Right-o you film-types! I'm ready to roll again...

[omaroo]

The yard film imaging cannon is nearing readiness...

After a six-month hiatus, I've dragged out the 12" LX and have now fitted one of the William Optics 66mm Petzvals as guide scope. The new larger dew shield I made is felt-lined and seals around the OTA beautifully. The slight extra weight of the shield is good as it offsets the weight of the cameras and G/S. I'm still to fit the lower 2-D counterweight and also need to rotationally balance it around RA. The Dec motor on one fork, along with the GPS affect the balance so I need to occupy the battery recess on the other fork with around 1.25kg.

Should be out and about as soon as I can get GuideDog to run properly on the older (read: semi dew-dispensible) lappy. This will, hopefully, allow me to concentrate on the hard part - getting the Nikons to put proper images on film at last....

There goes the back again........

Cheers
Chris

http://www.omaroo.net/albums/album34/P5070007.sized.jpg

http://www.omaroo.net/albums/album34/P5070018.sized.jpg

[Radar]

I'm looking forward to seeing your film shots Chris. This will be interesting. :thumbsupmate:

[AstroTasmania]

Hi Chris,

looks great, the WO Petzval is a very nice scope.

Great to see that you will be giving our Radar a run for his money, can't wait to see some results,

Clear skies...

[Caveman]

:thumbsupmate: Great to see Radar has some company. It's good to see that film is not a lost art to astronomy with the oncoming of digital technology.

[Radar]

Great to see Radar has some company. It's good to see that film is not a lost art to astronomy with the oncoming of digital technology.

Can't wait for a shootout! :Chessy_Smile:

[omaroo]

Can't wait for a shootout! :Chessy_Smile:

hehe.. me too Ray :)

Even though I now have the DSLR, I do NOT want to forsake film for it. I guess I'll juggle both, which should be interesting. I'm keen to see how good I can get both versions of the same DSO scene.

Cheers
Chris

[AstroTasmania]

Hi Michael,

You are right in saying a "lost "Art" " digital has turned it into a predictable science - and it's here, not coming!

Five years ago I would not have though that film would be replaced by digital camera technology in my medical/scientific work. However, in many cases it has superseded film way beyond what I could have imagined. Instant replay of medical imaging, no waiting for films to be processed in dingy darkrooms with smelly chemicals.

I have been a film user all my life, but apart from some 6 x 7 transparency work, my 35mm film gear is never used. The pro shots I take on film cost me a heaps to get a high res scan done to get it into digital which doubles up the expense & extra time. Easier & cheaper to shoot digital straight off now.

Film is still used in some scientific applications for various reasons.

Some of the medium format digital backs are mind blowing, as are the Zeiss super cooled 64MB microscopy cameras. In amateur astronomy, we are only playing round the edges with what digital can do. Progress has its price sometimes in more ways than one.

Whatever we use, film or digital, the challenge is still a lot of fun - and a challenge to be enjoyed. Nice to see some keeping the "Art" alive.

Clear skies...

[Caveman]

Hi Shevill,

Yes working in the field of Medical Imaging myself I certainly appreciate the speed and efficiency and improvement in patient care that digital imaging systems have brought to the health system. Allthough if you scan the literature every now and then you can find lingering doubts about its complete efficacy over the film. One issue that has been raised is the ability of digital imaging to adequately diagnose micro fractures that can happen in the worst of all possible cases (child abuse). As images in these cases become legal documents it is still easy to see that the better spatial resolution of film over digital is still useful. For general astronomy use though I imagine it would be hard to pick the differences other than that warm friendly look that a lot of film astrophotagraphy seems to retain.

[AstroTasmania]

Hi Michael,

I found this in my retinal angiography imaging, the ultra-fine vessels are very well-seen with film, especially using the very slow film material. Also in bio forensic work where injuries can be made to look a lot worse/better with digital etc.

One of the main problems with using film for astro is the lack of all the suitable films once available, now no longer even manufactured. The current happy snap films are only designed for exposures in the 1-second to 1/1000 sec range and suffer badly from reciprocity failure beyond those limits.

This was brought home at an AST meeting some years back when a member very proudly showed his 10 or 20 minute hand guided exposure of M42, then I showed my digital shot of 2 minutes, which just blew his out of the water, sad to say I think he gave up astro photography full stop as he was not inclined to digital.

I just love the new technology and soak it up like a sponge, saying more, more!

Clear skies...

[Noel Carboni]

A nicely set up LX200 is a beautiful thing. :)

-Noel

[Radar]

This was brought home at an AST meeting some years back when a member very proudly showed his 10 or 20 minute hand guided exposure of M42, then I showed my digital shot of 2 minutes, which just blew his out of the water, sad to say I think he gave up astro photography full stop as he was not inclined to digital.


I'll be going digital in the coming months. But I can't see myself ever stopping film. Sure it can be slower and more demanding on many fronts, but it's the challenge that I love. When I shoot a 60 minute exposure on film, I know that one bump, one bad guiding error, a tiny bit of drift from bad polar alignment can ruin all that hard work. So when I get a good result from a lengthy film exposure, I find it very rewarding.
:pipethinker:

[AstroTasmania]

Hi Radar,

You are fortunate to have youth on your side - for us oldies every minute has to be productive. There is a limit to how long crook knees etc will hold out against the cold & damp!!

Clear skies...