Well, the titel pretty much brings my question on point. Here is some background information:
I recently took shots with my old DSLR Camera and my William Optics Z61 + the adjustable Flat61 (https://williamoptics.com/new-adjustable-flat61-for-z61).In those images I've seen no distortion to the edges whatsoever (I bought the flattener because I mentioned them before and wanted to get rid of them).With the exact same Setup where I only swapped my DSLR with a brand new ZWO ASI2600 MC Pro, I got images where the distortion on the edges is now way stronger than without the Flattener on my DSLR. I simply cannot understand what exactly happens here.
To clarify my values a bit:
I'm using excatly 12.9 mm on the flattener (as shown in their documentation/images)
I'm also not using any kind of Backfocus-Spacing (i still do the focus with the main-telescope, maybe that's bad?)
Even tho my DSLR gives clean results with this very setup where my CCD fails, I would say my CCD is even further away (spaced) from the Field-Flattener compared to my DSLR (which should (if i assume correctly) lead to better instead of worse results)
If you want to compare some images (with the Flattener build on):
This is with my DSLR (a bit older image but with the field-flattener built-on): https://imgur.com/a/4T9NHlk
In this link there is annother Image shot with my DSLR (Pleiades) and 1 image shot with my CCD (Horse Head Neb.): https://imgur.com/a/GTATZtC
Sadly i was not able to shoot more images with my CCD due to cloudy/rainy nights but you can clearly see the distortion on the image which i took with my ccd (the focus should be correct tho).Would be super cool if someone can help me out here, I'm a bit lost :/
I just got my William optics z73 and it’s field flattener/reducer. I had a t-ring for my Nikon camera. But it doesn’t fit, is there a special wider t-ring I need to get? I’d be thankful if someone can give me a recommendation for a Nikon F t-ring that will fit! Thanks
I have a Sony a6000 camera and the Zenithstar 61. Out of the hobby for a bit due to the discovery I needed a field flattener for this APO, I finally bit bullet and got the compatible flattener (Flat61).
My question lies at the setting for the flattener itself. It looks like the distance to the sensor can be altered a good bit between the flattener and camera. Is this something I play around with, or is there an exact measurement I need to optimize the image train to the camera sensor?
Thanks in advance!
I'm all set for my first astrophotography session end of this month. My equipment : HEQ5 pro mount, Explorer scientific ED80 triplet refractor, Canon SL2 camera and 50mm guidescope with ASI120mm mini guide cam.
The only thing I cannot find in stock anywhere is a good field flattener for my ed80 refractor. Is it worth attempting astrophotography without a field flattener? Or I should wait till I find one in stock somewhere?
I am in the market for a field flattener for my skywatcher telescope and was wondering which are compatible with the scope. I am fairly happy with my focal length so ideally I'd like one without a reducer on it.
There are a Williams Optics z81 doublet refractor telescope and 6aIII field flattener, both in excellent condition, for $1,100 locally. Would this be a good combo, from a quality as well as a price standpoint? Just getting into astrophotography and researching gear at this point. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.
Hi, I just bought a Meade 6000 Series 80mm APO and I’m looking to do deep sky astrophotography with it. I need a field flattener for it, and have it preferably be an 0.8x reducer combination (although I’m willing to settle for a reducer around 0.8x). The 2in one that Meade sells for this scope is discontinued. What other field flattener/reducer combos can I use with this, a suggestion would be greatly appreciated. I was looking at the William Optics FLAT6AIII but you need this weird expensive M68 to M63 ring adapter that you can only buy from TS in Germany and I’m in the USA. Thanks.
I have an AT72EDII and the AT2FF that is recommended for that scope (not the focal reducer version). There are claims backfocus is 57+-4mm and I have a ASI294MM and some astrodon filters that I am trying to learn go use (just LRGB currently). I have followed the guide and gotten the back focus at 57-58 mm with the normal extenders that are provided by ZWO but I am still getting pretty significant field curvature. I have pushed it out further to probably 60 using shims I 3D printed, but I got stuck last night with my extenders being locked together and I need to get some clamps to remove them to try inserting more.
I noticed the backfocus always getting better so I tried to unscrew the pieces at other sections to increase the distance and just see if I could approximate it and see how close I am. This probably added some tilt in some spots, but I couldn't find the field curvature disappearing in any of the corners, or seeming to become reasonable compared to what the reviews say for it.
I found a post saying that they found a back focus at 70 mm for that flattener or a similar set up flattener despite a reported 55 or 57 mm back focus.
