Mar 28 2026 APP 2.0.0-beta40 will be released in 7 days.
It did take a long time to have the work finished on this and it will have a major performance boost of 30-50% over 2.0.0-beta39 from calibration to integration. We extensively optimized many critical parts of APP. All has been tested to guarantee correct optimizations. Drizzle and image resampling is much faster for instance, those modules have been completely rewritten. Much less memory usage. LNC 2.0 will be released which works much better and faster than LNC in it's current state. And more, all will be added to the release notes in the coming weeks...
Update on the 2.0.0 release & the full manual
We are getting close to the 2.0.0 stable release and the full manual. The manual will soon become available on the website and also in PDF format. Both versions will be identical and once released, will start to follow the APP release cycle and thus will stay up-to-date to the latest APP version.
Once 2.0.0 is released, the price for APP will increase. Owner's license holders will not need to pay an upgrade fee to use 2.0.0, neither do Renter's license holders.
I'm having a hard time getting flat field calibration when using a Canon 6Da + 70-200 f/2.8 stopped down to f/4 or a 135 F/2 stopped down to 2.8 or even 3.2.
I created a folder with a MD, MB, 15 lights and 20 flats if anyone can try and help me out plz!
That looks really strange indeed. Exactly how are you taking you flats, do you use special software (like SGP) to take them, what are your settings etc. I'll have a look at your data as well.
@vincent-mod
AV mode with BYEOS. I put the flats in the Dropbox link.
@vincent-mod
Triple layer of diffusion fabric stretched over lens with rubber band. Lens pressed against flat white laptop screen. Same f/4 but lower ISO which shouldn’t matter.
Ah ha! I had the exact same problem. Let me guess, you have a light pollution filter screwed onto the end of your lens. The problem is created by stray light. I corrected it by making a lens hood out of black felt and extended quite a bit beyond the end of the lens - acts as a good dew shield too, when getting the lights. I take my flats by pointing to a dusk sky and one needs a lot of light baffle to prevent stray light. If you are using the t-shirt method, it may have something to do with where you put the t-shirt and if you have a filter or not. I found with the t-shirt method, you cannot have a dew shield and probably not a LP filter at the end of the lens.
I am not using any filters Best they can cause reflections on bright stars but I am using the lens hood. For flats I have to remove the hood. I’ll try and do some tests without using the lens hood. Good point thanks
Ok, I'll get to your data tomorrow. Flats do indeed need to be taken in the exact same conditions as your lights so that hood difference might affect it. Keeping the focus exactly the same is important too, I can imagine the lens focusring shifting a little bit easily.
Good point on the focus, I’ll tape the focus next time.
ps. I had a look at your data and it looks like the flats are working actually, I'm now suspecting stray light maybe in your lights. And this is more likely as I look closer, trying without flats and then to get the gradient gone, APP clearly is unable to do so as there is no normal gradient. This is almost always the case with light coming into your lens from e.d. a light somewhere in a corner or so.
Hi Robert @huerbsch (& @vincent-mod),
Were you able to solve your flat issue in the mean time?
I would think your issue is caused by either:
- stray light entering your light and your flats in different amounts...
- not shooting the flats with the exact same optical train as the lights. The circle illumination pattern actually might have to do with the lens hood being there or not in the optical train and/or the pressing as mentioned : "Lens pressed against flat white laptop screen"
Kind regards,
Mabula
Thanks everyone, I will try your recommendations and report back.
