Equipment - The EQM 35 pro mount from Skywatcher

 I have rarely ever been in the right place at the right time. Until now.  

I was scrolling my Facebook astronomy/astrophotography groups looking for tips and information about something else, when I spotted a post offering a skywatcher mount free to a good home or club. 

I waited for an hour or so and no one had commented, so I took the plunge and contacted the gentleman, who as it so happened, lived relatively local to me. 

And so I now own a third hand EQM 35 Pro mount and tripod. The only stipulation, if I don't want it or I outgrow it, I pass it on for free and of course, it goes without saying, look after it.  I did offer money for it but it was politely refused. I did offer to donate to a charity of the gentleman's choice but it was politely declined and I was told I was THE charity! 

Now, as it so happens I am looking to buy a new mount. I've been considering three - the SWSA gti; the EQM 35 Pro and the EQ-AL55i and I had a very productive visit to a well known astronomy retailer two days ago just before discovering this Facebook post today. I needed to buy some bits and pieces, a new power tank etc and so I so I did spend some money on various upgrades etc at the retailer, so they didn't lose out. If the EQM doesn't fit into the motorhome, then I will be passing it on and probably getting an EQ-AL55i or even a HEQ5 from the retailer.   

So, what have I been so generously gifted? 

The first and second owners have only used it a few times. It is pretty much pristine with very few signs of any wear and tear. The Declination - rotates freely without any stickiness or slowing. Rotating the RA axis is stiffer. When balancing the payload, if the counterweight is pushed to the lower end of the support bar then it rotates freely but move the CW further up the bar and the rotation is less free. 

Its the grease used by Skywatcher. And the fact that it doesn't use bearings, just bushes. There are YouTube tutorials about how to free up the RA a little - it involves removing the polar-scope, finding three little grub screws; loosening them 1/16th of an inch at most. An aluminium disc can then be removed giving access to the 'nut' which can be loosened a tad. That will allow freer rotation as along as I'm careful not to introduce any 'play'. 

However, I don't feel brave enough to do this. The mount is a generous long term loan - it has to be passed on. I don't want to mess this up. I understand the contract! 

So far, I have managed to link up my ASIair mini via an EQMOD cable - i.e. not using the accompanying SynScan handset. I can make the mount slew in all directions. I can't get it to communicate using a usb cable into the control box. The handset seems very hit and miss despite following the instruction book very carefully. 

I tried it out last night before the clouds closed in and some issues emerged rapidly. 

1. I could not get it to line up with Polaris, however hard I tried. I lost forty minutes there until I worked out that the little spirit level bubble on the mount is broken. So when I was levelling up the tripod using it, I was way out! On a completely level surface, the bubble is well to the back edge - nowhere near the circle, never mind the centre of it! So, I am levelling the tripod before the mount goes on, using a longer spirit level. Irritating but only in a very minor way. 

2. After an SWSA 2i on a WO wedge, this one is so easy to polar align using the ASIair. Oh my. Very small precise adjustments. Complete revelation. 

3. Switching on Dec for the first time in the AA mini - some new learning when calibrating - west and east steps and then north and south steps (new to me) and then backlash steps? And then the clouds closed in before I could do any more! 

4. I'm not completely sure whether it is going to its nominated target accurately enough - I tried for M3 and it seemed to be slightly off. But then I haven't used the space atlas icon before in AA so that's a new one on me too. More learning to do over next few nights. 

The EQMOD cable is a loose fit and so I may need to get a new one. I need to get a longer dovetail bar for my zenithstar 61ii so that I can do better Dec balancing. I need a small finder plate bracket to attach to the scope to hold the AA mini. Before, I've attached it to the tripod.  

So, plenty of new learning. Reviews about the EQM are generally sound - although clearly people are unhappy about rotational issues and the knock on effect in guiding when using an ASIair.  I need to update the software/firmware. I'm not sure how old the mount is but I suspect its three - five years old.  

It uses the plug in polar illuminator - yep that one - from the SWSA2i - the feeble red diode one! But that is a minor, minor niggle. 

I will let you all know how I get on. I feel very privileged and a great weight of responsibility to get this EQM 35 Pro mount working properly; to make best use of it. I am its 'custodian' for a time. 

Imaging session - Taking milky way images during an 85% full moon.

