Pro tip: I spent 2 years stacking my telescope shots wrong before a random forum comment mentioned dark frames.

Turns out I was just layering raw images on top of each other like a stack of pancakes, and that one tip about subtracting the sensor noise literally doubled the detail in my Orion Nebula photo from last March, has anyone else missed something this obvious for way too long?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantt3910d ago

Bet your 'raw stacking' was just a JPEG pancake breakfast though.

claire_young768d ago

Oh man, I totally used to think dark frames were overrated too! But then I actually tried a proper stack with them on my Andromeda shot and the background went from grainy to smooth as butter, totally changed my mind.

the_sam10d ago

gonna be real with you, i think people blow dark frames way out of proportion. like yeah it helps a little but your raw stacking was probably giving you 90% of the result anyway. i've done side by side tests with my buddy's rig and honestly i couldn't tell which was which without zooming in and staring forever. the difference is mostly noise reduction in the shadows, not some magical detail unlock. unless you're shooting super faint stuff in heavy light pollution you're probably fine.