Will this be ok?

[staryeyes]

Just after some advice really hope ive put this thread in the right section . I have decided recently to get back into astronomy as ive been out the picture for a couple of years. I have also decided to try my hand at astrophotography. Im not sure however that the camera i have will give me any good results i havnt tried it yet as we havnt had a clear night to test it. It will be piggybacked (i think thats the right word) on the back of the telescope and the eq mount is motor driven so tracking hopefully shouldnt be an issue.

If any of you clever people would take a look at the link below which is the specs for the camera and let me know what you think i would be grateful.

I realise that a better cam like a cannon would be better but will there be much difference?

Thanks

Link to camera specs: FinePix S2900 Series Bridge Camera Specifications | Fujifilm United Kingdom

Also any advice on setting it up would be great, currently i have it ready with the following:

Aperture f3.1 (best)

shutter 8 seconds (max)

iso 1600

not sure on white balance though its set at auto is this ok?

Thank you

Mark.

[Cornelius Varley]

The fairly short max shutter speed (8 sec) might be a bit limiting.

Peter

[staryeyes]

Ah ok Cornelius thanks, will that limit me on all images or just the deeper ones do you know?

Thanks

Mark.

[dph1nm]

No RAW output either, as far as I can see. Although not a show stopper, that isn't optimal for astro work.

NigelM

[garethmob]

on the majority of photos the longer the exposure the better the image

you can get detail from stacking loads and loads (and hrs and hrs) but 8seconds is very limiting.

the equiptment i use is fairly old, a canon 300d (about 8) and this 58mm is about 20 years old, it was second hand so i had it fairly cheap as well

but its only 3 frames stacked each 3 mins long iso 800 and f3

also as dph1nm said the lack of RAW is a very important, as you lose a fair bit of infomation going from 16bit to 8bit photos

i dont want to sound negitive (i do releise after rereading what i typed above it seems likeit) you should be able to take nice pics of the moon, and even very very widefield images of jupitor (useful for both with the short exposure)

one advantage is the tracking so you will have "still" stars to work from

[staryeyes]

Hi,

thanks for all your advice. I hadnt even heard of RAW output before so thats a new one on me haha.

So to sum up then, i need a new camera, unless i only want photos of the moon really

[staryeyes]

Just been doing some window shopping and found this that is more or less affordable :

Canon EOS 1100D Review - Specifications | PhotographyBLOG

I know this is a probably a daft thing to ask, but would this be any good? obviously i want to spend the money on the right equiptment so would value your opinions

Thanks

Mark.

p.s. im guessing i would need to but lenses also, but would the one it comes with be good enough for most odjects?

thanks again

[garethmob]

the 1100 seems to be the new 1000d. it has only just come out, but its not just the camera, its the lens as well, and the kit lens isnt usually up to much (if u want to do widefield imagering) if u want to do prime scope imagering it is good.

iv found old pantax lens (m42 threaded) lens + a suituable adapter works for me (only cos it has to be done (focusing) manually and i find ti very difficult to focus) but the 1100d does have liveview so effectivy that problem wouldnt happen for u.

before you buy somthing why dont you give the camera you have a quick go, it seems fairly clear over the uk today / for tonight so it wont hurt for a widefield over a constilation, but i would suggest as many photos as u can take onthe battery. (20 - 50 if needed)

for reviews of camera i found this site gives more consistant views of the cameras

Canon EOS 1100D Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

prices, it may be better to wait a few weeks as usually companys like amazon or argos do have special offers on them around christmas

[staryeyes]

Ok, thanks for the advice, i appreciate it.

Well i did get out tonight for a couple of hours, which was a nice change. Regarding the camera, well i wasnt overly impressed, i pointed it towards jupiter and it didnt focus on the planet very well, i took the maximum images i could and got just under 40, that filled my 4gb memory card up, stacked them all but i i got was a blurry image with 2 moons (not the four that were there), so i will give it another go with the moon and see how i get on, its not the end of the word as its still a good camera for normal use. However i think an investment will have to be made if i want to make the most of the night sky, so i shall have a proper look at the review you put the link up for and look around to see what other options there are.

