Flat frames???

[swingin]

Is there any way we can do flats from BYN? Would be a nice feature if we could. 

[s3igell]

BYN / BYE is as capable of capturing Flats Exposures as any other type of Exposure "Frame Type" (it even ensures to NOT perform DITHER for "Flats").

Perhaps you were expecting BYN / BYE to perform some sort of Auto-Exposure Calculation to generate some "Best Exposure" for Flats.  This, the software does NOT do - mostly because there are far too many ways to generate Flats and far too many "Rules of Thumb" for what makes that "Perfect Flat".  But, that is not to say that BYN / BYE doesn't ease your efforts to take "Good" Flats - it provides both a Image Review Feature AND Histogram for that Image.

[astroman133]

I do not know about BYN, but BYE has somewhat the capability that you are asking for. To use it you would select AV-Flat for Shutter setting in the BYE Capture Plan Center and put the camera in Av (Aperture Priority) mode. Then when you take the picture,  the BYE uses the camera's exposure circuitry to determine the exposure. Of course this means that you need to be at the camera to rotate the shooting plan dial from Manual to Av.

If you are using a constant brightness artificial light source (light box, EL panel, or dome flat) you can then switch the camera back to manual mode and set the exposure what was determined in Av-Flat mode. You can see the camera's exposure by looking at the EXIF data for the Av-Flat image. Then re-shoot and adjust the exposure to put the histogram where you want it.

I hope this helps.

 

[astroman133]

For BYE and my T5i, Av mode is the camera's shooting mode, as selected from the rotary dial on the top of the camera.

Av-Flat is the Shutter selection in BYE's Capture Plan Center.

So can you select AP mode on the camera and AV-Flat in BYN and take a picture?

[astroman133]

Oh, there is no need to wait for a clear night. Test it at the kitchen table with your laptop and the camera.

[admin]

20 minutes ago, swingin said:

My camera doesn't have that mode, D5200. It does have AP mode but not AP-flat mode, I wish. It's an older camera so I don't expect much from it. I will however give it a shot next time I get a chance, weather is horrible here in WA. I'll get it figured out one way or another. Thank you astroman133 👍 

It's not AP-Flat, it's AV-Flat....and it's not a camera setting, it's a BYE/BYN setting.  It should work with BYN as well, just make sure the camera dial is set for Aperture priority.

[astroman133]

I don't know what you mean by "AV mode, with flat ticked". Can you elaborate?

This is what I do after setting the rotary dial on the camera to Av (AP for Nikon).

 

 

[astroman133]

Lots of people use Nikon cameras when connected to a telescope (no lens), but for testing purposes, put a lens on the camera and try my previous suggestion. Also, some of the newer Canons have an option to allow taking pictures with no lens on the camera. This is not accessible from BYE. The user must enable this capability via the camera's menus. Perhaps your Nikon has a similar setting.

Also, BYN may not display all the options supported by your camera UNTIL it is connected to the camera. For example, when unconnected my BYE Preview screen only shows BULB in the Shutter dropdown. Once connected it shows many more selections, including AV-Flat.

[astroman133]

As Guylain said, the BYN Shutter selection is Av-Flat, not AP+flat.

Is the list of selections short, or does it contain all the possible shutter values like BULB, 30, 15, 8, 4, 2, 1, etc. down to 1/4000? If not you may have another issue.

Let me know. You could also upgrade to BYN 2.1.2.

[admin]

Try with the dial in manual mode as if it was as bulb image.  It is possible that Nikon's do not work like Canon' in this respect, it is possible that this may not be possible will all Nikon bodies.

[swingin]

Yeah that was pretty much what I was asking, lol. I will try it and see what happens. I'm new to the flat world so forgive my in-experience. Thanks s3igell!  

[swingin]

My camera doesn't have that mode, D5200. It does have AP mode but not AP-flat mode, I wish. It's an older camera so I don't expect much from it. I will however give it a shot next time I get a chance, weather is horrible here in WA. I'll get it figured out one way or another. Thank you astroman133 👍 

[swingin]

Just tried it and got, image download timeout, process terminated. AV mode, with flat ticked. Then I get a bing bing from BYN. Trying other settings with no luck. I'll keep at it.

 

I get nothing except the bing, the one that says it's not working. It sits there for about two minutes then that bing happens. I have the camera set to A, isn't that the same as AP? 

[swingin]

1 minute ago, astroman133 said:

I don't know what you mean by "AV mode, with flat ticked". Can you elaborate?

This is what I do after setting the rotary dial on the camera to Av (AP for Nikon).

 

 

I have it set to flat, and AV but I don't have that AV+flat option. 

