Tired of seeing people stack astrophotos with 50+ subs and average 4 seconds

Tired of seeing people stack astrophotos with 50+ subs and average 4 seconds. I've been browsing this sub for like 6 months now and I keep seeing these moon shots where people say they stacked 200 frames at 1/30th shutter. That's fine for the moon but then they do the same thing for Andromeda and wonder why it's blurry. I got into a comment war last week with some guy who insisted 2 second subs were fine because stacking fixes everything. No dude, stacking reduces noise but it doesn't fix star trailing from tracking error. I run a Star Adventurer 2i and on a good night I can get 60 second subs at 50mm before I see trailing. You need to push that shutter longer for dim stuff. What's the longest single exposure you've actually tested on your rig before darks ruined it?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade_young8626d ago

lol "stacking fixes everything" guy sounds like he's never actually looked at a single subframe in his life. I'm betting his "200 frames at 2 seconds" still look like a smeared potato because he refuses to turn up his gain or ISO past 800. My personal best is 90 seconds on an unguided Star Adventurer at 35mm before things get mushy, but that's on a perfect night with no wind. Honestly anyone telling you that 2 seconds is fine for most DSOs is probably just trying to justify buying a $300 tripod and calling it a rig. Stacking is magic but it can't fix garbage data, period.

rosejackson26d ago

haha yeah my "rig" is basically a camera on a wobbly step stool...