Skywatchers 130PM Camera adapter?

[durhamdave]

Hi all,

First, thank you to everyone who aided me previously. Im now the proud owner of a 130PM and I love it, great for a newbie like me!!

Now, I noticed that the eye piece has an external thread on it, can a T-adapter be screwed on to this for mounting a DSLR?

My concern is the focal length however, I do photography anyway and my worry is this scopes focal point. I assume the barlow will help though?

I currently use a sony dslr A mount, does anyone recommend the best set up or am I better getting a 'universal mount' and using my little panasonic lumix up against the eyepiece?

Any advice welcome, and thank you again!

[Stephen]

You are quite right it's a t-thread on the focuser, however it's extremely difficult (if not impossible) to get a DSLR to focus at prime on a 130 without some modifications you might not like to make to your new telescope.

There isn't enough back focus, so you are required to move the primary mirror up the tube. There isn't a replacement focuser that I am aware of that will fit the 130 tube.

Most who ask this question have upgraded to a 150 that can accept a replacement focuser. You could try to use a Barlow in chain with the camera, but that will of course affect the focal length and ratio.

There may be DIY solutions to this, but I don't have enough on them to comment

Lumix / EP projection will probably be your best bet.

Do a search for 130P and DSLR to see lots of other threads on this.

[durhamdave]

Thanks for that, I had a feeling this would be the case from past searching. I'm not to bothered if I'm honest, it would just have been nice, and to be honest, i'd be more than happy to be able to hook the lumix up - as its a superb camera, 60second exposures (max available on this camera) should suffice and cover for most things I can see in a 130. Can you recommend a good 'bracket' for said camera?

I've also seen some threads about webcams? Im going to show my ignorance but I assume that means buying a 'webcam eyepiece' and having it hooked up to a laptop whilst at the scope?

[Squagnut]

Thanks for that, I had a feeling this would be the case from past searching. I'm not to bothered if I'm honest, it would just have been nice, and to be honest, i'd be more than happy to be able to hook the lumix up - as its a superb camera, 60second exposures (max available on this camera) should suffice and cover for most things I can see in a 130. Can you recommend a good 'bracket' for said camera?

I can't recommend any specific bracket, as I've never used one, but they are out there - there are even DIY tutorials about on how to make your own. A couple of things you should bear in mind with this kind of imaging are: a 60" exposure is not long on many deep sky objects, so don't expect great results on very faint targets, and also if you don't have any way to remote-trigger the camera shutter, you'll make the whole telescope vibrate when you press it. You can practice minimising this so it vibrates for a shorter time, and also you can 'top hat' the telescope - open the shutter but hold something dark over the front of the 'scope for a few seconds until all vibration has stopped.

I've also seen some threads about webcams? Im going to show my ignorance but I assume that means buying a 'webcam eyepiece' and having it hooked up to a laptop whilst at the scope?

Yes, basically. It's possible to adapt most webcams, with a simple screw-in device that goes where the webcam lens would go, but you can also get webcam EPs specifically made for the job at hand. You can also get very high-quality specialist CCD cameras, but looking at the prices of these is not for the faint-hearted.