Astrophotography, Where To Start?

[Mogga]

Right, some advice needed please.

I have a SW Explorer 200p Newt reflector scope on a EQ5 mount. I am looking to kit myself out to start photography. I got some great lunar shots just by holding my compact up to the eye piece, and now have a bigger appetite.

I assume i need a tracking motor fitted to the scope, is this correct? If so single or dual axis?

I have seen plenty of reviews for the Canon EOS 1100D is this good enough for what I will need to get started?

What about webcams? Any recommendations? A lot of people seem to have the Philips SPC900nc, but I can't seem to find them anywhere. Any good alternatives/ideas?

Finally are there any good books you can recommend for a total novice (i've not even held a DSLR yet, let alone used one).

Thanks in advance for any tips/answers you can give me.

Cheers

Paul

[ollypenrice]

The book's easy; Making Every Photon Count by Steve Richards and available from FLO at the top of the page.

You will be under-mounted for DS imaging with an EQ5. The NEQ6 would be the best and the HEQ5 possible. I'm afraid that for DS imaging the mount is the number one purchase. However, webcam lunar-planetary is much more tolerant mount-wise.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=1793644788&k=r8HTK72

[Mogga]

Thanks Olly

i will give the book a look.

What is it about the mount that makes it unsuitable. Is it the combined weight of scope and camera? Does it make tracking unreliable?

Bit gutted to find out I am already ill equiped, but there you go.

Paul

[x6gas]

To do long exposure astrophotography - which is a requirement for capturing deep sky objects (DSOs) - you need a very capable mount and the usual recommendation for astrophotography is not to exceed 50% of the rated payload (though some manufacturers are a little more conservative than others on their rated loads...).

A driven mount is pretty much a must have - both axis if possible. The alternative is to manually guide the scope and when you need to take many exposures of several minutes that gets old real quick and you'll be throwing a lot of the captures away.

Webcam imaging of bright objects like the moon and the planets is a lot more forgiving on the mount, though.

Some webcams are better than others but just about anything will do - people have been using ASDA webcams bought for a couple of quid. A search on here should find the threads that will point you in the right direction.

Plenty of fun to be had with your current mount, but I'd go down the webcam / planetary imaging route first before thinking about DSOs and DSLRs....

[malc-c]

Paul,

The HEQ5 / SW200 is the minimum combination for decent dso imaging. The EQ5 will work, but to get decent long exposures you need to use a guidescope and camera and the additional weight of these items takes it over the max load for the EQ5. In addition to that the HEQ5 and EQ6 mounts have high precision stepper motors which result in better control and accuracy. By the time you add the cost of the goto upgrade (as it has an ST4 port which will be needed if you don't go down the PC route) you might as well sell your EQ5 and upgrade to an HEQ5 or EQ6 (if portability isn't a problem)

Having said that, the use of a decent web cam (Phillips SPC900, or MS Lifecam - both modified for astro use) will give you fantastic results of the Moon, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and with a decent solar filter, plenty of sunspots.

[Caldwell 14]

The book's easy; Making Every Photon Count by Steve Richards and available from FLO at the top of the page.

You will be under-mounted for DS imaging with an EQ5. The NEQ6 would be the best and the HEQ5 possible. I'm afraid that for DS imaging the mount is the number one purchase. However, webcam lunar-planetary is much more tolerant mount-wise.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.s...44788&k=r8HTK72

Sound advise...

[JamesM]

Steve Richards' book is a must and I would always recommend reading and researching before buying any specific kit. The key thing with imaging is choosing a method/set up that is capable of producing reliable results. The HEQ5 and NEQ6 also include the ability to attach an autoguider which helps regulate the motors to keep the imaged object in the middle of the imaging sensor. If you check out imagers' kit in their signatures, you will see the same familiar kit used over and over because they all know that it works and does what it says on the tin. It is tempting to try and reinvent the wheel with alternatives, but if you want imaging to be fun rather than frustrating, easy as opposed to being onerous then deep sky starts with a certain quality of mount. One last comment, much discussion is had on the virtues of kit which in reality is about how you collect the necessary data to construct an image, but there is also the job of processing that data and although there is plenty of software out there that is free, there is also other great software that needs to be paid for so bare that in mind regarding any future budgetary considerations.

James

[Mogga]

OK guys

Thanks for your help, very informative as always.