Thanks again

Mark

[garethmob]

Has it got a manual mode? As usually a lens is focused manually (auto don't work in the dark very well) and if u can set it to infinity

Sent from my Now working iPhone using Tapatalk

[JohnnyD333]

The Finepix camera is a big point and shoot. If you are looking to get into astrophotography outside of planetary imaging you need at least a DSLR. The Canon you listed will get the job done. The DSLR can open its shutter for long periods of time, collecting lots of light and data. 8 seconds is not enough even at ISO 1600. Plus the Finepix does not have a thread to attach it directly to your telescope, you are limited to afocal and piggybacking. The Canon is a much better choice all around for this type of imaging.

If you are trying to image Jupiter with a point and shoot, dont piggyback the camera to your scope. Put in an eyepiece and take a video of Jupiter by holding your camera over it. You will have to hold it steady but you will get detail and you can stack it.

[staryeyes]

Hi Gareth, it has a manual mode but the only options it gives me in the mode is aperture nand shutter speed, in the manual is says it focus's to infinity but ive gone through every option in the menu and theres not a setting for it so i have to assume it does it automatically, if i press the take the picture button half way, it looks for the image to focus on, thats what i used last night.

Johnny, thanks for the info there, so do you mean the cannon will attach straight into the focusing tube of the telescope then? I will use the afocal method tonight if its clear and see what i come up with, my hands aint that steady but i should be ok with it

Thanks for all the advice again.

Mark.

[garethmob]

what johnny means is usally camera are attached to the telescopes drawtube ( the focuser) and the scope effectivly is then used as a lens you cant do that as your lens is not removeable

the afocal way is with a eyepeice and you take the pic through that, u can if ur camera allows take video (its effectivly what the webcam method i mentioned above) then u can use a program like registax to split the video to the frames and stack them. show us a few of the pics we might be able to help abit with them too

[staryeyes]

Oh i see now what johnny means, thanks.

My camera does do video so i shall certainly try that tonight, all being well.

Here is an image from last night, its the best of the worst im afraid, as you can see, there is pretty much no detail at all, although at least i got 2 of the moons in the shot

Thanks

Mark.

[staryeyes]

Well i took the good advice from here, and used the Afocal method and took a video of jupiter through the eyepiece, and the result, although far far from perfect, in fact, far from good, was alot better than the piggybacked method. I used registax6 to stack the frames and got the following result, my hands are not particularly steady, but i think its an ok starting point

I have used photoshop to try and sharpen the image slightly too, but im not sure what the fractures in the image are

Thanks

Mark.

[brantuk]

That's a great start Mark and such a good feeling when you actually get something for the first time. If you're thinking of getting a dslr I found this page a good one covering a lot of the main points to consider when choosing one:

Astronomiser - Automated Astronomy and AstroImaging Solutions

It's all about Canons but the theory still applies for other makes. Canons are very popular for astro work and seem to have become a standard for use with scopes. HTH

[Sam]

That's not a bad result at all, you're well on the way now!

[staryeyes]

Thanks for your comments guys, yes, its very pleasing to finally get an image of something, theres so many wondeful things up there, it seems a shame to not share them with others.

Thanks for the link Brantuk, very informative, theres alot more to imaging than i ever thought, i will have to think hard about what i will need and what is essential.

Thanks

Mark.

[todd8137]

Well i took the good advice from here, and used the Afocal method and took a video of jupiter through the eyepiece, and the result, although far far from perfect, in fact, far from good, was alot better than the piggybacked method. I used registax6 to stack the frames and got the following result, my hands are not particularly steady, but i think its an ok starting point

[ATTACH]70062[/ATTACH]

I have used photoshop to try and sharpen the image slightly too, but im not sure what the fractures in the image are

Thanks

Mark.

please do not take this the wrong way ,registax 6 is a bit harder to use ,i would suggest down load registax 5 its a lot better if you are not used to it 6 is a pain in the butt some times