Posted inFilm Development Photography Software

DevClock – Film Development Timer app for Android

I am working on a darkroom timer and development “recipe” app for Android. I’m focusing on making it a light-weight and simple app that is easily customizable so many films, developers, and development methods can be used. The app makes it easy to create your own development recipes and it is useful for both color and black and white film. The app comes preloaded with a set of 40 development presets that can be easily modified.

At the moment I am looking for anyone who wants to help with pre-release testing. If you’re interested, please send an email to [email protected] for details on how to join in on the beta testing. The app does not need an internet connection, contains no ads, and does not collect any sort of user details.

Feedback and suggestions are very welcome!

Click on the post title to see screen shots, additional details, and the full list of presets.

Posted inAstronomy Astrophotography

Messier 106 Galaxy in Canes Venatici

https://flic.kr/p/2skdwmx

These are never really “done” but I’m tried of fiddling with this one so here goes…

I did so many things wrong with this image. I fought mount tracking issues and windy nights most of the way, plus I started out pretty late in the season for this one and kind of ran out of time. I’m surprised it came out as well as it did. Thank goodness for PixInsight. The gradient correction functions are amazing and really helped fix a lot of issues introduced by light pollution and my crappy flat frames.

I’m still learning a lot about the QHY268m and I’m finding that I have to completely change how I capture images. With my old CCD based ST-8300 the rule was “as cold as possible, and as long as possible.” With the CMOS QHY those rules don’t really apply. I’m completely maxing out the sensor, and getting very flat bloated stars doing 300 second exposures. From the advice I have been getting, doing many, much shorter, exposures for LRGB is the way to go. Looking forward to the autumn and having a go at Orion, the Horsehead and the Pleiades using that approach.

  • Taken from a Bortle 5 suburban back yard.
  • Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 at f/8 with the Extender-Q 1.6x
  • QHY268M, Photographic DSO Mode-2CMS, gain 56, offset 25, 1×1 binning.
  • QHYCFW3 7 position 36mm filter wheel.
  • IDAS LPS-D3 36mm filter for luminance
  • Astronomik Deep-Sky 36mm RGB filters
  • Baader 36mm 7nm Hydrogen-Alpha filter
  • The red filter data was combined with Badder HA filter to try to emphasize the hydrogen alpha areas. It kind of worked, I guess?
  • Losmady G11 Gemini 2, guided with a piggybacked AstroTech 65EDQ and an ASI120MM Mini autoguider.
  • Software included PHD2 for guiding, Sequence Generator Pro for acquisition, and PixInsight for image processing.
  • 140 x 300s luminance integrations (IDAS LPS-D3)
  • 90 x 300s Hydrogen Alpha integrations
  • 40 x 300s each red, green, and blue filters

About 30 hours total integration time.

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Posted inCamera & Lens Repair Photography

Reassembling the Canon 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C. FD Mount Lens

I was recently offered a free Canon FD mount 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C. lens, but it came with a small catch. It had been disassembled for a re-lube by the previous owner due to a stuck focus ring, who was then unable to figure out how to put it back together again. 😳 They guaranteed all the bits were there, but had no pictures or any other info on how to re-assemble the lens.

Unfortunately, there are no service manuals and very little detailed information on this specific lens on the internet. There is some info for other FD lenses of this generation (which are somewhat similar – check the links section at the end of this post) but pretty much zero for this one. So this became quite the puzzle, but after a lot of fun, a lot of frustration, and a little luck, I was able to put Humpty back together again…

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Posted inCamera & Lens Repair Photography

Konica C35 Focus and Shutter Repairs

On a recent trip to Tokyo, I had some time to browse the amazing used camera stores in the Shinjuku “Camera Town” area. I found this guy in a bargain bin going for $2. I have a huge soft-spot for this camera. My grandfather gave me one when I was in my teens, and at some point it was stolen. So, despite some obvious, and pretty major issues with the camera, I couldn’t resist. There was oil on the shutter blades, so they were sticking and sluggish when fired, and the focusing ring would barely move at all. Happily, I was able to resolve everything, and add this neat little camera to my collection.

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Posted inAstronomy CCD Cameras & Autoguiders

A fond farewell to the SBIG ST-8300M CCD Camera

After 10 years with my SBIG ST-8300M, I have finally upgraded. Despite its quirks, halos and spikes around bright stars, bad columns, and incredibly slow download times, this camera has performed admirably well. It has taken some of my best astrophotos to date, and managing its idiosyncrasies has taught me more about image processing than I ever thought I would know. In the time I have had it, this camera has taken on dripping humid winter nights, wonky power at remote sites, suspect USB cables, being dropped, and has just kept going. So, before I move on, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate this aging, but still very capable camera with a teardown and a close look at its innards.

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