Mr Thingy

Kind Mr Postman delivered today. A small early Xmas present to myself, hence I pictured under the tree 0.8 focal reducer and flattener Plus an Astrobasics finder scope (needs a wee bit of filing to fit snuggly in the shoe but that's easy to do) Note the festive FLO sticker!

I've been an observer up until now but just assembling my AP equipment to start on that adventure, so this is an interesting topic to me. I plan to attempt observing whilst my AP routines are underway. No doubt I'll need to get to a point where I'm confident enough to leave the AP gear 'doing it's thing', so it's interesting to see your comment about AP keeping you busy. I hope I can do both but I'll find out soon if that is unrealistic.

That's a really nice image. I found myself poring over it for a few minutes to take in all the details.

That's immensely helpful @vlaiv I appreciate you taking the time. -thingy-

Thanks @vlaiv That helps a lot. My camera has an integrated filter wheel that already takes up 26.5mm, so that rules out the EF-M lenses. I was looking at the adaptor you use and it's good to know that it's 19mm as that would be too much for my kit. So I need to find another mounting option. Seems the camera has a 1/4" threaded hole, so I guess I could mount via that.

Does anyone know if the fitting is the same between Canon EF, EF-S and EF-M lenses? I'm trying to figure out if the adaptors for fitting Canon lenses to CMOS cameras will work for the EF-M lenses. e.g this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/skywatcher-dslr-m48-ring-adapter.html The EF-M lenses are cheaper and are for the smaller format, which seems like it would suit my ASI 183 sensor. TIA

Many thanks. That's helpful.

Hello SGL-ers! Looking for some advice from you kind, knowledgeable people. My HEQ5 is taking an eternity to arrive (1/4 of a year so far) and I'm not convinced it will even arrive in Dec so I'm exploring options that will allow me to take some snaps in the meantime. I was considering buying a camera lens for some static-mount, wide angle imaging, to attach to my ZWO ASI 183 GT. I can then use guided/unguided when the HEQ5 arrives. I was thinking about a lens with a FL of about 35 to 50 mm. My first question is whether it is suitable to get a lens for the smaller sensor size (e.g Canon APS-C)? My CMOS camera has a diagonal of about only 16 mm, so it seemed that with a standard lens for full frame (35 mm), my sensor would only capture half of the image. My second question is how best to attach to my mount. Can you get a bracket to attach to the lens (maybe a mounting ring from a scope would work)? Last question: is there any notable difference between Canon or Nikon lenses? Is one better suited to AP than the other. I was looking at this (and the 35 mm equivalent): https://www.intro2020.co.uk/Catalogue/ProductDetail/samyang-50mm-f1-2-csc-canon-m?productID=caaea451-50fb-4d26-8ed6-f4718d906c5d&catalogueLevelItemID=376dc0a0-f0a7-422d-a66b-27282b4cce5b All other comments and recommendations welcome; come earn yourself some of the reputation points I know you love! TIA -Thingy-

I bought an adaptor and a bunch of extenders and now everything works perfectly (I also learned a wee bit more theory on telescopes and focus) Thanks for all the great advice!

Thoroughly exciting item received today. So exciting that I will share with you all. The sad part is that it's going to sit idle until my HEQ5 finally turns up (ordered mid-Aug) . Dear China, please make and ship my HEQ5 ASAP. Tyvm. -Thingy-

FLO will love me this year. This hobby is expensive!

Awesome. Thanks a lot.

That helps immensely. Thanks for your explanation. I knew I'd have some silly questions sooner or later! If I'm not using an FF, do you know how much extension I need to achieve focus? Is that still 130mm?

Thanks. I think I'm missing a key bit of theory here as I'm still confused. I thought that it would simple be a case of finding the distance behind the scope where the image is in focus. What is the 130mm position then? Is it the point where the image is the correct size for the sensor? Then how do you set a focus position? Maybe there is a website that explains this? Cheers

Thanks @alacant Do I understand that with the TS flattener I would still need extenders to reach the 130mm back focus? What would you use for that?