Camera help

[LRA1992]

Ok so for Christmas last year my Mam surprised me with a beginners telescope that's a Skywatcher Mercury 607 Refractor and while it's great for what i need at the moment i'd like to purchase a DSLR camera to attach and capture what i can see, my budget is around £200 so any help would be much appreciated i'd like it to be good for everyday photography and able to do star trails and such, thanks

[ollypenrice]

Taking photos through a scope isn't simple. It's simple to attach a camera to a scope but then you have to have an accurately driven equatorial mount to track the sky during the exposures.

Just using lenses and a fixed tripod there are many things you can do, though.

I'd look for a used Canon like the 1000D or 1100D which should come up on budget quite easily.

To find out more about astrophotography I'd buy a copy of Making Every Photon Count by Steve Richards, Steppenwolf on this forum. Astrophotography and daytimùe photography don't resemble each other at all, really.

Olly

[gnomus]

Welcome. As a relatively new member, you should know that you will very rarely (if ever) go wrong following the advice given by Olly. Astrophotography will test even the best of equipment, let alone a (in your words) "beginner's telescope".

Personally, I would recommend spending a bit more time enjoying the visual side of the hobby before thinking about AP.

I would second the recommendation of "Making Every Photon Count". This will give you a good idea what is involved, and will more than repay its cost (several-fold) if you do decide to proceed.

Good luck.

[Davey-T]

Go with what you have to start with, I took some nice pic's of the Moon using DSLR  and my old £90.00 refractor just need T ring and adapter, you can also use a phone with a holder.

If you get a Baader solar film filter you can take pic's of the Sun (safety first though, read and note all the dire warnings)

Dave

[ollypenrice]

Go with what you have to start with, I took some nice pic's of the Moon using DSLR  and my old £90.00 refractor just need T ring and adapter, you can also use a phone with a holder.

If you get a Baader solar film filter you can take pic's of the Sun (safety first though, read and note all the dire warnings)

Dave

Good point about sun and moon.

Olly

[jgs001]

Have a look at

http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/used-equipment/used-digital-slr-cameras/used-canon-digital-slr-cameras/?keyword=&curr_min_price=&curr_max_price=&min_price=0&max_price=3300&out_of_stock=&view_all=&filter=price+ASC

The 450d, 1000d and 1100d are good options (I have a 450d). The moon will make a good target for that scope and a dSLR.

[LRA1992]

Taking photos through a scope isn't simple. It's simple to attach a camera to a scope but then you have to have an accurately driven equatorial mount to track the sky during the exposures.

Just using lenses and a fixed tripod there are many things you can do, though.

I'd look for a used Canon like the 1000D or 1100D which should come up on budget quite easily.

To find out more about astrophotography I'd buy a copy of Making Every Photon Count by Steve Richards, Steppenwolf on this forum. Astrophotography and daytimùe photography don't resemble each other at all, really.

Olly

Thanks I'll check them out and give Making Every Photon Count a look

Go with what you have to start with, I took some nice pic's of the Moon using DSLR  and my old £90.00 refractor just need T ring and adapter, you can also use a phone with a holder.

If you get a Baader solar film filter you can take pic's of the Sun (safety first though, read and note all the dire warnings)

Dave

Thanks i've took quite a few with my phone but I'm just looking to upgrade from phone as such and yeah i've got a sun filter for it 

Have a look at

http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/used-equipment/used-digital-slr-cameras/used-canon-digital-slr-cameras/?keyword=&curr_min_price=&curr_max_price=&min_price=0&max_price=3300&out_of_stock=&view_all=&filter=price+ASC

The 450d, 1000d and 1100d are good options (I have a 450d). The moon will make a good target for that scope and a dSLR.

Thanks that looks great had a quick look on and it looks spot on for first DSLR until i get used to it

[cjdawson]

Firstly, Welcome

So, as for a Camera, I'd also recommend a Cannon DSLR.   As for the camera, most of the Canon ones are suitable.  The things to look for (to give you the most astronomical life from it) are.

