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Best Budget Web Cam For Planetary Photos

toilandtrouble123

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toilandtrouble123

toilandtrouble123

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Evening, I just recently pulled out my SkyScout 90 refractor, after it being in storage for 2years, and am getting back into it all again. I understand that with a 90mm refractor, I probably won't be pulling any prize-winning images out of the hat, but am looking to start off with planetary imaging. Have been looking at modding (or co-ercing the electrical engineer boyfriend into modding..) a web cam for such a use. I am just wondering what sort of web cam would be best suited for my scope, with an absolute ceiling budget of £50. I don't mind buying second hand, just wanna get the model right.

Also, I have recently bought a canon 350 D (for auroral shots), and am curious about how effective the camera could be, when teaming up with my scope for nebulae and such.

Any insight and advice would be great!!

Many Thanks

Nat

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Adamar98

Adamar98

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I'm no expert. I've just started out myself. I have the canon 450d unmodded. But I've taken some good images of the Orion nebula and even got the running man nebula! So I should think the 350 should be able to handle it. As to web cams, I don't have a clue.

Adam

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toilandtrouble123

toilandtrouble123

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I have seen a lot of mentions of the SPC900, but alas none on amazon. I'll check out the possibility of an xbox cam. Also, what would your thoughts be on a combination of a canon 350 d and my 90mm scope? I'm thinking about getting the skywatcher EQ2 motor driven mount, but unsure of the compatability of it with my current scope..

Cheers

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toilandtrouble123

toilandtrouble123

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I'm no expert. I've just started out myself. I have the canon 450d unmodded. But I've taken some good images of the Orion nebula and even got the running man nebula! So I should think the 350 should be able to handle it. As to web cams, I don't have a clue.

Adam

Thanks, you have restored my faith in my picking a good camera. I mainly wanted it for my aurora watching holiday, but also possibly DSO's, although with a equatorial driven mount.

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Andymac79

Andymac79

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You will run into problems with the EQ2 with any kind of DSO imaging as getting any kind of polar alignment with it is very difficult and its real wobbly! A second hand EQ3 2 is more up your street, more stable and there is the option to have motors and a polar scope (and guiding if you, like me, get bored in between clouds...) !

Sorry, a little off topic was that

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JamesF

JamesF

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If you'd looked yesterday there were some SPC880s (upgradable to a 900 with a firmware update) in the classifieds section for £15! They've all gone now though.

I think your best bet would be the Firefly to be honest. It is monochrome and would require a set of filters to get colour images and a colour camera would probably make life easier, but with only 90mm of aperture my gut feeling is that webcams such as the Xbox camera and Lifecams just aren't going to be sensitive enough to get a decent images.

James

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atmenterprises

atmenterprises

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I have seen a lot of mentions of the SPC900, but alas none on amazon. I'll check out the possibility of an xbox cam. Also, what would your thoughts be on a combination of a canon 350 d and my 90mm scope? I'm thinking about getting the skywatcher EQ2 motor driven mount, but unsure of the compatability of it with my current scope..

Cheers

I just happened to find someone selling a used one on Amazon. Else I'd probably still be hunting.

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inedible_hulk

inedible_hulk

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The Xbox web cams are so cheap it's worth giving a try, even if its only to tide you over until you get something better. I got mine off eBay for less than £4.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microsoft-Xbox-360-Live-Vision-Webcam-Camera-The-Game-Youre-In-The-Movies-/251125680037?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_Webcams&hash=item3a7841c7a5

Cliff's Xbox web cam thread is here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/131246-xbox-livecam-mod-cliff/

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Marc1980

Marc1980

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Hi Nat. Just to give you an idea of what the xbox cam can do.

This is a Jupiter shot taken by Nephilim

yqu5utyj.jpg

And my very first effort at the moon with the xbox.

ejety2ug.jpg

You wont get amazing results but very satisfying for under £5.

Regards

Marc

Sent from my galaxy s3 using tapatalk 2

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todd8137

todd8137

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In the past I used a tescos own branded web cam it had a ccd chip and not c moss,get a webcam adapter they cheap as chips so you can fit it to the scope,if you ask amongst your friends I bet they have web cams they never use,if you use face book?,put a post on there for any old webcams you will be surprised I got 16 offers in minutes god look with it

pat

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toilandtrouble123

toilandtrouble123

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wow, well I think I'll just sacrifice my old xbox camera (now that I have the kinect- tehe :D), and see how it gets on. Hopefully the clear skies will hold for this evening, and I'll be heading up to the hills to see if I can remember anything about using my telescope after 2 yrs of it being sat in storage.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Ciao for now

Nat

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