My question: am I doing something wrong? Should just keep adding shims or try to go whole hog and do the 20 mm extender and see if I can see the back focus overshoot (Apparently the field curvature should look like it is perpendicular to the radial direction if I overshoot?) Can this distance be that far off? Could I have a dud of a FF and should just replace it / call up Astronomics and see what they will do? With so much gear taking forever to ship, it takes me 3-6 months to test some equipment, so I don't know if I can even return these things anymore.
Hi everyone! Can I thread in a 2" filter inside the AT-60ED Field Flattener? Thanks for your help in advance!
Hello :)
I recently bought the Explore Scientific 80ed telescope and am currently looking for a field flattener. I would have bought the orion field flattener for short refractor but they're all sold out. My question is if there is a specific thing to look out for when getting a FF for my specific telescope and do you have any recommendations? Can it be any 2" FF for short refractors? Thank you
I recently got my field flattener after waiting 9+ months, AstroTech Field Flattener for the AT72EDII
I tried it out for the first time and I am a bit disappointed.
https://imgur.com/XXnCGk8
Compare that with
https://imgur.com/qeMuVGy
Definitely an improvement, but the edges are still not sharp. I am using a full frame sensor, but I have read that APS-C sensors should still work.
Hello guys, thank you forwardly for any information.
This https://agenaastro.com/william-optics-field-flattener-68.html
is my FF for a WO FLT 110 paired with a canon 60D(Full Spectrum mod).
MY Setup
HEQ5-PRo
WO FLT 110 + FF (770mm Focal length)
200mm Uniguide WO paired with a 290mm zwo mini
Setup is controlled by a Rasppi 4 running Stellarmate
And kstars running on my Laptop (Windows)
Platesolving via online astrometry option in the Ekos software.
Also tried to set FOV to 0',0' but it goes instantly back to the preconfigured setting
Edit: astrometry goes into timeout after recieving my image
I bought a Zenithstar 103 and I know I need a field flattener but does it need to be a WO one or will any 2inch T48 one worth with my full frame DSLR?
Hi all!Sorry if this a basic question, but I am getting quite confused with the matter.
I am currently planning on buying a William's Optics Z73 Refractor to use as my main imaging scope, with a crop-sensor Nikon DSLR (D7200). While looking at a field flattener to use on the setup, I realized that the William's Optic 73A field flattener is sold-out in every stores around. I was wondering if it was possible to use another field flattener, like the Explore Scientific 2'' (https://www.otelescope.com/store/product/3035-explore-scientific-2-field-flattener-for-ed-apo-es-ffedapo-00/) , which seems to have the same size and fitting as the other one, and seems to allow for the same 2'' filters. It doesn't say anything about compatibility with other brands, but I am curious to see if it would still be a good fit.
Thanks in advance,
Sam
So I have been looking around at possibly getting a William Optics Zenithstar 61 and I've seen something called a field flattener show up as a recommended item. More specifically it is the Flat61. After seeing that it costs an additional $200 I would really like to know what is it that this actually does and is it something that is really necessary when first starting out in AP?
So I've basically decided to ditch the whole idea of using a telephoto lens, and head straight onto using a proper telescope. After doing some calculations in Stellarium, I went for the Evostar ED72 by Skywatcher instead of the 150mm Black Diamond (also by SW), because I like the wider field, as well as the fact it's smaller (can easily take to dark sites), and I don't have to deal with collimation which is pretty annoying. But now I need to look for a field flattener. Will an Orion Field Flattener work well with it? The Orion one seems a lot more affordable than the specifically designed Evostar flattener, which is basically 2x more expensive. And those $200 could be later saved for an auto-guiding setup (but we're only getting the mount + scope + any adapters/etc). On CloudyNights I saw a guy who used a ED72 with a TS-Optics flattener and his results looked fine, but I just wanted to double check if a differently branded flattener works fine.
EDIT: This is a meta thing, but I don't seem to have the option to add a flair to my post?
Can someone help me select the right field flattener for my ES 80ED? I shoot using a ZWO ASI183GT. I have read many posts encouraging people to buy the flattener that is specifically designed for their scope but on the ES website I don’t see one designed just for the 80ED, only a generic flattener.
Also, is a flattener equally necessary for a dedicated Astro-camera vs a DSLR?
Thanks
Can’t seem to find any where they aren’t back ordered.
Can I use a field flattener in my Orion XT8i Dobsonian? I am not interested in using it for astrophotography, but simply to allow more light and wider fields for visual astronomy.
Also, can I use a 32mm Plossl eyepiece with that?
Hey /r/astrophotography!
I'm on the market for a field flattener for my 130mm f/7 (910mm FL) refractor. I'm trying to cover (most of) a full-frame (37x26mm) CCD chip. The refractor has a 3" (!) focuser, and I'm looking to adapt something directly to the drawtube and avoid a 2" adapter, if possible. PreciseParts.com can machine up some nifty stuff.
