magnilux - Astronomy Technology Today

NEWPRODUCTS
INCANUS LTD
Introduces Astro Photography Tool
Incanus Ltd has announced
the introduction of a new software
tool, Astro Photography
Tool, or APT, an application
that facilitates automated
control of Canon EOS cameras
for more effective use in
astrophotography. Said Ivaylo
Stoynov of Incanus Ltd, “It was
developed by astrophotographers,
for astrophotographers.
We are very proud that with our
user interface, we started a new
wave among the developers that
work on astronomy-dedicated software
and soon there will be other product
with similar levels of dark-adaptation
preservation.”
Indeed, while the primary function of
the tool is automation of camera control
for greater ease of completion of almost all
stages of the imaging session, a specific
focus of the tool’s design was preservation
of dark adaptation of the users eyes.
The software is maturing quickly, with
significant updates appearing almost
monthly. Stoynov continued, “We keep
close contact with astro photographers
from all over the world and the discussions
with them help us a lot to improve APT.
Every change is inspired from our or
others’ real experience under the sky; every
new feature is added because there was a
need. If you want to see what we made for
a year, take a look on the History Page
[www.ideiki.com/astro/History.aspx].”
Features of APT include: Live View
support for assistance in focusing in combination
with a Bahtinov or other focusing
mask; AntiVibration pause before exposure
to account for vibration induced by movement
of the camera’s mirror mechanism;
three modes for long-exposure control;
Shoestring Astronomy DSUSB/DSUSB2
support; support for any serial control
cable; flexible exposure control; automatic
preview with every exposure; definable
exposure sets – Light, Dark, and Flat frame
plans are supported; provision for multicamera
operation; storing destination selection
(Camera/PC/Camera+PC); Live View
recording in sequence of JPGs; Field-of-
View calculator; alignment aid; objectframing
aid; monitoring of laptop and
camera battery levels, as well as camera free
space; lens control for Digic III and later;
support for TEMPer and TEMPerHUM
sensors (available on eBay); Live View
image intensification to show fainter
objects in real time; LV Stack – stacks the
Live View images in real time to assist in
framing fainter objects; exit temperature
readings; Tooltips in a number of languages;
pause/resume function when plan
execution is in progress; auto-synchronization
of the camera’s clock on connection;
splash screen to show loading progress;
Night Mode for the user’s guide; Full
Width Half Maximum focusing method;
white balance control; and that’s just the
“Demo Version” (there are no time restrictions
on use the Demo Version).
Stoynov reports that Incanus plans for
future enhancements include: integration
with PHD Guiding to support Auto-
Dithering, more user-interface and performance
optimizations, Preview Zoom,
and a bulb mode for the “Shoot” button.
For more information of APT, please
visit www.AstroPlace.net.
30 Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY