Camcorder mod for prime focus recording

[Ashmore]

My first post here so be gentle...

Now, I am very new to astronomy and still very green to it all. I did own a skywatcher 102/500 refractor for around 6 months which I put to very good use and loved it's user friendliness. I now have upgraded to a skywatcher 127 skymax. I am also into camcorders and before I sold the 4" refractor, I removed the objective lens and secondary traveling zoom lens from a Sony DCR TRV140 camcorder, added an extension tube and fixed it to my scope. It worked a treat, I had a few shutter speed options, exposure control and all the digital zoom I needed. Being a short focal length scope, the optical zoom was around 20x, but it's a start. It's quite an old low res camcorder, but here's an example...

Now that I have the 127 skymax, I plan on doing the same, but with a smaller Panasonic HD camcorder that has more manual controls such as iris, shutter speed and exposure levels. I only plan on filming the Moon, Sun and planets.

I was wondering if there was anyone here that has done just this or if there was any blogs or websites anyone knows of doing the same?

Any advice would also be appreciated. Thanks.

Darren.

[Luke]

Is this the type of thing?:

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-planetary/112029-jupiter-io-ganymede-camcorder-k3ccdtools-stack.html

I use a webcam myself that I think we paid £12 for but of course you do need a laptop as well!

What an amazing thing it is to be able to see the moons!

[sublime_mick]

did you mod the camcorder yet? I have an old JVC one from a few years ago - i may look into modding it

[Ashmore]

Is this the type of thing?:

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-...ols-stack.html

I use a webcam myself that I think we paid £12 for but of course you do need a laptop as well!

What an amazing thing it is to be able to see the moons!

Great images there! Webcam's are great and come at reasonable prices, but like you say, a laptop is needed. The HD camcorder method with the sensor exposed is something I'm keen on mastering. Mainly because it is different from the norm and with the right camcorder, offers so many manual settings and extra zoom (be it digital) all in one unit without the pc in tow.

With such a large member base here, I'm keen to learn from any of the more experienced members that might have had any similar experience with camcorder modifications.

did you mod the camcorder yet? I have an old JVC one from a few years ago - i may look into modding it

I've succeeded with one camcorder, wrecked two, but I've learnt a lot. The trick is to remove the traveling secondary lens, but leave the traveling mechanism in place. This prevents the error signs showing up and shutting the camcorder down. Very tricky! When setting up, achieve prime focus at what would be maximum optical zoom, just before digital zoom takes over.

Here's an image of my first successful setup...

If anyone has achieved similar, I would love to know...

Darren

[sublime_mick]

now i'm inspired... how is it attached and where did you get the connectors?

[Peter Drew]

Hello Darren.

I've had satisfying planetary images using a Canon MV5imc mini DV camcorder. The only modification was to make an adaptor to connect the camcorder to an eyepiece for afocal projection. You need to produce an image about half screen size to give good surface detail, this requires either an eyepiece, Barlow lenses or a pretty long focus scope.

[Ashmore]

Hey, thanks. The F-adapter screwed into the camcorder is very good for clamping onto eyepieces and works great with my little HD sony cam.

One of the only two other people I can find on the internet using the camcorder prime focus method is (dare I say it) the youtuber 'John Lenard Walson' JohnLenardWalson's Channel - YouTube Using a 12" Meade and a Prosumer Sony HD camcorder. With the optics removed he captures some amazing Moon shots.

Darren.