I've got my eye on the 2.4" Televue RFL-4087, but frankly I have been disappointed with performance of Televue flatteners before. I had the smaller model (TRF-2008) some time ago and still experienced some star elongation at the corners, but admittedly it was on a Newtonian and not a Refractor.
Anyone out there with first-hand experience with the RFL-4087? Other suggestions?
I'm interested in purchasing an h-alpha filter and I'm wondering the best way to integrate it into my current setup.
My current setup: Astrotech AT72ED -> field flattener AT2FF -> tele-extender -> t-ring adapter -> Nikon D3100
The field flattener has 2" threads, so would I be able to put the ha filter there?
I’m looking for a lens to use on my M2 that is extremely compact and durable. 35mm preferred. I’m in the military and will be using it as a documentarian tool in the field, so I’m looking for something that can seamlessly go with my kit without getting bulky. It WILL get abused and tossed around. I’m eyeing the color-skopar 35mm f2.5 because of the size,but I’m curious to see if anyone has other recommendations. Thanks!
I have a Hotech SCA field flattener , a Explore Scientific ES 80 and a full spectrum modified (IR filter completely removed) Canon 450D, and a Astronomik CLS-CCD clip filter. I was expecting better performance.
I have ruled out field rotation. the coma is radial from the corners to the center.
Do you have any ideas on how to trouble shoot this? Could it be the distance from the sensor because of the modification?
I'm new to astrophotography and have a question about my field flattener.
Here is a stacked image of M81 and M82 that i took and just did an auto curve adjustment: http://i.imgur.com/HqRLDZK.jpg
9 -180" lights 5 - darks 15 - bias
stacked in DSS and curve adjusted in Photoshop.
The top left and top right of the first image look like a field flattener issue but then toward the bottom of the image it looks more like the Elipsoids aren't what I would expect to see where they are stretching from the corners but they come more in from the side.
All off the subs have a similar look and I also did a 300" exposure and the stars looked very similar. I didn't notice the stretches any more exaggerated.
I'm using: Orion ED80t CF Orion Field Flattener canon 60D SSAG Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope
Is this a field flattener issue?
Should I return my field flattener (should I expect better results from a different field flattener)?
If so anyone have experience with a better field flattener for the Orion ED80t? I really don't want a reducer/field flattener since my set up already has a FOV that is very wide. Just a field flattener.
For reference here is a super noisy shot of M51 (unguided) WITHOUT the field flattener http://i.imgur.com/0GPzsQM.jpg
Price is $875, shipped to CONUS only. I accept PayPal and will only ship to PayPal verified addresses.
Time stamp and very detailed images
I'm the second owner of this camera, the 1st owner purchased it brand new direct from Zone Vi in the 90s and barely used it. It's in really lovely shape. I'm selling because I have recently purchased another 4x5 camera and it's time to let this one go. I have had a great experience with this camera.
USED. The Zone VI is in very nice shape, but it has been used. There are slight marks and rubs. The brass has a patina in places. There is a tripod mount stain on the base. The inside of the front standard has some wood rubbed off from a large lens being forced in. None of this affects function, it works perfectly. The accordion bellows are in very good shape. The ground glass is fine, but it does have some loss of coating in places, you can see it in the shot of the ground glass. It did not get in my way, but I felt it was worth mentioning. The Zone VI carry case is used and in fair shape. The bag bellows are not light tight, there is some separation between the bag and the frame.
This listing includes:
Zone VI 4x5 camera.
Bag Bellows for use with wide angle lenses. These bellows are rare. The condition of these bellows is not perfect, there is some separation between the bag and frame. These will need to be repaired but are in otherwise good shape.
Zone VI soft case. Carries camera, lenses, film holders etc.
4 Zone VI lens boards. Two Copal 0, one Copal 1, and one Copal 3.
Hey guys,
Last August I purchased the Orion ED80 f/7.5 600m/Sirius Combo as well as the Orion Magnificent Mini Autoguider package. I have yet to use it as it is quite complicated figuring out the Autoguider part and the alignment. But now that the winter is over and snow is gone, I can finally use what I have been dying to try all winter.
I have been looking into extra pieces lately to add to my arsenal and I noticed Field Flatteners. it took my a while to figure out what it was and how they worked, and that they are only used for AP. Now I am just looking for advice on what flattener I should get for this setup and if I should plan for future upgrades of a new OTA when buying this piece. Also how necessary are they?
This is one that I have found, but I am not sure if it is right for me to get.
Thanks for any advice! :)
