New from Florida

[lardy]

Hi walky, Good camera that 550D just finding my way around one myself, now do I get it Mod'ed

[Zul]

Hello and welcome!

[Walky]

This is photo allegedly without a scope; this is my goal!

Orion Nebula | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Walky]

Hi Walky and welcome to the SGL.

If you can see the Milky Way even faintly, you can photograph it easily by just using a fairly wide lens with the camera pointing up at the sky. Exposures of a minuet or so will not require a motorized mount for star tracking due to the wide angle view.

Imaging objects is another story. Since most objects are very small, a lens system that produces a magnifying power of at least 7-10x is needed. Since these objects occupy a tiny part of the sky, a motorized mount for the camera is needed to track the objects as they drift across the sky. This is best done with a telescope/camera setup. Without a scope, you will be limited to only wide angle shots with exposures under a minuet or so.

And welcome to the SGL.

So what would be a good starting point? I have searched, and there are so many choices! I think I will study for a year before I buy a telescope.

[Walky]

Hi Walky and welcome to SGL, there are many photographers who use a telephoto lens camera combo, mounted on equipment such as an Astrotrack and tripod to enable long exposure tracking of the night sky, another alternative is to go down the DIY route and manufacture what is referred to as a Barn door, you will find reference to this home project on the web, the more elaborate designs can track for quite long periods. Best of luck with your photography

John.

I appreciate your suggestion but DIY is nor my forte. I prefer to buy something. Still looking for the perfect combo

[mcsheffield]

Hi Walky welcome to SGL

[Walky]

Hi walky, Good camera that 550D just finding my way around one myself, now do I get it Mod'ed

Why would you want to modify it? I wonder. I saw one post with mods but did not explain what and why.

[Mordin]

Hi Walky,

I just joined this forum as well (today) - It seems you are a Nebula already (I am still a vacuum ... lol).

I had telescopes for a long time, but just recently I bought one with a Goto-mount to follow the sky automatically. Compared to the manual adjustment it is a real pleasure to watch the stars.

I am also interested in Astrophotography, but the "taking pictures" part and enhancing them is totally new to me. Even though I take a lot of pictures (usually during the day) the photography of stars is a totally different biest (at least for me) and I know it will be a big learning curve.

Currently I own only a Canon G9 ... I guess not really the best choice - my next purchase will probably be a camera better suited for Astrophotography.

I am not sure if someone mentioned it already, but to look for objects in the sky I can only recommend the Stellarium application (free download) - it seems very accurate, and I could also connect it to the Goto-mount of my telescope. That made finding stars or planets very easy. (point and click)

[Walky]

Hi Walky and welcome to SGL, there are many photographers who use a telephoto lens camera combo, mounted on equipment such as an Astrotrack and tripod to enable long exposure tracking of the night sky, another alternative is to go down the DIY route and manufacture what is referred to as a Barn door, you will find reference to this home project on the web, the more elaborate designs can track for quite long periods. Best of luck with your photography

John.

That's what I would like to do at the beginning before I buy a scope.

[Walky]

I checked your camera and you should be able to take wide field views perfectly well, since you have manual controls and Aperture and Shutter priorities, same ISO max of 1600 of mine and possibly a max of 15 secs of opened shutter. Mine does not have the BULB feature either, but I don't have to go that far for the pictures I am taking. Just practice with different apertures and ISO 1600 to 400. I have used 400 and 800 with good results.

Hi Walky,

I just joined this forum as well (today) - It seems you are a Nebula already (I am still a vacuum ... lol).

I had telescopes for a long time, but just recently I bought one with a Goto-mount to follow the sky automatically. Compared to the manual adjustment it is a real pleasure to watch the stars.

I am also interested in Astrophotography, but the "taking pictures" part and enhancing them is totally new to me. Even though I take a lot of pictures (usually during the day) the photography of stars is a totally different biest (at least for me) and I know it will be a big learning curve.

Currently I own only a Canon G9 ... I guess not really the best choice - my next purchase will probably be a camera better suited for Astrophotography.

I am not sure if someone mentioned it already, but to look for objects in the sky I can only recommend the Stellarium application (free download) - it seems very accurate, and I could also connect it to the Goto-mount of my telescope. That made finding stars or planets very easy. (point and click)

I don't know your camera _-will look it up - but let me tell you I have taken very (*) good wide field shots with point and shoot Canon SX30 IS. It has a max ISO of 1600 and an a zoom from 24-840mm zoom. When set at its widest setting and appropriate apperture it takes pictures comparable to my Canon T2i DSLR at a cheaper price per pic. This camera has come down in price recently and there is a newer model this year the SX40 IS.

I don't like connecting my camera to any PC, it is too messy, so I am using the Pocket Universe app on my iPad (haven't mastered Stellarium yet)...

If you could give me advise about your telescope & mount I will appreciate the tip. You can send me a personal message if you don't want to advertise. I need the ease of use because I am not into making anything more difficult. Easier is better always.

[ * my idea of very good :-) for my skills, ha,ha]

As for the SX30 I have save the setting for astrophotography (you can do that for two instances, C! & C2) in the C2 setting so I don't have to struggle setting them every time I decide to have a shooting session.

So, I leave you (vacuum to vacuum, I still think I am a vacuum), with the request to *please* tell me more about your scope and mount!

[MisterBill]

Walky, where are you in FL?

SE coast here, Port St Lucie.

[Walky]

Walky, where are you in FL?

SE coast here, Port St Lucie.

Orlando:glasses1: It seems we R at a considerable distance. I relocated from California recently to retire here so I don't know where is what in Florida. Started this hobby here and I regret I did not start it in California with such beautiful, steady weather!

[Andrew INT]

Hi Walky,

Welcome to the forum. Your photo of Orion already shows the great nebula M42 so you are off to to good start already!

My sister lives in Oviedo. The light pollution there means that she can just about see the moon...just.

It may be worth your while driving out to a darker site one evening and seeing the difference; particularly when you are photographing the milkyway.

All the best, and welcome once again,

Andrew

[Walky]

Hi Walky,

Welcome to the forum. Your photo of Orion already shows the great nebula M42 so you are off to to good start already!

My sister lives in Oviedo. The light pollution there means that she can just about see the moon...just.

It may be worth your while driving out to a darker site one evening and seeing the difference; particularly when you are photographing the milkyway.

All the best, and welcome once again.

Andrew

Thank you for pointing that out, Wow! I still don't know the skies, here waiting for my first two books from Amazon, and using my pocket Universe App.

You are right about this area Orlando-Oviedo (Oviedo is 20 minutes away); between the light pollution and the clouds it is difficult to see much. I hope it gets better on another season.

The Milky way is something I want to take a photograph of, with some front arrangement depicting trees or some other natural setting. Does your sister look at the skies or takes pictures? Let me know to see hers.

[faulksy]

hi walky and welcome to sgl. lovely intro mate and lovely photos to boot

[Walky]

Hi Walky and welcome to the SGL.,have you tried 30 sec subs get about 20 of those and stack them up with the free software that is available

Just learned how to stack, using a software called Lynkeos for Macintosh. First try, not so good. I think there are a1-2 additional stacking programs for Mac. I could shoot only 8 photos at 47 secs, ISO 400, 800, etc. individually they were Ok, but the result looked too artificial after stacking. Gotta practice a bit more.