Flame and Horsehead by Superzoom Camera

[Davo]

Hi,
I have been quiet for a while mostly due to weather. Recently I bought a second hand Canon SX530HS camera which has a 50x optical zoom. I used it last night to image the Flame and Horsehead and was pleasantly surprised by the result. Kudos to StarTools for making this possible.

http://starrydave.com/?p=1000

[admin]

Wow - that's really quite something for a Powershot series camera!

[Davo]

Thanks Ivo - I couldn't have done it without your software. I have supercharged my Powershot with the free CHDK hack which uncovers all sorts of unofficial camera features, like very long exposures and raw shooting. I do have astro scopes and cameras but there is something very satisfying about taking shots over PC remote control using a £95 camera with a built in 28-1200mm lens.
You probably noticed the stars are a bit funny so I am going to rework it once I can remember ST's healing routine.

[happy-kat]

That's a super achievement, be good to see a reprocess as you mention.
Great to see the not so obvious to even try with camera being used to great effect.
I also like CHDK and use it on a second hand SD550, love the motion detection though unfortunately the dead pixels are super numerous so it proved not good for leaving running for meteor showers plus the battery doesn't last long enough as can't override the screen being on.

[Davo]

I use my SX230HS for all night meteor watch. You can use the CHDK https://chdk.fandom.com/wiki/Script_com ... ight.28.29 command to turn off the screen. CHDK also has a hot pixel removal setting. I use a £10 USB power adapter/dummy battery I got on AliExpress to power my Powershots. It runs off a 5000mah USB power bank and runs all night using about 40% of the power bank charge.

[happy-kat]

Thank you for the link, that should help.