tooth_dr

Can you post that guide here? Might be useful for others too.

Lee I don’t think that that is a particularly heavy load. I used a pair of ED80s regularly both with Canon 40d and 0.85x Reducer/Flattener, and there were no issues with slippage. I’d say that’s a similar weight to yours. I moved onto an Atik CCD and filter wheel and then got slippage. The addition of the SW motor focuser eliminated this entirely. I’d look at adjusting the barrel contact profile first before splashing the cash personally.

Genuine question John, but what does not last as long in the SW focusers compared with a baader? I have a SW focuser motor on both of mine and this really makes the difference. It doesn’t slip now.

Thanks guys. It lasted a good four hours, and I sat watching it the whole time. @AKB there were constant flights coming out of the airport and I was thinking I’m glad our flight isn’t until the morning.

Wow. I mean it when I say this, that is the best rendition I’ve ever seen on the Crescent.

We were treated to an excellent storm on the last night of our trip to northern Italy, just outside Milan. The view was nice from the 5th floor balcony and the rain never reached us. I got a few shots with my D800E and a Nikon 180mm F2.8 lens 5-10s exposures at F5.6 ISO400. Then a few wide fields with my Tokina 28-70mm F2.8 lens, 20s exposures, made into a composite image. I made a couple of timelapses too. I hope you enjoy them, as much as I enjoyed the whole experience. CS Adam

I know what you mean about forgetting stuff. I’ve dismantled a few bits prior to going on holiday and I’m not sure which spacers go where now! Thats a great M16, all the detail is there, really excellent

Great job Ciaran. Funny enough I tried this one last summer, and my result was similar. It’s just so low here.

Superb Sean. Excellent framing and detail.

I’m still in Italy but I didn’t realise how low this would be as we are in the north. I tried a couple of nights but just couldn’t get to a dark enough location. I think I’ll have to concede that a family holiday is too difficult to combine with ‘proper’ astrophotography but is ok for some casual nightscapes.

Superb Rodd. Some of the best bubble crispness and detail I’ve ever seen

Modded cameras appear for sale on here regularly. Just keep an eye out or make a ‘wanted thread’

Oh it’s a capable camera, I said the same above. And likely the quality of our images will limited by our processing skills rather than the technology. Anyway I don’t want to derail the thread since the OP asked for recommendations!

There is the potential for a lot to go wrong that is for sure. To give you an idea, I sold my low shutter count (can’t remember exactly but under 15k shots), modified 40d, last year for £140.

What time was this visible last night. I may have accidentally seen it!

The 40d is getting on a bit now I’m terms of technology. I don’t think I would be spending money getting one modified. I owned 2 x 40d cameras until recently and used them in tandem on a dual rig. I modified them myself, and 100% they are excellent cameras. But weighing up the costs, IMHO it’s only really worth it if you can do it yourself. I removed just the one filter and left the second filter in place which does block out IR/UV.

Thank you Carole. Most helpful.

@carastro A thing of beauty Carole, well done. I’ve my travel kit packed, have you any tips for lining up etc? I’m planning on either using a 180mm or 28-70mm lens (or both) with a FF DSLR.

Fabulous. I’m heading to Italy soon, and I have one astro objective - to get an image of this region 👍🏻 It will still be low but higher than Northern Ireland. If it turns out half as good I’ll be over the moon.

Lovely image Mick. I'm feeling the urge to get back out imaging again.

The 60mm Lunt has a T thread on the diagonal. You just need a Sony to T adapter and that should be you in business.

Thanks guys. Everything has taken a back seat over the summer. The values are I think specific to your camera. You manually work them out using a process I found online.

Fantastic images and video. The video gives a real feeling of what’s actually happening.

Keeping it simple!

Thats a cracker Richard. It was a delight tonight to actually get to see this too, as the forecast was not at all good.