[swingin]

13 minutes ago, swingin said:

I have it set to flat, and AV but I don't have that AV+flat option. 

Also, it's asking for a lens, I never use a lens so I don't have one on. If it matters I'm using version 2.1.1. We all know that bing we get if we attempt to connect the camera without turning it on, that's the bing I'm talking about... 

[swingin]

17 minutes ago, astroman133 said:

Lots of people use Nikon cameras when connected to a telescope (no lens), but for testing purposes, put a lens on the camera and try my previous suggestion. Also, some of the newer Canons have an option to allow taking pictures with no lens on the camera. This is not accessible from BYE. The user must enable this capability via the camera's menus. Perhaps your Nikon has a similar setting.

Also, BYN may not display all the options supported by your camera UNTIL it is connected to the camera. For example, when unconnected my BYE Preview screen only shows BULB in the Shutter dropdown. Once connected it shows many more selections, including AV-Flat.

Nope, still doesn't show up, everything is connected to the computer but I still don't get that option. This is with a lens on also. Thanks for all the help, like I said I'll get it done one way or another. No settings in camera that I can see for this either. 

I did just get a few images with AP and a lens but I still don't have the AP+flat option. 

[swingin]

13 minutes ago, astroman133 said:

As Guylain said, the BYN Shutter selection is Av-Flat, not AP+flat.

Is the list of selections short, or does it contain all the possible shutter values like BULB, 30, 15, 8, 4, 2, 1, etc. down to 1/4000? If not you may have another issue.

Let me know. You could also upgrade to BYN 2.1.2.

That's what I meant, AV. On my camera it's just A, which is AP mode. Yes I do have a bunch of those numbers in the column just not AV+flat. I also just did an update on the camera, still not there.  I saw that update 2.1.2 but it didn't look like it was any help for me. Thanks.

Just did the update, we'll see what happens. Thanks everybody.

[swingin]

3 minutes ago, admin said:

Try with the dial in manual mode as if it was as bulb image.  It is possible that Nikon's do not work like Canon' in this respect, it is possible that this may not be possible will all Nikon bodies.

Nope, I have bulb, AV, program, and all the different numbers down to 1/4000. I guess my camera is one of those models. Thanks everybody 👍

[astroman133]

OK, you don't have AV-Flat as a Shutter selection, but you do have AV.

I would suggest setting AP on the camera and AV in BYN and shoot an image. If the camera selects a shutter speed that gives you a good histogram then I think that you are good to go to use BYN to get an initial exposure for your flat frames.

[swingin]

58 minutes ago, astroman133 said:

OK, you don't have AV-Flat as a Shutter selection, but you do have AV.

I would suggest setting AP on the camera and AV in BYN and shoot an image. If the camera selects a shutter speed that gives you a good histogram then I think that you are good to go to use BYN to get an initial exposure for your flat frames.

I certainly will give that a try Astroman133, I need to get myself a light box, or a dimmable tracer box. Cant leave the scope out all night here, to wet, plus that cover would be sitting on my camera throwing something out of focus. I'll get er done one way or another. Thanks for all the help everybody! CS! 

[swingin]

59 minutes ago, swingin said:

I certainly will give that a try Astroman133, I need to get myself a light box, or a dimmable tracer box. Cant leave the scope out all night here, to wet, plus that cover would be sitting on my camera throwing something out of focus. I'll get er done one way or another. Thanks for all the help everybody! CS! 

Well maybe I won't, I still can't get it to take a picture without a lens on it so who knows??? I will experiment with different exposure settings next time out. Could somebody recommend a starting point for exposure time? ISO 1600? Again, I will experiment...

[astroman133]

I bought a 12"x12" electroluminescent panel and sandwiched it between pieces of plexiglass. I hang it on the objective when I take the flats and unplug it to take dark flats.

[astroman133]

So you are saying that to shoot without a lens that the camera must be in Manual mode. Is that right?

In manual mode, the brightness of the image is totally dependent on the ISO and the amount of light. When the camera is connected to a scope, the aperture of the scope also affects the brightness. Nobody can give you recommendations.

[swingin]

3 minutes ago, astroman133 said:

So you are saying that to shoot without a lens that the camera must be in Manual mode. Is that right?

In manual mode, the brightness of the image is totally dependent on the ISO and the amount of light. When the camera is connected to a scope, the aperture of the scope also affects the brightness. Nobody can give you recommendations.

That is correct. Like I said, I will experiment with a tracer box until I find a good starting point. I'm guessing that starting at 1600 I will have to start very low shutter speed. Thanks astroman133.