The Deep-sky Imaging Primer Paperback – January 1, 2013

I agree with the other 5-star reviewers in recommending this book, but have a couple of additional points to make. I purchased two books on this subject together: This one, "The Deep-Sky Imaging Guide" and the second title "Getting Started: Long Exposure Astrophotography" by Allan Hall (which I also plan on reviewing). I do not regret getting the two titles together.Charles Bracken has created a wonderful, and a BEAUTIFUL, book. For one thing, he uses a lot of COLOR photos and illustrations (where some do not). It may seem a little thin to some at 202 pages, but the type is smaller than "normal" and so this book could have easily been 300 pages if set at a different type size. He has used a two-column per page text layout, making it very readable. This means many of the illustrations, like software screenshots, are also one column wide which seems a little small but is still readable. Helpful tips and supplemental information are set off in darker boxes within the text.The first section of this book (through page 36) covers fundamental concepts of how electronic imaging works "with special attention given to the concepts of signal and noise. This will help you make informed decisions about equipment and processing". This information applies regardless of whether you are using a digital camera or a CCD device. I believe that too many people rush out to buy equipment before understanding these important concepts, and so often regret some of the purchases that they have made. The next section of the of the book (through page 98) covers concepts that it is necessary to understand in the Image Acquisition side of things. The 2nd half of the book (section 3) deals with processing those images to get the most out of the information you have captured.Post-processing sections of this book employ Photoshop. As the book itself says, "Version CS3 is used for the processing illustrations and examples, but the tools are nearly the same from CS3 on. In subsequent versions the interface has changed slightly and some new tools were added, but everything shown is possible in the newer versions. While expensive, Photoshop is the de facto image processing standard for other kinds of photography, and it currently appears to be the most popular choice for astronomical image processing as well." He also employs several Photoshop plug-ins.The end of the post-processing section concludes with two very helpful chapters covering start-to-finish walk-through examples of the concepts previously covered: "DSLR Processing Example: The Witch's Broom Nebula" and "CCD Processing Example: The Rosette Nebula in Narrowband".I have a hard time seeing how anyone would be disappointed by this wonderful book. If you are looking for specific equipment recommendations you will have to look elsewhere. In my opinion, Bracken has, for the most part, wisely avoided this thus making his information a little more "timeless" than those that spend a lot of time on specific equipment and tools. But you will feel far better informed in understanding the various trade-offs between different approaches and in order to choose which pieces are right for you and your pocketbook.

Here's the "I'm too Lazy to Read the Whole Review Summary"Overall, this is an excellent reference and will provide a foundation to the beginning and intermediate imager. Excellent discussion of signal, noise, CCD operation, etc. There is information in this book even for the advanced imager.ReviewI purchased this book based on the other reviews and a desire to better understand CCDs, noise, signal and image calibration/processing as these topics relate to astronomical imaging. Charles Bracken delivers on all these subjects (and more) in a concise, understandable way. The first two chapters of the book deal with how a CCD sensors actually works, types of noise and signal to noise ratio. I think these chapters are so good they're worth the price of the book alone. Don't think if you're an imaging veteran these two chapters are too elementary - I would guess most people who read this book/chapter will walk away saying "I didn't know that..." or "So that's what ___ is".Bracken supports the topic with a small amount of math, but explains virtually all the math terms along the way; i.e. Standard Deviation, mean, etc. Other texts I've read quickly devolve into the mathematics without adequately preparing the reader.These initial chapters (chapters 1 and 2) are the best I've read on these subjects and will allow you to answer questions like "Do I need bias frames if I'm not scaling my darks?", "What is my true signal to noise ratio?", "Why does imaging under a dark sky matter?", "What is noise in a mathematical sense?". You may know these answers already, but after reading this book, I can say with confidence you'll have a deeper understanding of the underlying concepts.The other chapters are equally well written and applicable to both CCD and DSLR users. The chapters on image calibration are particularly good and there are detailed image processing examples to demonstrate the concepts.

Simply superb, exceeds even inflated expectations. It wouldn't be the first book I'd buy if you know *nothing* about astrophotography, but if you have a little bit of understanding this book will catapult you from "look I got an image with blurry stars and maybe a DSO somewhere" to pictures that come close to what you see in magazines. More than that, you'll know what you're doing, always a plus.The book emphasizes processing with Photoshop, which is not inexpensive, but then nothing about even remotely serious astrophotography is inexpensive. The section on processing is worth the price of the book and then some, as is the section on Signal and Noise, and the explanation of the importance of Flats, Bias and Darks. The equipment section is current as of 2015 or so but (unless there are revisions) will get outdated, but that's not that important--most people will begin with a GEM and a small refractor and if they need to go up from there they'll keep current on sites like Cloudy Nights or Stargazers' lounge.What is important is the understanding of what goes into taking a picture set, combining and developing it, and doing all three well, and *that* you will not find elsewhere presented as clearly and thoroughly as here. I have many books on AP, and every day this one sort of pushes itself up a notch. Don't balk at the price, it's a bargain.