Planetary Imaging - Perpetual JPG Imaging Mode

[s3igell]

It would be interesting, in this Age of Super-Fast DSLR Processors and Extreme Speed SD Cards, to consider (especially for those lacking a 5x LiveView capability) the possibility of an SDK-controlled "Perpetual JPG Imaging Mode".

 

Such a Feature might:

1) Trigger individual JPG Images as fast as the DSLR Processor can Buffer and Write-to-SD-Card (allowing User Choice of which JPG Mode to be used)

2) Maintain a Frame Count control, and maybe a Time Limit control (Jupiter Imaging only being good for 3-4min contiguous Stacking before Planetary Rotation starts to smear the resulting Image)

3) Return the DSLR to initial RAW Mode after completion

 

This would result in a Large Collection of In-Camera JPG Images, assuming the SDK cannot later be used to Download them for further Processing.

There are several AP-related Image Processing Apps which later combine the individual JPGs into an AVI (including VirtualDub - which BYE/BYN uses), as well as a couple of Planetary Image Stacking Apps (AutoStakkert2, RegiStax6, supporting Apps AstroPIPP, WinJUPOS) which can process collections of JPGs directly to Stacked Planetary Images.

While these JPG Images wouldn't have the benefit of the Cropping performed by BYE in 5x LiveView mode, each of the above-listed AP Image Stacking Apps has an Automated Cropping Function which can Intelligently Follow the Planet as it Drifts across the Images.

As long as the JPG Mode selected is either Lossless or only uses mild Compression, the JPG Image Quality should be Every Bit as Good as that of the LiveView-Capture since in both cases the same In-Camera processing is invoked.

 

The DSLR SDKs might offer the ability to identify the In-Camera Filenames assigned for Frames of each "JPG Planetary Imaging Run", and if BYE/BYN cannot offer to Download all the Images from the SD Card then at least can identify the Beginning and Ending Filenames (for later processing).  These SDKs might even allow for Creation of individual On-Card Directories to further facilitate later Image Processing.

BYE/BYN might even be able to initiate the follow-on Image Stacking processes (AutoStakkert2 and AstroPIPP and WinJUPOS are actively supported by their developers) with a Command-Line formatted to invoke Stacking (or at least Cropping) with the proper Image Filename Lists.  Else BYE/BYN might offer to create a "Monster Uncropped AVI" from the accumulated JPG Files via VirtualDub.