First visit to this astronomy/astrophotography blog? Well, firstly a warm welcome to you and thanks for stopping by. After reading this post, if you want to find out more about me and this blog, why not visit my introductory page at https://undersouthwestskies.blogspot.com/2025/01/welcome-to-my-new-astronomyastrophotogr.html You can also browse other posts by using the search bar or the blog post list on the right hand side and I'd really like to hear from you via the comment boxes. Drop me a tip, an observation or a question. Take care and clear skies to you. Steve

 I nearly didn't go. The wind was strong, gusty and chilly - up to 35 mph. The moon was at 85% full moon. The landscape was moonlit. The milky way was at an awkward position, only just above a distant cliff line. 

All excuses 😂. In reality, an astrophotographer should be able to cope with anything nature throws at them! Only, I'm a beginner. I am still trying to figure out the art of composition and how to navigate my DSLR camera buttons in the dark without using a head torch! 

Such an amateur 😆

Then there is this whole post editing malarkey. Regular readers of this blog will have heard my regular lament before 'post editing is a dark, dark art; the work of the Devil'!  I take two steps forward, celebrate and then discover, in reality, I have taken three backwards. I then metaphorically howl! 

One of the issues is this - how can the same photographic light image be processed in so many different ways ...... and which is the most accurate version .......and how do I know? 😱

Anyway, here are the images from one night down at one of my favourite places, Wembury Beach, on the south Devon coast. It is where I go to try and learn and perfect my practice! 

The photo info: 

• Canon 800D and Samyang 14mm F/2.8 lens
• Intervalometer
• SWSA 2i tracker with William Optics wedge
• Benbro CF tripod

Shooting data: 

• 60" x 10 at ISO 1600 F/2.8 for sky; 
• foregrounds ISO 800 F/2.8 and varying between 15 - 90"

Post editing: 

Sequator, GraXpert and Affinity Photo were my goto programs for post editing. 

I haven't done a post yet on how I edit my milky way images because I don't feel confident about my skills and therefore have nothing to offer you fellow newbies/beginners at this moment in time.  

As I have said in one of my first posts on this new blog, I bit off more than I could chew. Like an idiot on steroids, for some insane thinking that I can't fathom out now, I decided to take on astronomy, astrophotography, using a DSLR on manual for the first time and then several new post editing programs (SIRIL, Sequator, Deepskystacker, GraXpert AND Affinity Photo) ALL AT THE SAME TIME! 

What was I thinking? 😯

I think the foreground came out fine but the sky - one too many curves and levels adjustments me think! 

Difficulties blending sky and foreground together regarding brightness, contrast, shadows and exposure

I processed the sky in SIRIL on this one and promptly lost where the stars bit got saved on my laptop - hence the absence of stars. I'm still searching for the 'stars' bit pf the star recomposition process! 

Was pushing my learning here - selfies, using an orb - trying to get the landscape exposed correctly etc! I messed up the sky section completely! 

On the bright side - I am slowly getting to grips with how to do 'sky replacement' in Affinity Photo. I now have the simple basics. Just need to learn how to do all the refinements and brush work

Nope! Can't explain this either but I like it! 

Plain, simple, one single image of 20" ISO 1600 F/2.8 with the moon to the west of me (right hand side and slightly behind me) 

So, what did I learn on the night?

• Pay more attention on my pre planning visit  - I used night view on PhotoPills but I think my smartphone GPS compass was weak and so where I thought the milky way would be and where it was in reality on the night - were two different things by quite some margin
• Don't try to do milky way shots after the moon has gone 50% towards or from a full moon. It is just way too bright - or I should have used my Optolong L Pro clip in filter to try an reduce the moon glow - but this would have necessitated taking longer images. Tricky in those windy conditions. 
• my orb is too bright and stark. I need to dampen and diffuse its glow somehow before the next trip - any ideas? Drop me a comment below .... please 😧
• shoot a number of different lights combinations e.g. 30 x 20" at ISO 1600 F/2.8, for example
• remember to use the histogram to try and judge the best camera settings - yep I forgot to 😡 so serves me right! 
• do some more research about landscape composition - leading lines etc. I have done a post on composition so I should have known better! 

At the end of the day ....did I have fun? 

Yes I did!

Did I learn lots of new things? 

Absolutely?

Have I made some progress above where I was before? 

Yes, definitely, small steps, but progress nonetheless. 

