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imaging with a dob


frankie

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Lunar is easy. It's big enough that you can get it centered on the camera chip and take some great shots.

Planetary is much more difficult if you're using a manual dob. Between trying to focus on the planet and using the right capture settings to keeping it on the sensor, I found it to be a nightmare. But if you're up for a challenge, go for it! :)

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Id love to start doing a bit of planet and lunar imaging has anyone here managed this with a dob? be great to hear your views and to help me out

Thanks

Hi,

The moon is bright enough to allow single quick shots even without tracking. If you have a dSLR camera by any chance, get the right adapters and you'll be able to take some pictures using the scope as a camera lens. Potentially you could use other cameras (even compact or film) held in front of the eyepiece to take some snapshots.

Alternatively you can use a modified webcam: I used a cheap x-box webcam to do some quick lunar imaging with my 200P and taking single shots was pretty easy and results not too bad.

With a DOB without tracking won't be easy to do planetary but you might be lucky and be able to take a very quick video (or a single shot again)

of a planet before it goes out of the field of view. Back in March I was able to take about 30 seconds of video of Saturn and Mars and stack the frames

to obtain some sort of planetary image. Not great but good for the records :)

Clear Skies

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i am thinking about a dobsonian myself but under estimated my interest in astro photography, if you flick about the web there are pages that show home made EQ platforms for dob's that make imaging of deep field better but i'm not to keen on the idea.

i would like a dobsonian because of the apature you gain for the price but when i started looking more into it i think i will just spend more money on as large a apature as i can afford on a SGT, RC or a Kelvzov as i'd like the option of imaging later on.

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Hi,

The moon is bright enough to allow single quick shots even without tracking. If you have a dSLR camera by any chance, get the right adapters and you'll be able to take some pictures using the scope as a camera lens. Potentially you could use other cameras (even compact or film) held in front of the eyepiece to take some snapshots.

Alternatively you can use a modified webcam: I used a cheap x-box webcam to do some quick lunar imaging with my 200P and taking single shots was pretty easy and results not too bad.

With a DOB without tracking won't be easy to do planetary but you might be lucky and be able to take a very quick video (or a single shot again)

of a planet before it goes out of the field of view. Back in March I was able to take about 30 seconds of video of Saturnand Mars and stack the frames

to obtain some sort of planetary image. Not great but good for the records :)

Clear Skies

Hi there, just reading this with interest and wondering what exactly are you using as a camera as there are loads on Amazon.

I am a bit like frankie in that I am interested in just doing some simple imaging. I don't want to get into DSO imaging because its too expensive but planets and the moon seem like fun to have a go at.

Baz

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Link here to commercially made EQ platforms for Dobs http://www.equatorial-platforms-uk.co.uk/

Regards, Ed.

That's a great site, but they have not been taking orders for quite some time now as I have been watching that site. They're also fairly pricey so I figure I would just save for an NEQ 6 Pro and mount my 200P on that. Or alternatively save a bit more and go for the new alt/EQ skywatcher mount.

I have just recently started attempting imaging with my Dob with a Phillips SPC900 webcam and 2x televue powermate but am struggling with focus at the moment but will get it sorted soon. In the meantime I plan on taking single shots afocally with my digital camera and a universal style mount like the Microstage II.

Skywatcher Skyliner 200p Dobsonian

Celestron Skymaster 15x70 Binoculars

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Hi there, just reading this with interest and wondering what exactly are you using as a camera as there are loads on Amazon.

I am a bit like frankie in that I am interested in just doing some simple imaging. I don't want to get into DSO imaging because its too expensive but planets and the moon seem like fun to have a go at.

Baz

Hi Baz,

Here is the webcam I've used, very affordable item. Some people had success also with Logitech, Microsoft, PlayStation, Nintendo or ASDA / Poundshop webcams. And here is how I modified it (Cliff Mod). It's basically a matter of removing its original lens and attaching a tube that will let you fit the webcam into the focuser, like an eyepiece.

