ZWO ASI294-MC Pro settings help

Gadgetman

I have had my ZWO 294MC Pro for about a year now. It had been taking okay pictures when I first got it, but I really did not research settings well. After viewing many YouTube videos on this camera, I did do the sensor analysis and tired some shots from my light polluted backyard. The sensor recommended gain at 119 as I recall. I have taken darks and flats, but I am still not getting any decent results. The auto stacking is now giving me errors and dropping frames. My PHD guiding is showing 0.34 and less TOT arc seconds which is supposed to be very good if under 1-arch second. I have tried the ASI Studio and SharpCap to auto stack. Not doing well. I even tried just single shots to stack later and not getting good pictures doing that either. My Canon EOS 60Da takes better pictures and its picture frame area is about the same size as the 294. I also have the ZWO 120MC-Pro, and it does well for planets. I have been taking astrophotography since around 2000. Been using my Canon for about 5-years now exclusively. Just do not know what I am doing wrong with the 294. Others get better pictures than I am under the same light polluted skies or darker skies. It is frustrating to go to a dark site and get nothing good. I got the camera because it was to take faster pictures than my Canon. I use an Equatorial Wedge mounted Meade 10” LX200GPS telescope most all the time and depending on the size of the object, I may or may not use a focal reducer. Can anyone give me some setting suggestions?

Tech@ZWO

Gadgetman tired some shots from my light polluted backyard

Why not try narrow band?
https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/zwo-new-narrowband-2-filter

WalterT

Gadgetman Can you post an example of a “bad picture” along with the details such as number of lights, darks, flats, camera temperature, exposure length, telescope FL, etc.

Horsehead

Gadgetman I use an uncooled 294 and am very happy with my pictures. I use deep sky stacker(free) and then gimp(free) to process with. You will have trouble doing any galaxies unless they are large, like M31 or M33. The smaller ones require much more exposure time to get good results. I also use a 2” Lenhance filter. It helps a great deal, as do accurate darks, bias, and flats. You have a great camera. It’s the one I will upgrade to when the money is right. Oh, the greatest improvement you will see is with an EAF. I didn’t know how much I needed one until I got it. I am also an ASIAIR user, and could not praise it enough.

Gadgetman

WalterT Be glad to post when the skies clear. Rain or clouds in my area of the deep south for many days is predicted. Thanks for the reply. If I get a clear night in the next week it will be under very light polluted conditions and an almost full moon if not full.

WalterT

Gadgetman no problem, take your time.

Just fyi. I live in a bortle 6-7 and have gotten good results with this camera with my 420mm and 910mm scopes. On my 9.25” EdgeHD however, even with the 0.7x reducer it was a lot harder. The guiding and focus need to be dead accurate. Also to achieve similar detail and brightness results my total exposure time had to be about 3x longer than the shorter scopes. In general about 4-5hrs for galaxy photos.

rudibarani

I use the ASI294MC Pro for a few month now and to me, its a big step up from my Canon DSLR. If your guiding is that good, you should be able to get decent images. As @WalterT said, we would need some of the images where you see problems togethe. Metadata would be important, too: exposure times, light pollution, filters used...