Newbee with question regarding 1000mm zoom lens

[jay2jay99]

Hey all, big hello to everyone, I'm a newbee, and am coming from a photography background, I was taking pictures of the night sky and using my phone I managed to locate Saturn, I was frustated that I could only get a dot of light with my 100mm lens (I have a Canon 50D DSLR) so I've now just ordered a Sigma 150-500mm lens and a 2x converter, so I will have a zoom upto 1000mm on my camera. Does anyone know if this will be enough to see Saturn? I'm guessing it wont be a brilliantly clear picture but I’m mainly intreagued to get something that is distinguishable as Saturn rather than a point of light.

Going off from that, has anyone got any examples of deepspace objects taken with a 1000mm lens on a DSLR (no telescope)?

My last question, I’ve seen plenty of talk about Registax, I see multiple references about using this with a video through a telescope to stack images but I was wondering if it can be done using a camera and a large lens? My camera can take images at up to about 6.5 fps so will be able to take a fair amount. I’m just not sure if it can be done without a tracking tripod mount?

Anyway, thanks in advance for your help.

[GazK]

1000mm is equivalent to 20x magnification, if my teenage photography memories serve me correctly. In my 15x mag binoculars, Saturn is *just* discernably not a round object, but is absolutely tiny - it is after all a smallish object a long way off. People with more expertise will be along shortly to give more detail, but I need magnification of 150x - 200x to get good visual views in my telescope, and it won't be any different for imaging. You're beyond the practical limits of a camera lens - you need a telescope with a camera of some sort attached.

[david o]

Hi there jay2jay99, Welcome to SGL

For getting started with astro-photography you'll find the book Making Every Photon Count (by SGL's very own steppenwolf - now into it's 2nd Edition) helpful. Easy to read, it's full of advice aimed at the imaging novice, including choosing the right equipment, tips 'n' tricks lots of advice and other vital stuff.

Beyond that I'm afraid I can't be much help. You could try asking in the imaging section.

HTH

[brantuk]

I agree with Gaz - 150x to 200x is a good magnification for saturn. You can sometimes ramp it up a little past that but not often due to atmospheric conditions in the UK.

Cameras (solo) are usually used for wide field photography (eg constellations) or near objects (eg sunsets/sunrises). You can also do star trailing with them. For imaging planets a webcam in telescope is best, along with Registax for stacking and aligning the frames - then you would process the stacked picture in something like Photoshop.

[jay2jay99]

Ok, that's a shame, was hoping to be a little closer :-( I will give it a go when it arrives and see what I get.

I did have a Meade DS 2114 from years ago but I never really got on with it.

I have thought about getting a telescope, I actually have the T-mounts already, can you get a decent one for say around £1000? I see these ones that have the computer bit in but that's what that Meade had and I found it pretty much useless, maybe that was me though, plus I'm assuming they will take alot of setting up and calibrating before each view, I'd want something I can pull out, point and look, really.

[John]

..... I'd want something I can pull out, point and look, really.

A dobsonian reflector is in that category but it's no good for anything but the most basic astrophotography:

Dobsonians

I'm not an imager (I just look through scopes) but I'm pretty sure accurate and careful mount setup is key to getting good astro photos which sort of rules out the "pull out, point and look" approach.

[jay2jay99]

So do you guys have one permenantly set up and where do you have it? In a loft? or do you set it up each time in a garden etc? If you were to get a telescope that you'd spend time setting up, what would you recommend for my budget and for photography?

[John]

I reckon the book mention in this earlier post is your essential source for all you need to know to get started:

http://stargazerslounge.com/1785282-post3.html

[jay2jay99]

I'll check it out, thanks.