So, which of the photos above do you like most and why? Which do you think is the worst and why? What tips would you give me to help me further on my learning journey? 

As always, drop me a comment. Help me and other fellow readers progress our beginner skills. It will be appreciated, promise. 

Meanwhile, clear skies to you all, stay safe, take care out there and enjoy

Steve 

Imaging session - First milky way images of 2025

 So, we took our motorhome 'Bryony' (it was going to be named 'Brian' after the snail in The Magic Roundabout. But, the motorhome didn't look a 'Brian' - more a 'Bryony! So there's the story. Our old caravan was 'Florence'; our car is 'Zebedee'. You can see a theme here! Sixties child! Sorry I digress!) down to Charmouth for a week. 

A combined trip - fossil hunting for the Boss and trying to catch the first rising of the galactic core in the Milky Way for me. 

Wow. There's some light pollution down at Portland and Weymouth! 

The two images below are the same data - 12 x 20" at ISO 1600 using Canon 800D (astro-modded) and Samyang 14 mm F/2.8 all stacked in Sequator and then processed in Affinity photo. The starless image was processed in SIRIL using Starnet++ but when I put the stars back in - it looked horrendous. No idea why, so I kept it starless which is a tad unrealistic isn't it. 

The bright light out to sea is, I think, the Portland lighthouse

The astro-modded camera certainly picks out the H-alpha

The starless image - broody and moody - I just cannot get SIRIL to reduce the number of stars.

You can see the image below when I did star recomposition. Infuriating and in reality, processing in affinity photo was much easier than in SIRIL and this was using the same image from Sequator! 

This post editing malarkey is hard work. Have I said that before? 😕 Sorry! 😂

Equipment - First Light Optics positive experiences about upgrading my current astrophotography and astronomy kit

The people at First Light Optics really are good. Whenever I have ordered something from them, it has been sorted and dispatched promptly; all packaged safely and arriving absolutely on time. 

One of the the things I really appreciate about them is the fact that they actually answer email queries with consideration and thought. I have found that not all companies do this. 

For example, I contacted FLO to ask advice about upgrading my kit (see my previous posts on my kit dilemma). Within a day I had a well crafted and thoughtful response, the basics of which were as follows: 

• that I would not be able to insert a filter wheel between my DSLR and Zenithstar 61ii flattener due to the strict spacing requirements of the flattener. I would have the same problem trying to do it on my samyang 135mm lens as well. However, if I went for a dedicated cooled astrocam instead then I could use a filter wheel
• confirmation that I would see a huge improvement in my imaging quality of emission nebulae if I used a dual narrow band filter such as the L-eNHance clip in version for EOS canon cameras
• agreement that a next step might be to look at getting a GOTO mount as it makes it far easier to locate faint smaller objects especially if also using autoguiding such as the ASIair mini. Whilst the SWSA GTi is a very good mount, the FLO team agreed that to future proof myself for the potential to use a larger refractor later, a mount to consider might be the HEQ5 Pro, which has a long and decent track record for deep sky imaging
• If I looked to upgrade my refractor and team a new one with the above mount, they gave me two recommendations to look at:   https://www.firstlightoptics.com/askar-telescopes/askar-103-apo-triplet-refractor.html  and https://www.firstlightoptics.com/starfield-telescopes/starfield-102mm-f7-ed-doublet-refractor.html    Both are refractors in the focal length range 700 - 900mm; giving me far more imaging range than I get on the zenithstar 61ii. FLO did note that my zenithstar is a decent scope for widefield imaging, although there are better widefield options with faster optics etc available. They didnt see any need to change now unless I particularly wanted a scope with more aperture and a longer focal length for imaging the smaller targets. 

So, this helpful response has given me much to think about. Given I am still learning how to properly process the image data I catch now, I could just upgrade the clip in filters, stick with my SWSA 2 i Pro and do my five minute length images. 

I could stick with what I have, do the filter upgrade and buy the SWSA GTi and not change the gear I have - it is highly portable and easy to cart about in the motorhome. My SWSA 2i would be my milky way landscape photography tracker. The Gti version - the one I use at campsites or directly out the back of the car boot.  

I could stretch the budget a little and go for the better mount with the higher payload and future proof myself now. I am leaning towards this option but I need to see one to see how heavy it is. Can it go in the motorhome with the SWSA 2i Pro? 

