Those sites are really great.
Thanks for the tip on the EF 50 1.8. The shots I took had, lets say...promise.
I've been playing with the shutter vs the ISO, and there does seem to be a sweetspot for the lens that's being used and the light-wash in the area.
Focus is a real bitch. ( I understand about the tape!
) I hadn't bothered to load up the utility software with the camera, and I should have. Reason being, that I can just go ahead and use the laptop to drive the camera. I'll try that out tonight and hopefully the 17" screen gives me a better idea of how well I'm focused than the little three inch screen on the camera.
Tried to email you the raws, but they got bounced back. Without the focus being spot-on though, they really didn't give me much more than the jpg's, other than just bulk. I'll probably hold off on those till I can start taking decent shots.
You're right about the 55-250 and the telescope, no motorized mount, so just to much to argue with. I got a couple of shots that were mediocre at best. A couple points of light that were never crisp so, meh. The scope can pick up the moons of Jupiter, so I may revisit it later.
Going out a midnight tonight to 36.199957, -80.589806, to give it another whirl. If the weekend is decent, I may might run down to the Outer Banks....or Stone Mountain NC