I just screwed it like an eyepiece, then opened a Mac program called "PhotoBooth" (but there is plenty of similar software on Windows, even Skype lets you take such snapshots!! :D ), focussed the telescope and started taking basic snapshots of the moon without much effort. I know it's not as great as some stacked images you see around SGL, but for that little effort and little money it's not that bad :)

The planets instead were taken with a dSLR (Nikon D3100) + two 2X Barlow lenses stacked. High mag causes the object to move away from the field of view very quickly, but it's enough to take a bunch of frames on a dSLR (about 20 / 30 seconds videos) and stack them. You might even have luck taking single shots if the conditions are the right ones.

You can also use a regular compact camera (or a smartphone camera) placed in front of the eyepiece (called afocal technique). There is a universal adapterthat helps keeping it steady and in the right position in front of the eyepiece. I also own that adapter but I never used it at all as I have a dSLR that can be attached directly in prime focus (i.e. without eyepieces in the middle). By using an adequate filter ( :angry4: for the scope AND for the finderscope) you can also image the sun with any of the above techniques.

Other then still images, you may also consider taking some videos of the

or the
(and maybe even stars or clusters?), just to keep a record of what you have seen. Taking videos might be even easier (at least for me) then taking single shots, especially if you are using a dSLR or compact camera.

Astrophotography is Easy Peasy, isn't it :icon_mrgreen::alien:

Clear Skies

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Hi Baz,

Here is the webcam I've used, very affordable item. Some people had success also with Logitech, Microsoft, PlayStation, Nintendo or ASDA / Poundshop webcams. And here is how I modified it (Cliff Mod). It's basically a matter of removing its original lens and attaching a tube that will let you fit the webcam into the focuser, like an eyepiece.

I just screwed it like an eyepiece, then opened a Mac program called "PhotoBooth" (but there is plenty of similar software on Windows, even Skype lets you take such snapshots!! :D ), focussed the telescope and started taking basic snapshots of the moon without much effort. I know it's not as great as some stacked images you see around SGL, but for that little effort and little money it's not that bad :)

Astrophotography is Easy Peasy, isn't it :icon_mrgreen::alien:

Hey thanks for this TziuRiky, I shall order a webcan and give it a go. For the cost of a few quid, its gotta be worth a try. I will love playing about with something like this to see how good an image I can get.

many thnaks

Baz

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I notice see you both use photobooth for mac and also registax, which is the easier to use ?

Well I only used PhotoBooth on the Mac to take single shots and videos of the moon with the xbox livecam, it's very handy for that but there are other more advanced tools (especially on Windows) that let you take snapshots and videos. A very popular one is Sharpcap.

Registax (for Windows only) can be used to process videos: it lets you create single images by stacking the frames of a video. A tool that does that on Mac is Lynkeos, although not as advanced as Registax. No idea about how easy or difficult Registax is, but Lynkeos for Mac is not that difficult to use.

If you are just going to take snapshots of the moon, any webcam capture software will do the job anyway, regardless of its features or the operating system used :) For the planets, you could capture short AVI videos via Sharpcap and stack the frames with Registax to obtain an even more detailed image.

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It is possible, as I do it. But it is extremely difficult and you will need a lot of patience. I'm currently working on a tutorial document/ PDF, which I hope once complete, it will be useful for others to enable to image with a push-to dob and with satisfying results.

Here is my most recent and probably best result with imaging with a dob.

post-21313-0-54116100-1355490395_thumb.j

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It is possible, as I do it. But it is extremely difficult and you will need a lot of patience. I'm currently working on a tutorial document/ PDF, which I hope once complete, it will be useful for others to enable to image with a push-to dob and with satisfying results.

Here is my most recent and probably best result with imaging with a dob.

That is a truly brilliant picture regardless of it being done on a push to Dob. It's fantastic in its own right! The detail on the banding and GRS is great. The fact you have achieved this on a manual Dob only further adds to how good it is. Cracking shot well done :)

Skywatcher Skyliner 200p Dobsonian

Celestron Skymaster 15x70 Binoculars

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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It is possible, as I do it. But it is extremely difficult and you will need a lot of patience. I'm currently working on a tutorial document/ PDF, which I hope once complete, it will be useful for others to enable to image with a push-to dob and with satisfying results.

Here is my most recent and probably best result with imaging with a dob.

Hi Bliss,

I agree with the previous comment, that's a brilliant image. Lovely colours and plenty of detail. I'm sure it requires a good amount of patience and a lot of trial and error.

Was your image made with the usual combination i.e. Sharpcap to capture the AVI and Registax for stacking??

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