PSA: I used to think stacking 50 frames was the only way to get a good deep sky image

For years, I would spend hours collecting hundreds of light frames for a single target, like the Orion Nebula. About six months ago, I tried a new method focusing on quality over quantity, using only 20 really good frames with perfect tracking. The result had less noise and more detail than my old stacks. Has anyone else found that cutting down the frame count actually improved their photos?

2 comments

2 Comments

john_sullivan216d ago

Yeah, focusing on quality over quantity is key. I started checking each sub for perfect round stars before it even goes in the stack, total game changer.

max_foster15d agoTop Commenter

Read a post last week where someone said they throw out any sub with even a slightly soft star edge. Seems extreme but they claimed it cut their throwaway rate in half later on. Makes sense if a bad star warps the whole stack.