At the moment, within my budget (leaving a little bit for a new power station and perhaps a dual narrowband clip in filter)  I am looking at mount upgrades in the form of the skywatcher EQ-AL55i; the EQM 35 Pro and the SWSA Gti. One of the things which immediately struck me, watching YouTube videos, is how noisy they are! Using one of these outside of the motorhome is going to require some diplomacy with my neighbouring motorhomers! 

Details about the EQ-AL55i: https://astrobackyard.com/budget-astrophotography-build/

A review by Trevor Jones Astrobackyard  and https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/sky-watcher-eq-al55i-pro-go-to-astronomy-mount.html  

Details about the EQM - 35 Pro https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eqm-35-pro-synscan-goto-modular-mount.html and Nico's review: 

And finally, the SWSA GTi - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/sky-watcher-star-adventurer-gti.html and a review or two

Conundrums eh?  A nice one to have - but I am conscious that once I have done this upgrade - it will be several years down the rod before I can afford another - so I have to spend wisely now! 

No pressure then! 

Thank you FLO for all your help - much appreciated. 

Equipment - Upgrading your astrophotography kit

 Where do I go next? 

I am thinking about the evolution of my astrophotography and astronomy equipment! It is hard trying to work out what you may need or a direction you may wish to go in the future. Especially if you are new to a hobby/passion!

I have been on a journey over the last two years.  I started with just a Canon 800D and kit lenses along with an Ioptron Skytracker pro. From no understanding of basic photography whatsoever (I was just a 'spray and pray' merchant) - I did two DSLR courses for newcomers at my local arts college. You know the thing - 'how to get off 'auto' and onto 'manual''. 

Then I started researching basic astrophotography and followed some YouTube tutorials. I did some free on-line courses about basic milky way photography. I learned to use deep sky stacker and sequator. I brought Affinity photo and started to learn the basics of post process editing, at a simple beginner's level. From there, I started to learn about SIRIL and GraXpert. I joined various Facebook forums to do with astrophotography and carefully chose my Youtube channels! 

My learning journey has been immense; sky rocketing. The proverbial 'steep learning curve'. 

And so, now, I'm here: a portable wide-field rig and some basic understanding about astrophotography. 

My current astrophotography kit:

• Canon 800D astro-modded camera
• Zenithstar 61ii refractor
• Samyang 14mm and 135mm f/2 lenses
• Canon 22 and 50mm prime lenses
• Skywatcher star adventurer 2i star tracker
• William optics wedge for above tracker 
• ASIair mini
• ASIair 120mm mini guide camera
• RVO 32mm guide scope
• Skywatcher power tank
• various accessories including four small power banks, bahtinov masks, flats tablet, intervalometer, red dot finder, MSM Z shape ball head, ball heads, benbo CF tripod, right angled polar viewfinder, assorted dovetail plates, ring system for Samyang 135mm lens, optolong L-Pro clip in filter, dew bands 

My astronomy kit includes:

• Skywatcher Star Discovery 150 i wifi GOTO newtonian reflector with tripod
• various barlows and eyepieces (25mm, 12mm and 8mm)
• red dot finder 

My passion definitely centres on the astrophotography elements!

And here, as I have said in previous posts, I have certain requirements. Portability, simplicity, compactness, multi-purposefulness (is there such a word?) and some potential growth room for future. The most important ones are portability and simplicity. I have a motorhome and I take my astrophotography kit with me on every tour. I like to do milky way landscape photography along the coastlines of Devon and Cornwall as well as deep space imaging, just about from anywhere. 

So, where do I go in terms of upgrading the kit? Most of it is really aimed at a portable wide-field set up, isn't it? 

On my list of possible stuff is the following:

• optolong L-enHance clip in filter? 
• astronomik OWB clip in filter?
• Skywatcher star adventurer tracker gti or perhaps HEQ5 or equivalent?
• a pixinsight subscription?
• electronic autofocusser - ZWO EAF?
• a cooled astrocam?
• selling my zenithstar and getting a better quality refractor? 
• (a new rucksack for those walks to cliff top destinations - the Osprey Rook II 65lt)
• (jackery 300 plus power station) 

I have absolutely no idea. Are any of these a useful evolution/extension of my existing kit?

