Back in 2010, I had to pick between a cheap webcam and a proper CCD for my first Saturn photo.

I went with the CCD, and after three nights of fighting with the software, I finally got a grainy but real image of the rings, which felt way better than a blurry webcam shot would have. Anyone have tips for cleaning up old noisy data from early gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanprice1mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, that webcam shot might have been the better call back then. Getting any image at all builds momentum, and fighting software for three nights kills the fun fast. A blurry picture you get in an hour beats a grainy one you almost quit on. Early gear data is tough to save, sometimes starting fresh with what you learned is the real win.

gray5571mo ago

My old Meade DSI had that same grainy look. I found stacking way more frames than you think helps, like 500 instead of 100. The free program Registax has a wavelet filter that can pull surprising detail from that noise without making it look fake.