First night of imaging...And the resulting problems!

[Craig86]

Finally took the plunge into imaging and lets just say more questions than answere where found. Unfortunalty I can't post any pictures up yet as need to convert them from CR2 format.

I am using a Tal 1 telescope with a Canon EOS 60D attached with a T-ring and adapter.

First up I went for Jupiter (Moon obstructed behind a tree!) and started snapping. To my annoyance no matter what I tried I could not get any detail into the picture. All I could get was a bright round planet shaped object.

Next up was the moon after finally appearing from behind the tree. For the life of me I could not get a focussed picture no matter what I tried. Focussing with the lense in my telescope was not a problem with either but as soon as I attached the camera everything went to pot no matter how many times I re-focussed.

Now my question is am I missing something? I always thought planetry imaging would be tricky but the moon would be some what more simple, obviously I was wrong!!

[carastro]

Well first of all congratulations on having taken the plunge and done what you have so far.

DSLRs are not normally recommended for Moon and planets, they usually recommend webcams, however some people have suceeded in imaging these with DSLR.

Yes Jupiter is very bright and you need to turn down the ISO and take a short image, possibly by using AV mode rather than Manual. I am slightly groping in the dark here as I have only imaged the Moon with my DSLR and this is what I did (excuse the pun).

The focus position will change once you put a camera into the drawtube and remove the eyepiece. The best way to get focus is to use a Bahtinov mask, even if you are just doing Moon and planets. Once you have focussed on a star you can lock the drawtube (do not move focus) and then move to the object you want to image. I personally find focussing on the planets very difficult because of the turbulence in the atmosphere.

You will find that imaging is a steep learning curve and we have all been through these frustrating nights, even when we have been doing it for some time we get nights when nothing will go right.

Why not try boosting your confidence and trying a short image on something bright like Andromeda or M42. If you're not guiding then you will only be able to get away with short subs depending on how good your tracking and polar alignment is. Start with 30 secs and if that appears quite good, try for longer.

Finally, you can stack your CR2 subs in Deep Sky stacker which is free and will produce a tiff file. Although hang on a minute I think DSS requires some stars to align to, so if there are no stars, then stack in Registax, I am pretty sure it will accept RAW files.

Best of luck and hope you progress well.

Carole

[Craig86]

Thanks for the tips!

Have dug around and got myself a Bahtinov Mask, will have a play around with that and see how I get on too.

Bit of an addictive hobby once you get started!

[JKB]

As Carole has said very well: Usually a webcam for planets and moon and the DSLR for other objects.

What is your set up?

Oh well done on taking the slippery slope as I did not so long ago (very addictive it is too!)

Cheers

Jamie

[Craig86]

Set up is pretty basic (For now!), I'm using a Tal-1 with a Canon EOS 60D connected with a T-ring and adapter. Hoping to one day upgrade the old telescope to something with a tracker but that may be a while yet.

Managed to take a few startrails with a friend using his canon 7D (He's more of an amatuer photographer than into astronomy) which only helped to feed the addiction.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68624095@N07/6241159255/

[swag72]

Is the Tal-1 a refractor scope? I ask as I use a refractor and in order to achieve focus I need to use either the reducer / flattener or a 50mm extension tube. Without either I don't have enough focus to be able to get anything in focus.

[JohnnyD333]

When you take a picture of Jupiter, try setting the ISO at 100 and go for a shutter speed about 1/100. Use the liveview and zoom in, if Jupiter is still a white ball increase the shutter speed until you can see the bands. As mentioned, DSLRs are not ideal for planets but you should be able to get great shots of the moon. Planets often need to be stacked, at least 1000 frames with a webcam, but thankfully webcams are usually cheap. Try some DSOs at a high ISO with 1 minute exposures. You should get some results even without guiding.

[Craig86]

Swag, My Tal-1 is a 4.3-inch f/7.3 Newtonian reflector. May have to try the extender tube as. Any ideas as to where's best to buy them?

I'm planning on having a play around tonight and tomorrow (clouds permitting) to see if I can make some headway in all of this.

Jupiter's a great target at the minute for me as it's view is completly un-restricted from the moment it appears.

Thanks for all the tips and advice, No doubt my further frustrations will be appearing here soon!

[swag72]

Have a look here, there's loads of different length extensions.

[chrisp]

With my Tal-1 and DSLR using a T-ring I could not achieve focus as the Tal focuser did not have enough inward travel. This may be your problem too.

I could just about get focus using a barlow as well...

[rfdesigner]

I have a Tal-1M and a Canon30D.. but never tried the two together... I've only piggybacked with that scope.

In my opinion, you need a 2" focusser with a slow motion for a DSLR. The TAL-1M I have only has a 1.25" rack and pinion focusser.

However if you can get focus then all is possible. I used ISO400 and 1/500th sec to get a good moon pic on an F5 12". With an F7 I'd expect something like ISO400 and 1/125th sec... You WILL need a remote release, otherwise all images will be lost to shake, also try and lock the shutter up.

Derek

[x6gas]

With my Tal-1 and DSLR using a T-ring I could not achieve focus as the Tal focuser did not have enough inward travel. This may be your problem too.

I could just about get focus using a barlow as well...

Yes back-focus (inward travel) will be the problem, not the other way around. Does the draw tube on your focuser have t-thread at all? On some scopes you can unscrew the EP holder revealing a t-thread and you attach the t-adapter directly to that.

hth

[x6gas]

In my opinion, you need a 2" focusser with a slow motion for a DSLR. The TAL-1M I have only has a 1.25" rack and pinion focusser.

Derek

That's a nice to have, but isn't essential. I can achieve excellent focus on the moon with the 1.25" r & p focuser on my C6N.

[rfdesigner]

RE: That's a nice to have, but isn't essential. I can achieve excellent focus on the moon with the 1.25" r & p focuser on my C6N.

can you?!

think..... think......

Doh!!

of course you can!.. APS sensor vs Full Frame. When I was mucking about with my Tal for imaging I was still using film.. so I found huge vignetting with the 1.25" focusser, that's what I was remembering.

sorry for the confusion.

Derek