Afocal adapter help

[ikorodu]

Hi,

I'd like to have a go at some afocal photography having been inspired by Nigel Metcalf's wonderful images with fairly modest equipment (see here http://www.dur.ac.uk/nigel.metcalfe/astro/slt.php)

I have an orion ed2 22mm eyepiece that I'd like to use which looks like this:

It has a removeable rubber end thingy and has an outside diameter of 42mm.

The camera I want to use is a Lumix FZ7 (old!). This has a lens adapter that has a 52mm thread.

I've tried searching around the forums and on google but can not find the bits I think I need to couple everything up.

I think I need the following:

T2 adapter to fit on the eyepiece.

T2 to 52mm step ring to then connect to the camera

So, I have a couple of questions, first am I right in what I need?

And second does anyone have any links to suitable adapters and step rings as I can't find any!

Thnaks all,

ikorodu

[Cornelius Varley]

You could try a digiscoping adapter from here. Choose a suitably sized sleeve from the list and an adaptor ring.

Peter

[dph1nm]

Nigel Metcalf's wonderful images with fairly modest equipment

Eeek! - thanks for the compliment, although I should point out I now use prime focus (mainly because I couldn't find a modern point and shoot camera which had as much going for it as the old 2020Z).

As for the parts, they are now hard to come by. You can get 53->T2 from

T / T2 Mount Adapter Rings. 28mm to 62mm | Adapters

by the look of it, though I know nothing about the retailer. The eyepiece adapter is trickier - you might be able to use one of these, but you would need to check

Baader T2 Schiebefokussierer 1,25' und T2 Anschluss - 11mm

This is what you really want

TS T2 Fotoring - T2 Anschluss für 1,25' Okulare für Okularprojektion

but they are quite expensive. The UK equivalent was Astro Engineering's AC530, but it doesn't look as if they make this any more.

There is another system here

For compact digital cameras camcorders with filter or body mounting threads

but again not cheap, although you could try asking them if they just do an eyepiece collar.

NigelM

[ikorodu]

Thanks for your suggestions, its especially good to hear from someonw with some experience!

To be honest it all is starting to look a bit expensive for me (or rather for her indoors!).

I have just stumbled across this on good old ebay eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace whihc looks like it might work albeit with an eye piece with a smaller OD than my Orion. I do have a generic 25mm SP EP which may do the trick. For £17 I might have a pop!

Have to say Nigel your shots with the old point and shoot and a 4 inch frac are nothing short of amazing to me. I'd always assumed that DSO's were the preserve of large telescopes and DSLR's.

ikorodu

[ikorodu]

Well, I have got the adapter from ebay and last night tried to capture some afocal images. I used a plossl 25mm ep, my DS2090 Meade frac, and my Panasonic FZ7 camera.

I was dodging clouds plus it was not really dark as it was only around 9:30pm. But this is what I managed.

Its meant to be M36! I used an ISO 100 F2.8 and this is a stack of 3 x 30s exposures stacked in GRIP Astro.

Not even close to what Nigel has managed, but we all have to start somewhere!

I think I will try shorter exposures of say 10 seconds next time as my mount is pretty poor. I will also push the iso to 200 maybe even 400.

Something tells me this will be a long slow road...

[dph1nm]

That's not bad - it looks remarkably noise free! You could try flats (maybe in twilight) to get rid of the vignetting, although without RAW I am not sure how well they work.

I find with my SLT mount, which is probably similarly flimsy to the DS2090, that once I have everything set up it pays to leave the mount to settle for a minute or so before starting the exposures (and I still often find the first exposure has trailed). It also helps to have remote for the camera if you can find one, else use the maximum self timer.

NigelM