, aka user error?!?

In the 100% crops you said the 1st image is untouched, straight out of the camera so I'd agree wit thorn, it's a baffle issue. With good baffling you can get the image as good as the second 100% crop. If the baffling is ok in the scope then the issue will be between the camera and scope. Line everything internally with black flock paper. It only takes one surface to be shiny black or even semi matte black and it will affect contrast.

Paul.

Fowl Mouth · Jan 15, 2011

Paul Corfield said:
In the 100% crops you said the 1st image is untouched, straight out of the camera so I'd agree wit thorn, it's a baffle issue. With good baffling you can get the image as good as the second 100% crop. If the baffling is ok in the scope then the issue will be between the camera and scope. Line everything internally with black flock paper. It only takes one surface to be shiny black or even semi matte black and it will affect contrast.

Paul.

Good suggestion, Paul. I have a few square feet of flocking paper left over from my last telescope project. I believe the built in dew shield may also not be long enough to effectively stop much of the oblique angle sun light, so I may add a cardboard extension to see if that helps.

Fowl Mouth · Jan 15, 2011

alphan said:
Jason, you are a true birder. Barely 4 hours after you good night your bird, you are back again. A small scope like this would be handy as a walkabout scope. Now I only carry my 75-300 around unless specifically for birding trips.

Every minute of free time in my busy family life is dedicated to birds and astronomy. It's a sickness.

Inspired to try my new 72-ED (1 Viewer)

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