Tech-Pan/CCD Comparison
When I first heard about CCD cameras, one of their alleged advantages over film
was their increase in resolving power. Being a fan of Kodak's fine grained Tech
Pan black-and-white film, I was somewhat skeptical. I recently picked up an SBIG
ST237A CCD camera and was finally able to make a comparison myself. My first-light
image (below) was intentionally selected to be the same target as one of the better
images taken with a larger telescope I used to own.
The comparison really isn't a fair one. The CCD image is a single, noisy image. I intend
to stack a minimum of three to reduce noise. The CCD image was also taken through a heavy
red filter to reduce the effects of moonlight during the exposure. There are lots of blue
bits to the galaxy, which are filtered out in the image.
Image processing on both images was very simple - levels and curves were adjusted, plus a
small amount of blurring to help mask noise/grain.
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13" f4.5 Tech Pan Image
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- Film: Hypered Kodak tech pan
- Scope: 13" f4.5 Newtonian
- Exposure: 16 Minutes
- Location: Carseland, Ab. Canada
- Date: May 1998
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8" f6 CCD Image
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- Camera:SBIG ST-237A CCD Camera
- Scope: 8" f6 Newtonian
- Filter: Lumicon Hydrogen-Alpha filter
- Exposure: 20 Minutes
- Location: Cayley, Ab. Canada
- Date: April 20, 2002
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