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Post by davy on Dec 10, 2020 4:04:20 GMT
Now I don't need to fork out for a computer right at this moment I decided that my next step would be to finally get a new,, well second hand,,, been looking at going full frame for a long time and been trying to pick up a Canon 5d mk ii,, Been quite hard to balance it out,, price versus camera condition and shutter count,, Finally found one I was happy with, just over 7000 shutter count and 9 out of 10 for condition, £460,,, I think it was the right move and the bigger sensor when I checked it out in cdc against telescopes I have gives a really nice fov on galaxies like andromeda,, this season this was my goal to finally make the move to doing dark sky imaging,,
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Post by Dragon Man on Dec 10, 2020 12:38:53 GMT
Good move Davy From what I know about the 5d, it is the Bee's Knees for Astro Imaging. A good friend of mine did his amazing deep deep deep deep sky images with his 5d (did I say they were 'deep' yet?) And as far as getting a new computer goes, mine is on hold too. A fellow club member suggested I try 'ashampoo WinOptimizer' to see if it fixes the trouble I'm having with this old laptop. I downloaded it (it's free) and BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fixed! In fact it now runs better than it did about 10 years ago All I did was downloaded ashampoo and installed it, then when the software opened I clicked on 'Analyze'. It did a quick scan of my laptop then I clicked on 'Optimize', and it was done. In minutes!!!!
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Post by davy on Dec 11, 2020 10:50:14 GMT
Yeah be a good addition to the kit,, the bigger sensor is what I've been after but I wasn't buying another zwo camera,, bit annoyed with the zwo 178 getting massive dust bunny, especially when it's a sealed camera and I look after it
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2020 9:52:49 GMT
Dont know anything about your canon camera ,Davy,but the zwo 178 gives me the best color images on the Rasa Ken,I just downloaded ashampoo Winoptimizer on the 2nd laptop in the dome. I have the zwo 224 connected to the evostar 50.It is a few years old and was very slow. The program has sped it up a lot. Thanks for that one. I was telling my brother in law to check out jupiter and saturn in the next couple of nights. He asked the question.....If you kick the footy at them , would it get stuck?
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Post by Dragon Man on Dec 14, 2020 11:11:34 GMT
. . . Ken,I just downloaded ashampoo Winoptimizer on the 2nd laptop in the dome. I have the zwo 224 connected to the evostar 50.It is a few years old and was very slow. The program has sped it up a lot. Thanks for that one. That's good Paul, glad to pass on the tip . . . I was telling my brother in law to check out jupiter and saturn in the next couple of nights. He asked the question.....If you kick the footy at them , would it get stuck?
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Post by davy on Dec 14, 2020 17:47:39 GMT
Dont know anything about your canon camera ,Davy,but the zwo 178 gives me the best color images on the Rasa Ken,I just downloaded ashampoo Winoptimizer on the 2nd laptop in the dome. I have the zwo 224 connected to the evostar 50.It is a few years old and was very slow. The program has sped it up a lot. Thanks for that one. I was telling my brother in law to check out jupiter and saturn in the next couple of nights. He asked the question.....If you kick the footy at them , would it get stuck? Just never got right into it,, yeah I did use it but prefer dslr and backyard eos,, now the 178 has a mount everest size dust bunny it does my head in,, I will attempt to strip it down at Christmas time.
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Post by davy on Dec 14, 2020 23:11:28 GMT
The 5d mk2 came today,, backside was making button's,, the photos on ebay looked very good,, condition was as described,, really well looked after camera,, but buying second hand, you always wonder if you are buying a pig in a poke,, Had to charge up the battery,, stick a cf card in,, got an ef lens on it and tried some shots,, totally diff beast compared to the canon 600d,, bitore features to get to grips with,, but looks a great camera.. So I could not wait to chuck in a scope,, could not find spare t ring,, ended up using the one with the ed80 focal reducer on it,, worked OK on the esprit,, Lamppost half mile Away, focused OK,, about 10mm back focus. Camera was OK on it,, no images as weather still crap. No idea what the 0.85 reducer done to the native F5,, but looked OK 😊
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Post by fondofchips on Dec 16, 2020 13:48:49 GMT
'no images as weather still crap' - stargazing rule No1 applies Davy, new kit = wall to wall cloud!
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Post by davy on Dec 17, 2020 2:08:22 GMT
No kidding mate,, I think it's a joint effort in Scotland just now,, Don't know about the rest of the world but astronomy has really took off since covid 19 outbreak,, astronomy Scotland on Facebook got something like 80 new members this week,, just passed 1800 members now, that's doubled in size from March,,,
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Post by davy on Dec 17, 2020 2:10:18 GMT
Adding to the new addition was a 64gb cf memory card under £5 and a battery grip for the 5d under £5 as well,, second hand
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Post by fondofchips on Dec 19, 2020 21:17:41 GMT
My new addition is this scope from William Optics: - www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/william-optics-gran-turismo-gt81-triplet-ota-2020-model.htmlI've looked at the weather forecast and to my surprise - rain until Thursday, so no rush to set it up. I'm picking it up on Monday, that's when the rain starts! Dropping off the SW Esprit 100 ED for them to look at, not usuable in it's present condition. Looking forward to some serious stargazing again, the only delay has been me deciding what I was going to buy. One thing that I have noticed as I've been looking to upgrade my telly is that prices are going up, (you bought yours at the right time Davy) I think retailers just don't have enough stock to discount stuff, probably due to supply issues during the Covid pandemic. Now we have an additional problem as if there is no Brexit trade deal with the European Union then we will be on the same trade deal as Australia - World Trade Organisation rules. One thing for sure is some items will be more expensive in 2021 - but which ones? Seasons Greetings to all forum members and all the best for 2021, above all stay safe. Next year will definitely be different, crystal balls will be nil stock!
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Post by davy on Dec 19, 2020 21:41:47 GMT
Few of the guy's on astronomy Scotland Facebook group were talking about David hinds astronomy closing on Christmas eve never to open again and the price of some narrow band filters going up in price,, went from £4000 to £8000,, holy shit,, who in their right minds is going to pay 8 grand for filters,, the weather up my way has been pants foronths now,, can count my time in hours not nights this year. You are right about the TV, one of my friends was looking for a 45" and it wasore expensive than mine,, I definitely jumped in at the right time,, I did sway a bit,, shall I buy or not,, within days they were all sold,, I know I would Have kicked myself if I hadn't bought it
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Post by Dragon Man on Dec 20, 2020 13:45:58 GMT
I've never heard of David Hinds Astronomy, but that's not unusual because there's many Astronomy dealers around the world. Lots are shutting down Davy due to online shopping.
Australia's most popular Astro shops have shut down and a big chain store astro mob only do online now after shutting their 3 stores across 3 states.
The internet is killing storefront shops.
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Post by davy on Dec 20, 2020 15:39:44 GMT
I've never heard of David Hinds Astronomy, but that's not unusual because there's many Astronomy dealers around the world. Lots are shutting down Davy due to online shopping. Australia's most popular Astro shops have shut down and a big chain store astro mob only do online now after shutting their 3 stores across 3 states. The internet is killing storefront shops. Going to get worse in UK,, Scotland has been hit by tier 4 lock down again,, non essential shops and businesses getting shut down again,, New strain of covid in london causing a big panic in uk
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Post by Dragon Man on Dec 21, 2020 8:38:57 GMT
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