ML for Astronomy: Features?

[darethehair]

[first post, 2nd attempt...]

After my intervalometer died, I decided to install ML onto my 500D.  Works great!

Astronomy is my primary interest, and ML would appear to provide quite a bit of functionality to make it easier.  I would appreciate it if other astronomers could verify/correct/add to my humble observations for using ML for this purpose

1) Intervalometer:
- good for typical timelapse and image-stacking purposes i.e. taking a lot of pictures automatically
- for both bright (Sun/Moon/Planet) objects and dim (wide field and DSO)
- replaces need for external intervalometer or tethered USB control (e.g. Gphoto2)
- highest resolution photos possible (JPG and Raw)
- bad in that causes wear and tear on camera shutter

2) Intervalometer + Silent Picture:
- good for cropped images of bright (Sun/Moon/Planet) objects
- provides 5x and 10x zoom of areas of interest in the frame
- good is that there is no wear to the shutter
- good for image stacking
- seems to be alternative to USB-tethered PC solution i.e. EOS-MOVREC
- bad in that resolution is far less than 'real' photos are, so not appropriate for high resolution timelapses

3) Movie + FPS Override:
- similar benefits to #2
- no 5x and 10x zoom feature
- good for highest resolution timelapses
- bad in that maximum interval around 1 image every 5 seconds or so
- probably a great mode for daytime cloud timelapses

Comments?

P.S. I would dearly love to use #2 tor replace EOS-MOVREC.  No need to drag a netbook/laptop around!  However, the DSLR screen is (of course) much smaller, so focus is not as easy

[buggz]

Perhaps an external monitor solution?
Check out the thread at Fred Miranda Alt Gear forum:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1134513

>>P.S. I would dearly love to use #2 tor replace EOS-MOVREC.  No need to drag a netbook/laptop around!  However, the DSLR screen is (of course) much smaller, so focus is not as easy

[francescosbg]

I think the high iso function in liveview also very useful.....

[darethehair]

Perhaps an external monitor solution?

Actually, in my own opinion, if someone is willing to carry along another device to supplement ML and the camera, I would be more interested in an android-based tablet application to do the 'remote control', on a 7" or 10" screen e.g. DSLR Controller, on, say, a 7" Nexus 7 tablet:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1202082

All the 'astro' features are not yet in that app, but it sounds like the creator is willing to consider them.

[darethehair]

I think the high iso function in liveview also very useful.....

Do you mean the 'LV Display Gain' feature?  If so, then I agree with you, in which case I would add another 'astro' feature to the list:

4) LV Display Gain:
- When used for still photos, provides option for very high display brightness gain for framing and/or focusing

Another feature that I have not explored yet might be this one (can anything confirm for astro use?):

2B) Silent Pic Hi-Res + intervalometer:
- similar to #2 but high resolution via building larger pic using matrix of smaller silent pics
- not sure it is fast enough to image brighter astronomical objects into a single undistorted image suitable for, say, image stacking