Note to self ~ Learn to walk before attempting a shot at Usain Bolt's world record!

I'll get the book and a webcam and start from there.

Cheers

[ronnietucker]

One thing that's always perplexed me about astrophotograhy with a DSLR is: how do you get close to, say, the Moon?

As I'm assuming there's no eyepiece in the 'scope, or magnifying lens in the camera.

[ollypenrice]

One thing that's always perplexed me about astrophotograhy with a DSLR is: how do you get close to, say, the Moon?

As I'm assuming there's no eyepiece in the 'scope, or magnifying lens in the camera.

The image scale, or the extent to which you are 'zoomed in,' is determined exclusively by the focal length of your optics. This focal length is just that of your scope at prime focus, or you can extend it using a Barlow or eyepiece projection. This kind of extending is fine for the planets and moon because these objects are bright. However, if you extend the focal length of your scope for long exposure deep sky imaging you slow the focal ratio down below that which is practicable. (Put a 2x Barlow in a scope on a faint galaxy, for instance, and the 6 hours you might need at F5 become 24 hours with the Barlow.)

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=1793644788&k=r8HTK72

[badgers]

The setup you have is enough to get started with shorter exposures and learn the basics.

Definitely read the Every Photon Counts book, and maybe also check out Quatermass' thread on his trials and tribulations doing AP on his EQ5 with a 200P.

He gets great results from that setup.

If you enjoy yourself on a budget EQ5 setup you'll find it a less steep learning curve as you move up to a better mount etc later.

[Quatermass]

Read my blog to see what can be done with the 200p and eq5 plus dual axis kit and a canon 350d. Pm me if you have any questions happy to help

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk 2

[todd8137]

try a bit of web cam action its easy to do (he says) and very rewarding and does not cost the world to start ,this is the start of a wallet buster set your self a budget as this can run into big bucks quickly Steves book is mega making every photon count i would read this for 20 quid its a bargain because after reading this you will no what is needed ect

pat

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I have the same scope as the OP. To start with i have a DSLR, which i for lunar and solar photography. I've not yet played with the planets, but i dont have motors. But if you want to do lunar/solar to get you started, you should be fine.

[sgazer]

planetary and DSO imaging are quite different, requiring differing setups. Planetary is done at very long focal lengths, often with barlows, and with a webcam to capture 100's of frames. Mount tracking isn't so ciritical, but needs to be stable to prevent blury shots. SCTs or Maks are common for their long focal lengths and compact size.

DSO imaging depends on what size and brightness DSO you want to image. Most people use a DSLR (cheap big sensor, anything with liveview is good) or cooled CCD camera (expensive). Faster scopes require shorter exposures, f5 being good. Some DSOs are small so need longer focal lengths, which means bigger aperture at f5, more weight, cost, guiding and bigger mount. Other's are fairly large, or you can do wide field imaging requiring a smaller scope or even just a camera lens, placing less demand on your mount. I used to have the fully guided Newt on an HEQ5 setup and it was great, but didn't have the time or energy to set it up each time, so now just use a ALT/AZ goto with a fast camera lens, which makes it so quick and easy. If you got a DSLR with a kit lens, you could get some pretty good DSO images just on a motorised EQ5. But as you increase the focal length and scope size, you'll be needing a HEQ5 or bigger.

[Steve Ward]

Would also recommend these two books ,

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/dslr/

http://www.willbell.com/DigitaAstrophoto/Default.htm

[cfpendock]

I am normally a visual only observer - I think that although photography can be very rewarding, it seems that you do need specific equipment depending on what you want to see. Additionally you have to balance the scope against the weight of the camera etc. But like yourself, I have occasionally taken some good photos using a point and shoot camera - taking a few seconds of video directly through the eyepiece and stacking the resulting images. Of course the result is nothing like the direct view, but seems at least as good as many webcam images. And you certainly should not limit yourself to the moon.....

[Bizibilder]

I regularly use an EQ5 mount for both Solar and Lunar imaging with both a DSLR and a webcam. Admittedly I now use a 120mm Refractor but my original set-up was with my 200P. My EQ5 has dual axix drive, although RA only is sufficient. This set-up works well. For DSO work it simply isn't man enough - as said above you need at least an HEQ5. Below is a "movie" of my portable pier mount with the EQ5 on top and a 120mm refractor.