What to connect telescope to camera?

[cygnusx1]

Well the question says it all, I have a Nikon 990 Coolpix that i want to attach to take photos.

What sort of adapter do i need and where can i purchase it?

Also, any other hints and tips, camera settings for taking exposures of Moon, planets and galaxies?

Thanks

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

Your Nikon will probably need a universal digital camera adaptor, which is basically a rig that holds the lens of the camera up to the eyepiece of the scope. Try First Light Optics and David Hinds, I believe both have such adaptors on their websites. If your camera had replacable lens like an SLR camera then you'd have been able to buy whats called a T-ring to plug the camera body straight in to the scope as if it were a lens. Due to the odd way in which your camera functions I think you may have some problems getting a rig to work correctly.

As for exposures, if you get it an adaptor to work and your scope is reasonably good then you'll get photos of the moon and maybe the bright planets. Unless you have a good mount and ability to track an object then exposures much over 20 seconds are out, and you can forget anything deep-sky unless you can accurately track an object for long periods and can take exposures many minutes long with a very sensitive camera. Given that you asked this question I doubt you have the equipment or experience needed.

What most people start out with is a webcam, which can be purchased for a few quid and there are adaptors available which will allow you to screw them right in to the scope. WIth the right software it's possible to get decent images of the planets and moon, even when the seeing isn't all that great.

[Ant]

Hi X1,

There are two ways to do it with a camera that doesn't have a removeable lens.

1) DigiT adapter, this is the more expensive option of the two that I'm going to give to you. This is specific to the EP and camera. This is a much easier method.

I cannot find a link to this one at the moment. I know that SCS do them but can't find it (their seach isn't working).

2) Steady pix camera mount. This is cheaper than the above, and is suitable for pretty much any camera and EP combo. But more work is required to ensure that the camera is perfectly aligned with the EP.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=swinivcamadaptor

I've had both, and foudn both fairly easy to use and have had excellent results from both.

Cheers

Ant

[geppetto]

Yep, a proper adaptor will save you many nights of grief..

There's a couple of eyepieces that screw straight onto your 990

shown here http://www.scopetronix.com/stwa.htm

[lunator]

I use an Orion Steadypix.

It can be a bit of a pain but you can get good results.

Cheers

Ian