I know that if I go down the road of investing in more filters, then it is probable that I would need to upgrade my mount. At the moment I can achieve 3 - 5 minute exposures relatively straight-forwardly.  If I have understood what I have read about filters, then I would need to be able to take exposures of 10"+ and even with an ASIair mini and autoguiding system, I think this would be a push on my rig!

So, at the moment I want to keep portability at the heart of what I do but I want some 'evolution' wiggle room to grow into as my skills and needs advance in the future. 

What would you do? 

What would you advise me to think about or purchase? All help and thoughts gratefully received in the comment box below. And thank you for your help.

As always, clear skies, stay safe and happy observing! 

Steve PlymouthAstroBoy 

Timelapse - Astrophotography timelapse on a GoPro hero 9

 A quick look at what a typical astrophotography night session looks like when you are a beginner 😂 and somewhat disorganised like me! 

Equipment - A cooking stove for astronomers, the Primus Lite+

 Newly arrived to my blog? Want to know more about me before you dive into my posts? Why not visit the home page first and start your exploration from there: 

https://undersouthwestskies.blogspot.com/2025/01/welcome-to-my-new-astronomyastrophotogr.html

And welcome. Welcome to 'UnderSouthWest Skies'. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find the experience worthwhile. This blog post has been written from my own 'beginner perspective' after doing lots of reading on the topic below.  In getting my head around it all, I may have got odd bits slightly wrong; but, like you, I am on a leaning journey, so please forgive any unintentional errors.  Meanwhile, clear skies to you. Take care and thanks for visiting   Steve aka PlymouthAstroBoy 

What do you do for your hot drinks on those cold winter nights when all your equipment is covered in dew or worse still, frost? When you are chilled despite all the proper layering of good clothes you have done?

I started my astronomy/astrophotography sessions with taking flasks of tea. But I found these cooled really quickly. Even worse, the milk started curling on the long journeys down country lanes. Yep, that really did occasionally happen. Ugh! 

Then I switched recently to a different system - taking flasks of hot water in an insulated food bag, along with a small metal bottle of milk. I'd make a cuppa using tea bags and the hot water and milk. 

Advantages? The flasks seemed to keep the water far hotter for far longer in the insulated bag. The task of making a cuppa was fun; something to do whilst waiting for your light frames shooting sequence to finish. Great if I was operating out the back of the car where weight of equipment carried wasn't going to be an issue.

But what about when I am doing milky way astrophotography, away from the car? 

Trekking along stretches of coastline or across moorland to a secret destination for a night shoot! Weight of equipment carried becomes an issue then! As does keeping warm in exposed locations. 

So I am switching back to my favourite system of making a cuppa - using a stove! Or cooking noodles! Or heating a camping 'meal in a bag'. It doesn't have to be just a 'cuppa' any more.

Coming from an outdoor pursuits background, firstly as a mountain climber and trekker, then as a dinghy cruising sailor doing overnight expedition raids along the south Devon coastline, I love the hiss from a good camping stove. The heat generated, the bubbling of boiling water, the instant gratification from a hot, warming drink and/or meal. 

I have always used a Trangia stove. Always! Mine is nearly forty years old and is still going strong, but, as Trangia users know, whilst it is a brilliant little stove, it is heavy if you add in the meths that has to be carried as well. 

So, I have sinned. Transgressed. Traitorised myself! I got a Primus Lite+ stove for my birthday present! 

Shock, horror, the world is ending! He has succumbed to the lure of the 'all in one' stove! 

So why have I done this?

Firstly, I wanted a lightweight stove system specifically for when I go off and do my milky way shooting sessions. Something integrated but light weight; giving fast boiling of water. Easy and quick to set up or put away. I often walk a fair way to get to a good location that I have scouted previously. After shooting, I may move location slightly and do it all again in the same session.  I want to be able to pack and unpack equipment quickly. Mobility, time efficiency and safety are the key things here.  

The Primus Lite+ meets these requirements. 

The stove is an integrated 'all in one gas' design; small pack size and a lightweight 400gs. The pot is 0.5l capacity and its a one-person stove set up. On my initial tests out in a windy garden, my stove boiled water in 2' 30"s.  

Fuel efficient and a smart design, it is built of high quality materials. Typical Primus quality! 

The anodised pot has an integrated pouring spout and built in heat exchanger at the base. The lid is plastic and has a strainer inbuilt. This also allows steam to escape as water boils. Stepped, the lid is easy to remove to check the water (or noodles!) Its actual function is, a small mug or bowl! 

