what camera/web cam for £100 ish

[dr.robut]

Hi guys,

After getting some great advice regarding a first telescope I come to you again with a plea for help.

We want to take photos of the planets (in particular) and we were advised to get a Philips SPC880 or SPC900...neither of which I can find anywhere for sale...

Could anyone recommend an alternative web cam, or otherwise, for no more than £100?

Thanks in advance!

Got some great views of the moon tonight , cannot wait to have a look through the new scope when it arrives

[astromerlin]

There are still a few SPC880 (900)'S on ebay at the moment if you want something that will fit the scope straight away.

Most people have now moved on to using the Microsoft Lifecam (720p) but it will need modifying to fit the telescope.

[bigbox]

theres a couple for sale on uk astro buy/sell & also on that very well known auction... BUT there are going for outragous prices £60 - £80+.

i was looking at getting another, but have decided to go for a microsoft lifecam cinema & do the mod myself... Then maybe sell mine on or put it cupboard for safe keeping...

not worth wasting your money on the spc's

[starnut]

I saw this on ebay, don't know if it is any good

here

[astromerlin]

Also there's a few guys on the forum using xbox webcams with promising results they can be obtained pretty cheap.

[UnderTheRain]

The lifecam is easy to mod I did mine in 20-30 mins. The instructions are here Instructions for Converting Microsoft Lifecam Cinema HD Webcam for Telescope Use -by Gary Honis

I used a bespoke chasis designed for the lifecam from here Welcome to Billetparts.co.uk a Divison of FDOS Design - - MS Lifecam Adapter you don't really need to be able to solder you only disconnect 2 pins (you can also skip a couple of the fiddly steps in garys guide).

Attached are two photos of mine with a filter on you'd never know looking at it it was a web cam :-)

Lifecam was £30

Chasis (with cap not pictured) £15

Filter £10-15