Film for Astrophotography

[JohnGC]

We hyper both tmax and fuji for piggyback shots. A light 4x5 (orbit) works good on a Meade, but an larger, heavier 8x10 is going to push the gearing system, and slow the rotation. Tech pan was awesome. That film had great dynamic range for astro work.

Hyper kits are pretty expensive, I don't remember how much. I got mine from the Lumicon, but I don't think they sell them anymore. My tank will handle film up to 4x5. I've never seen a hyper kit for 8x10, but it would just require a larger pressure vessel.

I've never tried IR film but it could be interesting...

Good luck, can't wait to see your results!

[konakoa]

Thomas, I do some wide field astrophotography with medium format and large format on a pretty regular basis. For black and white astrophotography, Tmax 100 was all I used for years; but I've found that Fuji Acros 100 is absolutely amazing for this purpose.

Earlier this summer I did a side-by-side comparison of Tmax 100 and Acros 100 with two identical fifteen minute exposures of the Sagittarius star cloud. With Tmax the "steam" coming out of the "teapot" just barely registered on the film. With Acros the star cloud was very evident and amazingly detailed. The difference between the two films is incredible. Acros 100 seems to have very little reciprocity failure compared to Tmax 100; I'd strongly recommend it for black and white astrophotography.

I haven't tried any infrared films for astrophotography (just a couple of those left - and they're sorta-but-not-really-infrared from what I've read) but I would think they just aren't designed for long exposures. Reciprocity would probably be a real issue. It's not so much that sky glow is a problem for astrophotography as it is light pollution from cities at night.

For color, I use transparency film and there aren't many choices. Even fewer for 4x5. I've used both Kodak E100G and Fuji Provia 100F for 4x5 astrophotography; both work well yet I like E100G as the colors are a bit better with long exposures.

If you can find any, medium format Kodak E200 is really, really good stuff for color astrophotography. Regrettably it seems to have been discontinued in 120 film.

[arca andy]

Come on you astrophotographers.... lets see some photos!

[tgtaylor]

The moon is in the way (it's full!) + the World Series is on.

[tgtaylor]

Thomas, I do some wide field astrophotography with medium format and large format on a pretty regular basis. For black and white astrophotography, Tmax 100 was all I used for years; but I've found that Fuji Acros 100 is absolutely amazing for this purpose.

I'm pretty sure you're right about Acros Danny. It's capture time seems about the same as a ccd up to about 15 minutes out.

[Joseph O'Neil]

start here:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea...t/0/Board/Film

Also;

http://www.widefieldastrophotography...sc/8x10cam.htm

and...

http://www.willbell.com/ccd/widefieldast.htm

This book is about ten years old, and I suspect "out of date" in that CCDs have much taken over, however, when this book came out, it was cutting edge for film astro-photography. How fast things change.

Anyhow, good place to start, as the basics are still there. I also have a credit in that book as a proof reader & advisor.

joe

[Robert Hughes]

How fast things change.

Things aren't changing too fast - that's just a marketing scam. Computers are versatile, and they do more stuff now. Think of them as Felix the Cat's magic bag of tricks. Quite handy when you need a plane/boat/saw/camera/phone/pistol. But the original tools still work.

[GPS]

...
http://www.willbell.com/ccd/widefieldast.htm

This book is about ten years old, and I suspect "out of date" in that CCDs have much taken over, however, when this book came out, it was cutting edge for film astro-photography. How fast things change.

...
joe

A very good book indeed. You probably know that the same author continues with his astrophotography with CCD and wrote another book about it...

[tgtaylor]

Thanks for the references Joe. The Reeves book looks good and is priced right. I'm going to order it.

In the meantime UPS delivered a 9mm Meade Illuminated guiding eyepiece from OpticsPlanet during the ballgame last night. Unfortunately the soldering contact is bad and I am returning it for a replacement which I should receive late next week. I asked them to check the replacement to see that it works before sending it out.

I'm going to start with Fuji Acros. The reciprocity of that film is so good that I should be able to image the moon, planets and brighter globular clusters before it sets in. M31 from dark skies should also work - probably 20 or 25 minute exposure.

Thomas

[bvstaples]

Tech Pan can still be found on the Bay and other sites, though it might run you $5-10 sheet in 4x5. I've also seen it (and acquired it) in 120 rolls, if you want to give MF a try. I just got 10 rolls and am going to run it through an RB67 this winter. It's really your best choice for B&W, even if you cannot hyper it.