Insulated by a cork lined fabric sleeve which closes with velcro, the pot is easy to handle when removing it from the burner assembly. The handle is a sturdy, secure, strap affair which can be folded over the top of the lid to store everything safely inside the pot (or used to hang it using the supplied cord loop, from a convenient branch). Attached to the handle are three little screw pins, more about these later. 

The 0.5lt anodised pot with integrated heat exchanger and the clever triangular attachment system 

The burner unit screws into a gas canister. Triangular in shape, with piezo ignition, its a laminar flow burner giving a 1500w flame. The piezo ignition works well, and the large wire handle to turn the gas on and off gives good simmer control as well.  The triangular joint connection to the pot is ingenious and so simple to use. The pot attaches and detaches with ease. Frankly, the whole set up is low profile, with a low centre of gravity. Stable, safe; helped by the included fold out triangular base leg system that attaches to the gas canister.  Cool down time, by the way, was around ten minutes but that will depend on the conditions on the night won't it?

What about those three pins?  Well, they screw into the three holes on the burner unit. You can then use a bigger pot on the stove. Ideal, if like me, you might be tempted on a longer night out to do a 'boil in the bag' camping meal. I can use one of my very lightweight trangia pots for this. Something I couldn't do on the 'Jetboil Flash, which was the other stove system I looked at. 

The burner head unit and those three pins that can be screwed in to support larger pans if needed

So what don't I like about it after testing it a few times in the garden? 

Not much actually. And that's a rare thing as I'm not that easily pleased when it comes to outdoor gear.  

Those pins on the attached handle make it difficult to fold the handle over the pot for secure storage. They scratch the mug lid as well.  When separating the burner unit from the pot, there isn't much to grab hold of which isn't hot - so you have to hold the gas cylinder and twist. As I said, it separates very easily so that doesn't seem to be a problem in reality. 

In conclusion, I like the portability and lightweightness of the stove. Everything including a 100g gas cylinder packs down into the pot. Materials are sturdy; the design is robust, thoughtful and modern. Its certainly efficient in boiling water even in windy conditions. Primus have an outstanding reputation - a proven track record in good outdoor gear design, reliability and quality.  

Some of you may say it is overkill. A flask of tea is fine. But I say to you, imagine this - sat on a cliff, watching the milky way pass overhead, hearing your DSLR clicking away and in the background, the quite reassuring, comforting roar of a primus lite+; the bubbling of hot water and then a really HOT cuppa or stomach warming noodles! Early morning porridge with cinnamon and sultanas thrown in!! Nectar of the Gods. 

Perfection! 

Notes: 

Copyright on photos above - Peak Mountaineering

I found two review sites useful when researching what stove to buy: 

https://www.peakmountaineering.com/primus-lite-plus-stove-review/

https://outdoorsmagic.com/article/primus-lite-plus-stove-system-review/

Here is the stove in action: 

Affinity photo - Learning to blend a foreground image with a night sky shot in affinity photo

 I hit the YouTube rabbit hole the other day. The weather was lousy and I was going through my portable hard drive trying to tidy up folders and delete duplicates. I found these that I had forgotten to process properly. 

An opportunity then to practise doing sky replacement in affinity photo. 

This is my latest effort - Wembury Mill on the south Devon coast, just to the east of Plymouth Sound. 

I took the foreground image just after nightfall. I cant remember the settings - sorry! I forgot to write them down in my little notebook. I did briefly paint the mill with my head torch beam though. I then returned to capture the milky way galactic core just after it started appearing around 0330 ish. That I tracked. ISO 800, 35" x 20 or so. No calibration frames. 

Not my best shot but not bad - I rushed things on the night.

However, it was good practice for trying to get to grips with Affinity Photo

The sky shots were stacked in Sequator first. 

The Milky Way above Wembury beach, south Devon 

My last photos that I did of the area were these: 

Somehow I managed to get a funny red line between sky and far cliff line - absolutely no idea why - but it was a post processing mistake. I suspect I applied a mask and then did some painting selection brush work which didn't quite work out properly 

Milky Way above the Great Mewstone, off Wembury Point, south Devon

Taken from a slightly different position on the beach from the one above. 

Below are the videos I used to help me work out how to do sky replacement. 

Discussion equipment - Why continue to use a DSLR camera instead of a dedicated CMOS one?

