ASICAP NEWBIE

rafxr99

Hey guys, I know this is a topic i found being hit but I didnt find some specific answers...
just took delivery of a 462MC. Should I record video or frames? when I do frames in 8 bit vs 16 bit it switches from PNG to FIT and the image opens all messed up on 16bit (colors) why is that?

when I do in TIF 16 bit its black and white, I need to debayer in post somewhere every photo?

thanks,

johnpd

I assume since you are using ASICAP you are imaging solar system objects (planets, Moon, Sun). For planets it is best to do videos as it is tough to get a decent individual frame for them due to atmospheric issues. Then process the video in software that can extract the best frames of the video and stack them. Autostakkert is an example. For the Moon and Sun you can take individual images and come out with something decent.
I am not familiar with ASICAP as I use the phone/tablet app for imaging. The documentation on the ASI products leaves a little to be desired. I am not sure what process you went through to take the images. Does it have the option of saving the captured image as a .PNG or .FIT file? I do use the ASIFitsView program and ended up with something interesting. When I used ASIFitsView to view and save a .FIT file I had created, I ended up with different results depending how I defined the output. If I saved it as a .PNG file, it saved a nice 8-bit "stretched" file looking just is it did in the viewer. When I saved it as a .TIF file (16-bit) and opened it with a generic file viewer, it appeared dark. I realized that it obviously had not saved the stretch or white balance processing that the FitsView had done so I had to use some software to get it looking proper. So apparently ZWO is assuming you will take the .TIF file into some other software and process it to your hearts content.

Hope that helps,
JohnD

Tech@ZWO

Only color camera at RAW8 can select "RAW Data", saved as "black and white", not selected, saved as "color".
Mono camera or RAW16, only support "RAW Data", you need the Stack software to transfer it to color in the post-processing.