1. Live View  - this feature lets you view the current image from the camera on the screen before you take the photo.

2. Mirror lock - this feature lets you put the mirror into photo position before taking the photo, this will help to remove vibrations (known as camera shake)

3. Removable lens - that means DSLR, not a bridge or point and shoot.

4. Cable release - ideally one that you can lock.  Or if you want to be more fancy, get an intervalometer (time lapse cable release) this will let you take lots of images but you don't need it right away.

5. Suitable tripod.

Again as other have said, rather than jumping in and trying to attach the camera to the scope, start with taking wide field photos.   Most of the EOS cameras have all these features, see what you can get on the second hand market.

with Canon, they bascially have 3 series of cameras, the single unit, the tens and the hundreds...

1d, 2d, 3d, 4d, 5d.   These tend to be their professional cameras.  I'm not sure when they introduced live view.  But these camera's tend to be full frame cameras, with big bodies and tend to be very heavy.  When places on your telescope, the chances are that the mount will not take the weight of the camera, and will swivel.

40D, 40Da 50D, 60Da and 70D - These are the prosumer range.  Bascially for people between professional and amateur.   These cameras are great for Astrophotography.  The body is about 1/2 the size of the professional cameras.  But they still pack a punch.  The 40D was the first camera with live view.  Also Canon bought out the Da cameras which were modified specifically for astrophotography.    If you are able to get one of these, I'm sure that you'd be very happy.

100d, 200d, 300d etc.  These are aimed for amateurs, but don't let that fool you.  Again these are  fully packed with the features that you'd need.  Again they have liveview, I think it was introduced around the 450D.  I know people that use these to take some excellent astrophotos.

Once you have a camera,  try wide field shots.  Then if you want to be more daring, put the camera on your telescope, and take a longer exposure.  whilst the camera is taking the photo, you will have to look through the eyepiece, and keep the telescope pointing at a star - this is called "guiding".   I'm sure that you'll have (or will) read lots of posts about "autoguiding" This is basically what you'll be doing the but without the aid of a computer!  It's tricky, but can get you longer exposures.  As you try to ramp up the lens, you'll notice more error's creeping in.  Once you get to that stage, then it'll be time to start thinking about tracking options.   But before you get there, there's lots of fun to be had and lots to learn.

Some objects that you can photo from the outset....

1. Moon,

2. Sun (with solar filter, or projection method)

3. Consellations - should be able to take a 50mm shot with a 2 min exposure!

4. Iridium flares

5. Star trails - 50mm lens point to polaris, and leave the shutter open for an hour.

6. Try for meteors (shooting stars), point the camera towards a meteor shower center, and leave the shutter open for hours, see if you can catch any.  Wider field lens is best.

[happy-kat]

If your great starter mercury is on the az3 tripod you will need to make a counter weight bar. I did for around £20. With out this the tripod will not be able to hold the telescope position with the weight of a DSLR on the rear.

I will get you a couple sample links when I fire up the PC.

I use the popular 1100d and this does not have mirror lock up available within the cannon menus but it was a cheap root for me to have a start. So far with the stable tripod/mounts I use I can't see a noticeable shake on images but I am very much an amateur.

[happy-kat]

http://www.spacegazer.com/index.asp?pageid=97490

The Moon a good target as you don't need a tracking equatorial mount to have a go.

[a_q]

Another cheaper camera option is a system camera.

I am getting started with an NX100 which can be had secondhand relatively cheaply.

THe ISO goes down to 200 on this type of camera so not quite as sensitive.

However they have live view and (usually) a focus aid that shows sharpness as a bar graph.

You can get adapters to M42, then an M42 to T-ring adapter, relatively cheaply from chinese/HK suppliers if you can wait a couple of weeks.

Another advantage is no mirror lock up - because there is no mirror! Also the focal plane is typically nearer than with a DSLR so the focusing might be easier to get right.

You have to use manual mode with these cameras so they are not looking for an electronic lens.

Good luck and have fun.