 Why use a DSLR camera instead of a CMOS one?

Do you believe in co-incidence?

On Friday night, I had a discussion with another astrophotographer during a break in our Astronomy society monthly meeting.

Topic? “Why use a DSLR when CMOS cameras are easier?”

I was admiring his rig – Redcat 51, EAF focuser, ASIair plus, some CMOS camera I can’t remember the designation of, a 32mm guide scope with ASIair 120mm mini camera; all on some HeQ mount that again I’ve forgotten. His suggestion? Improve my rig by getting a CMOS camera to attach to my zenith star or Samyang 135mm.

Where is the co-incidence bit?

This morning on my Facebook feed up pops a discussion topic in one of the astrophotography forum groups I subscribe to….. wait for it……… ”Why do people continue to use DSLR’s when CMOS cameras are better and easier to use?”

Co-incidence – powerful stuff!

I’d already been thinking about my answer to this question before the Facebook feed emerged. So, here is my personal perspective. I use a DSLR because:

1.       I already had it and am familiar with its settings, capabilities, and limitations

2.       I had and have subsequently purchased a variety of lenses to use with it

3.       I can use it for milky way landscape astrophotography

4.       And use it for daytime photography as well

5.       I could spend what limited funds I had on other bits of equipment needed for my rig

6.       My DSLR already has a CMOS sensor

7.       Dedicated CMOS cameras are expensive and I get easily confused as to what one I should get for my rig (not really a valid reason as all I need to do is some basic sensible research)

8.       I think, but don’t really know this to be true – that my DSLR is better for wide field astrophotography, aurora pictures, star trails and comets?

9.       I get an instant image on the back of my LED screen – very gratifying as a beginner to astrophotography

10.   I don’t need to link it to a tablet or computer when out in the field

11.   I am learning the how’s and why’s of astronomy/astrophotography with it – walking the walk, learning the craft, doing the basic skills development

12.   It has minimal additional software requirements

13.   I got it astro-modded!

 

That seems plenty to be going on with. I am sure there is a longer list of why I SHOULD switch over to a dedicated camera but, hey, I’m welded for now, to my trusty, faithful Canon DSLR. I love it.

Oh yes! The astronomy society meeting was excellent. The second one I have attended in Plymouth. members arrived with various pieces of equipment. Good to see and hear peoples experiences with the Seestar 50 and the dwarf Seestar 30. Impressive pieces of kit but, for me, taking away the 'learning' that comes with using traditional telescopes and astrophotography rigs. 

So much knowledge, kindness, willingness to share and learn with each other. Fantastic society. I have decided to pay the full subscription at the next meeting. 

Imaging session - Trying to learn the techniques of blending two images to form a composite in affinity photo

 Newly arrived to my blog? Want to know more about me before you dive into my posts? Why not visit the home page first and start your exploration from there: 

https://undersouthwestskies.blogspot.com/2025/01/welcome-to-my-new-astronomyastrophotogr.html

And welcome. Welcome to 'UnderSouthWest Skies'. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find the experience worthwhile. This blog post has been written from my own 'beginner perspective' after doing lots of reading on the topic below.  In getting my head around it all, I may have got odd bits slightly wrong; but, like you, I am on a leaning journey, so please forgive any unintentional errors.  Meanwhile, clear skies to you. Take care and thanks for visiting   Steve aka PlymouthAstroBoy 

Now here is the thing. 

I can capture astrophotography data on the night. I'm getting better at working out the exposure triangle settings and checking my histogram on the night. Likewise with using my tracker and gaining sets of lights, flats, darks and bias frames. 

Beginning to understand taking landscape shots in blue and twilight hours. Lousy on landscape composition of foreground however. Loads to sort out there. 

My real difficulties though, and please don't ask me "why?" because I don't know, is understanding how to merge two images into one in affinity photo. You know - putting a foreground with a sky shot. It seems so easy on the YouTube tutorials and yet whenever I try - a disaster. 

Anyway, here is my first efforts. And yes, I know the sky is completely wrong proportion etc - but its just a practice image - trying to learn how to replace a sky in a shot; how to select an object from another image and place it into another.

I really find selections, masking and layers control really difficult to assimilate and I just don't understand why! 

Which of the two images is the least worse? got any tips on how I can improve them? Drop me a comment below - all help appreciated - especially if you are an affinity photo user.