Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Beginner in astrophotography


Recommended Posts

Hi guys I'm new to astro photography and I'm wanted to get into. I was wondering any one out there if you could help me and guide me in for the gear I need to take amazing shots of the Milky Way ,stars, galaxy's ect. I want to get a telescope that I can fix my canon dslr to to take pictures. So I just need you guys to help me on equipment and what I need to have a full setup.

Thanks max

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi and welcome. You've come to the right place.

First bear in mind that Astrophotography is expensive, and initially the most cash goes into the mount since the telescope is less important than holding everything firm while the mount motors track the sky as it rotates.

The minimum recommended setup is a HEQ-5 mount and 80ED-type refractor. My own starting rig is a bit different, but serves basicly the same purpose, a rugged mount and a cheaper more allround scope.

My recommendation is to first read Steve Richards book "Making Every Photon Count" before you spend any money, as this book will tell you how make a complete rig, all basic concepts and to avoid spending money in the wrong gear.

There are a ton of friendly users here that would love to answer any questions you might have, as it is always better to ask first and throw money in the sink later.

Welcome to the dark side.

Edit: Also before investing, just go out with your dslr and a mount and learn to take widefield pictures of the night sky, thats an excellent way to start knowing the sky while you figure out what gear to buy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good bank balance that you want to reduce extensively.

You could put something together for £1200 to £1500 or up to £20,000.

Add a location other then UK, there are astro clubs around that have imaging sections but UK is no use for anything. One good group meets South of me but if you are in Aberdeen little point me saying to drop in and visit.

What do you want to spend?

At a recent 3 night talk one very good DSO imager was heavily implying that any ccd under £2,000 was not worth starting with. DSLR's did not come into consideration.

He used an EQ6 Pro with full guide system, the mount is £1,000. I notice that many here have the AZ-EQ6 which is just over £1,300 and that is just the mount not the guide system. To get the images you are talking of you will want guide scope and guide camera. Note so far no mention of a scope.

Someone I know has just purchased a first scope for imaging, a straight £1,000 for that, probably a little more.

So what is the budget?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely get hold of a copy of 'Making Every Photon Count' available from the book section of the FLO website. Read it ..... twice .... before you even spend a penny. Then think very hard about what you want to achieve. You've mentioned in your OP that you want to take 'amazing shots' - Have a look in the imaging section and decide just how amazing you want your images to be. Pick some images and look closely at the gear they used to achieve that, it's normally listed. 

Then think about budget - Do you have the ££'s to achieve the sort of 'amazing shots' you have seen? Of course, great shots mean different things to different people, it would be good for you to know just what level YOU want to achieve.

After that think very hard about if you have the time to dedicate to this. It is madly frustrating for starters, although we generally love it!! Then think about processing the image - Probably 80% of a wow image is seriously down to processing in my opinion. I know of imagers who can take many, many hours processing one image. Do you have the time, patience and dedication to do that?

This may sound a little like an odd post, but once people mention amazing shots my thoughts instantly go to perfection. That costs money, time and effort. Perhaps you would be happy with less, in which case you can adjust your expectations and gear accordingly.

I hope this makes sense. I'm not trying to stop anyone trying imaging, far from it but I think that an injection of realism is always good to have. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Starting with a tripod and DSLR is what I'm doing. I learn a lot every time I have a session (weather permitting). If you have the DSLR, then get a good mount. I just ordered an Ioptron ZEQ25GT. I bought a FF Tokina prime focus 400mm on Ebay for $105 out of Scotland and delivered for that price. A big aperture wide angle can also be picked up used and makes a great lens for Milky Way and other wide field subjects on a tripod. A scope is in the plan, but with the teles and the EQ mount, I'll have a lot of fun and learn a lot. Hopefully get some good images too. Clear Skies.--Jack

post-37593-0-41174700-1408546117_thumb.j

D5100, 12mm @f/5, ISO 800, 20x10sec, 25 dark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Add a location other then UK, there are astro clubs around that have imaging sections but UK is no use for anything.

That's a little negative about the UK, Ronin! The UK probably isn't the best place to image from but no reason not to give it a go! On the other hand I would recommend that Glasgow is best avoided, lol. Same for any city centre. Still, I try!

Louise

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think you have to make best of what you have location wise. My sky is the colour of Fanta and it is frustrating but I figure if I can get stuff here then when I do get to try dark skies it will be a breeze!

That or get Olly to adopt me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi guys I'm new to astro photography and I'm wanted to get into. I was wondering any one out there if you could help me and guide me in for the gear I need to take amazing shots of the Milky Way ,stars, galaxy's ect. I want to get a telescope that I can fix my canon dslr to to take pictures. So I just need you guys to help me on equipment and what I need to have a full setup.

Thanks max

Hi Max,

Getting the " book " will help to clear a few issues up for you. Go to the " Imaging Deep Sky " section of the forum and study the images and how these were taken, in particular pay attention to integration times and data processing, it will help make it clear that this is not a point and shoot hobby and buying a lot of expensive gear will not help if the basics are not learnt first, then  If you are still interested come back and ask more questions.

Regards,

A.G

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a little negative about the UK, Ronin! The UK probably isn't the best place to image from but no reason not to give it a go! On the other hand I would recommend that Glasgow is best avoided, lol. Same for any city centre. Still, I try!

Louise

Got to love Glasgow and that lovely orange skyglow, wouldnt it be great if they turned off the lights now and then. Still its not impossible. And if your more interested in DSOs then you can always go with narrowband filters? Ive seen someone do this on the virtual star party (i forget his name) and they turn out very nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got to love Glasgow and that lovely orange skyglow, wouldnt it be great if they turned off the lights now and then. Still its not impossible. And if your more interested in DSOs then you can always go with narrowband filters? Ive seen someone do this on the virtual star party (i forget his name) and they turn out very nice.

Hi

Yeah, it would be good to have all the lights off - but with the power on! It never gets dark here :( One of the problems is that even when it seems clear it's often the case that there's a lot of water in the atmosphere - not good :( I have narrowband filters but I'm waiting for a repair to my mono camera. NB won't stop white light pollution though... I have an idas d1 fitted which helps. But I'm not sure I'll ever get a decent nebula or galaxy without darker skies because of the lack of contrast. Still, I'm stuck here so have to make the best of it!

Louise

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awe, c'mon, you can image at a high level in the UK. RobH, MartinB, Uranium 235, Tim, Mike D, Peter Shah, etc etc etc etc. I can't list all the names because it would take all night.

Mount, camera, optics. That's the spending priority I recommend when asked. And, yes, start with Steve's book. And, yes, it's expensive. Look on the bright side. Motor racing is worse!

Olly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think astrophotography can be split into a few catagories. There are those who are quite happy to stick with a dslr on a tracking mount or even a camera tripod and they never want to push the boat out as far as spending big (these are the guys I envy ;) ). Then there are those who want to take it to the next level without remortgaging their house. This is possible for circa 500 pounds with a lot of patients and careful puchasing on the second hand market although 1000 would be a more realistic budget. Then theres the next stage, 1k-3k. This is getting pretty exceptional image with the lower end ccd and high end "budget" mounts and reasonable doublet/triplet apo's. From there it can go anywhere depending on finances although personally I think that returns for monies spent seem to deminish the higher the price tag. I also think a good imager can get great results with lower end equiptment and brilliant results with the top end stuff, but a poor imager will get poor results no matter how much he/she throws at it. You just can't buy results I'm afraid, you have to earn them.

Pick a budget and be the best you can with what you have :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.