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The megapixel challenge

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Paul Ecclestone-Brown avatar
Paul Ecclestone-Brown avatar
I just had an idea for a group, the megapixel challenge

We mostly use large cameras now….  But not so long ago sensors were teeny tiny.  Recreate this - and work on the best compostion that you can

Simple rule images must be approx 1 megapixel in size - 1000x1000 pixels is best (or even 1,024 x 1,024 for purists!), 2000x500, whatever

Monochrome, colour, broad or narrow band just as long as they have a million pixels

Find the best bits of your bigger picture…..

Just search for the group in the explore menu…..
Franco Grimoldi avatar
Franco Grimoldi avatar
Should I assume that down-sampling or binning is not allowed?
Paul Ecclestone-Brown avatar
Paul Ecclestone-Brown avatar
As long as the binning is acknowledged in the description and if it still gives a fun image - go for it!
Well Written Supportive
Clayton Ostler avatar
Clayton Ostler avatar
I love your idea, but I can barely take decent images with my current skills and equipment.

Im still trying to get the most of out of my gear as-is. Intentionally limiting my camera is not in the cards, but I would love to see what the pros come up with.
Paul Ecclestone-Brown avatar
Paul Ecclestone-Brown avatar
Have a go anyway…..
Ashraf AbuSara avatar
Ashraf AbuSara avatar
Could be fun. Here are a couple of crops from my a project I am currently working on.  This is a WIP. This is the native image scale at which the image was acquired. It was drizzled 2x for post processing and then downsampled back to the native resolution. So this image scale is the native image scale it was acquired at.

First one is 2000x500



This is 1024x1024
Franco Grimoldi avatar
Franco Grimoldi avatar
Ashraf AbuSara:
Could be fun. Here are a couple of crops from my a project I am currently working on.  This is a WIP. This is the native image scale at which the image was acquired. It was drizzled 2x for post processing and then downsampled back to the native resolution. So this image scale is the native image scale it was acquired at.

Impressive results for 1:1 scale!
Ashraf AbuSara avatar
Ashraf AbuSara avatar
Franco Grimoldi:
Ashraf AbuSara:
Could be fun. Here are a couple of crops from my a project I am currently working on.  This is a WIP. This is the native image scale at which the image was acquired. It was drizzled 2x for post processing and then downsampled back to the native resolution. So this image scale is the native image scale it was acquired at.

Impressive results for 1:1 scale!

Thanks Frank! Could be a fun threat to see other takes.
Franco Grimoldi avatar
Franco Grimoldi avatar
Alright, I'm very late to the party but... whatever!

I just finished doing 1-megapixel crops from my latest 8 images, 6 of which are yet to be published in AstroBin. In all cases, crops are at 1:1 native resolution, showing 4.6" per pixel, as the base resolution of my 135mm paired with the 2.9um pixels from the 585MC Pro camera.

To make the most out of the crops, I used the following aspect ratios, all within 1 megapixel:
. 16:9: 1333x750
. 3:2: 1225x816
. 4:3: 1154x866
. 5:4: 1118x894

Tarantula Nebula:

4h 30m - Dual narrowband

Vela SNR:

15h 20m - Dual narrowband

M42:

2h 20m - UV/IR

Leo Triplet:

2 hours - UV/IR

Horsehead and Flame:

4h 10m - UV/IR

Southern Pleiades:

1h 30m - UV/IR

Witch Head:

6h - UV/IR

Chameleon Dark Clouds:

6h - UV/IR

I'm very pleasantly surprised with the results I'm getting shooting broadband OSC, much higher perceived resolution than dual-narrowband. This is very bad news: if I want the NB images to match the broadband ones, I'll need to  consider making the jump to mono imaging.

I hope you like the pics!
Helpful Insightful Engaging
Joey Conenna avatar
Joey Conenna avatar






Last one was resampled 2x.

I've always loved the detail my 10" f/4 gave me with 3.76um pixels. I am going to pair it with a QHY Minicam8 (IMX 585) soon, so 2.9um for a little more sampling (not that it would help), but for me I am actually interested in using the smaller sensor to force myself to take on more small objects. I did not like seeing the "wasted" space around small objects in an APS-C frame before, but now I won't have that luxury