Customer Reviews

Digital Astrophotography: The State of the Art (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series)

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Let me start by saying - Do not make this your primary source for information on digital astrophotography. It has a ton of good info for a total beginner like me, but it also leaves out a lot on info.

It has a unique format in that each chapter has a different author (a claimed expert in each field). Some were much better than others. All chapters did a decent job of explaining the process of each kind of technology, but in almost all cases I was left with more questions than answers.

The book did give me a lot of ideas and areas to further research, but I was hoping when I bought it that it would give recommendations for type of equipment to buy and how to use it to get the best results.

BOTTOM LINE -- This book is a great source for info and ideas, just don't assume it will be your only source as it leaves a lot unexplained.

More like a small coffe table book than a comprehensive treatment of the subject. I expected more detail about How To and less glitsey pictures: Book is filled with " Here's a picture of...." and then a nice color photo. I'm returning this one.
Don

IMHO this book is much better than it is described by earlier reviewers. It is a compilation of articles and it must be understood that way. Readers that are looking for an introductory book may look elsewhere but for those who have at least a very basic idea of astrophotography may find this compilation very useful. Now in 2009, the articles may look outdated and a new verion of this book would be a valuable addition but in the meantime, it is worth having a look at. There are very good articles such as out-smarting light pollution, high resoltion ccd imaging, a brief description of Iris sftware by its developer and the wonderful hybird imaging article written by Robert Gendler who has, in my opinion, imaged the best Orion mosaic I have ever seen.
Bottom line, a must for astrophotographers but beginners should probably start with a book that is aimed at beginners.

I agree with other reviewers. There is a good section on imaging with CCD cameras but the other sections (Web cams, Digital SLRs) are weak. Not enough detail for the beginner that wants to get out and image. Too many photographs that don't provide substantial educational value. This is a multi-authored book and there is too much variability in the quality of the chapters. I own other books in Patrick Moore's series that I enjoyed, but this is not one of them.

I found that this book consists of a group of introduction essays that leave more questions unanswered then it answers. If you are looking for a good guide to astrophotography, look elsewhere. It does have nice pictures, however it is very unlikely that you would be able to produce such images on the just the information within the book.

Jon Bosley