Thought it was in color

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dhmiller
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:15 pm

Thought it was in color

#1

Post by dhmiller »

JUst shot 50 frames of the sun using a solar filter. I thought I had captured everything in color and I also thought I had set the output settings in PIPP to retain color, but I cant seem to find a way to get anything but a grayscale image. The Sharpcap settings are below - can anyone confirm that it should have a captured a color/RGB image and tell me how I can confirm that my PIPP settings should ooutput color? And here's a link to a TIFF file created by PIPP:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r8gy8tc84zn8i ... 5.tif?dl=0

Thanks for any help.

[ZWO ASI2600MC Pro]
Debayer Preview=Off
Pan=0
Tilt=0
Output Format=SER file (*.ser)
Binning=2
Capture Area=6248x4176
Colour Space=RAW16
Hardware Binning=Off
High Speed Mode=On
Turbo USB=100(Auto)
Flip=None
Frame Rate Limit=1 every 4 seconds
Gain=100
Exposure=0.001
Timestamp Frames=Off
White Bal (B)=50
White Bal (R)=50
Brightness=86
Anti Dew Heater=Off
Temperature=20.4
Cooler Power=55
Target Temperature=-10
Cooler=On
Auto Exp Max Gain=350
Auto Exp Max Exp M S=30
Auto Exp Target Brightness=100
Mono Bin=Off
Banding Threshold=35
Banding Suppression=0
Apply Flat=None
Subtract Dark=None
#Black Point
Display Black Point=0.291015625
#MidTone Point
Display MidTone Point=0.3369140625
#White Point
Display White Point=0.792015625
Notes=
TimeStamp=2021-07-05T16:14:29.6188609Z
SharpCapVersion=3.2.6411.0
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admin
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Re: Thought it was in color

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

there's colour in that TIFF image - a bit of a green cast, but that can be quite normal with many cameras as they have the highest sensitivity in the green part of the spectrum. The sun (assuming this is a white light sun image) isn't a good target for getting any colour, since almost by definition it gives off white light.

To be honest I think you've done everything right and all you need to do is tweak the white balance of your images when processing - you may want to go for a white look or a false yellow/orange.

cheers,

Robin
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turfpit
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Re: Thought it was in color

#3

Post by turfpit »

Taking your downloaded image, I managed to produce this in GIMP:

final.JPG
final.JPG (64.54 KiB) Viewed 1064 times


The steps:
1) Load the TIFF file in GIMP

2) Colors > Curves

3) Select the Blue channel, grab the curve and drag to the bottom right (effectively removing blue).

blue-channel.JPG
blue-channel.JPG (57.14 KiB) Viewed 1064 times


4) Select the Red channel, grab the curve and drag upwards. This will create a yellow/orange image which can be adjusted to taste.

red-channel.JPG
red-channel.JPG (65.24 KiB) Viewed 1064 times


What solar filter are you using? Some makes produce a white image and others a yellow image.

Dave
dhmiller
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:15 pm

Re: Thought it was in color

#4

Post by dhmiller »

Thanks very much. That's a big help. I just bought a white light solar filter, so wasn't sure what to expect. Don't suppose there is any way to get more detail in the image? Thanks again.
admin wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 6:11 pm Hi,

there's colour in that TIFF image - a bit of a green cast, but that can be quite normal with many cameras as they have the highest sensitivity in the green part of the spectrum. The sun (assuming this is a white light sun image) isn't a good target for getting any colour, since almost by definition it gives off white light.

To be honest I think you've done everything right and all you need to do is tweak the white balance of your images when processing - you may want to go for a white look or a false yellow/orange.

cheers,

Robin
dhmiller
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:15 pm

Re: Thought it was in color

#5

Post by dhmiller »

Thanks very much. I was able to duplicate the same look in PS. It's a Kendrick white light filter, so I guess false color is needed. I didn't get the detail I was expecting, though I have a bunch of other images at different exposures, so may batch process to see what else I can pull out. Thanks again for your help.
turfpit wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 7:31 pm Taking your downloaded image, I managed to produce this in GIMP:


final.JPG



The steps:
1) Load the TIFF file in GIMP

2) Colors > Curves

3) Select the Blue channel, grab the curve and drag to the bottom right (effectively removing blue).


blue-channel.JPG



4) Select the Red channel, grab the curve and drag upwards. This will create a yellow/orange image which can be adjusted to taste.


red-channel.JPG



What solar filter are you using? Some makes produce a white image and others a yellow image.

Dave
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turfpit
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Re: Thought it was in color

#6

Post by turfpit »

Yes white light solar filters will require false colour to be applied.

The TIFF image available for download was 6000x4000. The camera settings file showed 6000x4000 but with bin 2. If you captured at bin2 that will have reduced detail.

ASI2600 I would have thought of as more for wide field work. You could try with a Barlow but are then at the mercy of 'seeing' quality.

Dave
dhmiller
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Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:15 pm

Re: Thought it was in color

#7

Post by dhmiller »

I didn't find a 1x1 option. I think it just said No Binning, which is what I chose. Is that the best option?
turfpit wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 8:16 pm Yes white light solar filters will require false colour to be applied.

The TIFF image available for download was 6000x4000. The camera settings file showed 6000x4000 but with bin 2. If you captured at bin2 that will have reduced detail.

ASI2600 I would have thought of as more for wide field work. You could try with a Barlow but are then at the mercy of 'seeing' quality.

Dave
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turfpit
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Re: Thought it was in color

#8

Post by turfpit »

Don't have that camera - Robin will be best placed to answer this.

I have just been reading this book to get in shape for solar imaging, £7 for a Kindle edition. 44 pages only but is a good start.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Taking-P ... 845&sr=8-4

https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/ will give you some idea of what your equipment will capture.

https://www.astrobin.com/search/?q=sola ... nomination Astrobin top pick nominations searching on solar for what various equipment combinations are capable of producing.

Dave
dhmiller
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Re: Thought it was in color

#9

Post by dhmiller »

Great resources! Thanks very much.
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admin
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Re: Thought it was in color

#10

Post by admin »

Hi,

the TIF image is ~6000x4000 pixels, so no binning has been applied. I wonder if the binning=2 is a bug in the capture settings file output. I will check.

[edit] - just checked and the binning seems to be set correctly in the capture settings file in 3.2.6482. I noticed you are using an older version, so suggest an update to 3.2.6482 or 4.0

cheers,

Robin
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