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Color vs mono from an artistic perspective

Jerald Kamienski
in PixInsight
After 6 months of narrowband imaging and with the help of Adam's videos I've developed a workflow of processing techniques that works reasonably well for me. And I regularly update my processing based on new techniques I see demonstrated both here and on other forums. I'm also looking ahead to upgrading my current imaging camera (ASI533mm) to it's larger cousin the ASI2600. Primarily to gain a wider field of view. Could go with mosaics but integration times become an issue.

That said, do I go with the 2600 mono or OSC version. The purist in me says go mono. But the artist in me says wait a minute, what's wrong with color? Adam has numerous videos on how to process OSC images so why not go that route. The cost difference between the mono and OSC versions of the camera when filters are factored in is approx $1500 and an OSC appears a bit easier to use.

OK, now to the real artistic issue. I print copies of all my images.  The are convenient to look at and show to family and friends when they visit. I simply don't find myself loading them very often on my computer monitor. Most importantly, the images I print are really inferior to what I see on the monitor, but they still look great printed. At this point you are probably saying he's answered his own question. Go OSC and enjoy life. 

The purist in me just won't let go. For example my usual routine is to image 6hrs per night ( 3hrs H, 3hrs O, 3Hrs S) for three nights. Each morning I run the images through WBPP and take look. And when I compare the results 6hrs vs 12hrs vs 18hrs and to a lesser degree 24hrs its easy to see the improvements given the increased integration times. BUT, if I print one of the 6hr images and one of the 18hr images the differences between the prints are rather subtle. So, the artist has sort of won the argument. But the purist won't give up. He keeps saying, you just don't see the big picture.

So this is where you come in. I would really be interested in hearing your perspective on purchasing the ASI2600mc. What other factors do I need to consider in order to make an informed purchase decision?

If you've read this far, please take a moment longer and share your thoughts.

Thanks

Jerry

Comments

  • BlockHeadBlockHead
    edited September 2024
    My opinion is- given enough time and all of that- OSC is fine. BUT- the issue that people do not understand is that OSC is imperfect in some subtle ways that require *more* attention and *more* time on the processing side of the equation. You learned in my videos on filters, for example, that the RGB filters of OSC cameras are designed to bleed into each other. This makes it a little harder to get clean differentiated colors. It isn't a huge effect...but it is there. There are more other processing effects (dealing with interpolation, noise, rejection..etc etc) that I think on the processing side come into play.

    Usually people are just looking at the acquisition ease of OSC... and neglect that number of heartbeats they might spend on processing to get a desired DIQ (delivered image quality).

    -the Blockhead
  • Jerald Kamienski
    The "purist" won.... ASI2600mm is on order


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