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What do I need, which telescope and webcam/compact?

t0ny

By t0ny
in Getting Started With Imaging

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jimb0b360

jimb0b360

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Why would you use a webcam for astronomy / photography?! Most webcams are max 9MP, and Compact Cameras are just tacky. Get something decent that will last a while: A DSLR such as a d3200. Will only run you £300 ish without a lens for normal photography, and it's 24MP so you get massive, great quality photos.

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RikM

RikM

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Why would you use a webcam for astronomy / photography?! Most webcams are max 9MP, and Compact Cameras are just tacky. Get something decent that will last a while: A DSLR such as a d3200. Will only run you £300 ish without a lens for normal photography, and it's 24MP so you get massive, great quality photos.

Planets are very small, so the large chip on a DSLR would be mostly empty black space. You also need hundreds to thousands of individual frames to run through software to get good planetary images. This would very quickly chew through a mechanical shutter. As for MP, 'resolution' has a different meaning for astrophotography. Image quality (detail) is more about the size of the individual pixels relative the size of the target rather than how many pixels you have. For planetary imaging, you want small pixels relative to your image and just enough of them to frame the planet, without wasting hard drive space or computing power.

For deep sky imaging, a larger sensor and the ability to take long exposures makes the DSLR an attractive low cost option.

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MikeMc

MikeMc

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150p eq3-2 should arrive tomorrow!

Will order a dual motor next month!

Now to hunt this forum for an explanation of how to use a webcam!

Let me know how you get on with the 150, I am looking at something similar. Using a webcam is relatively easy, it's focus of the kit before you insert the cam that I find hard!

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t0ny

t0ny

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I have one of the Xbox cams done up to the point of the adapter/nose piece. I am desperate keen to give it a go just need to finish that bit somehow.

Mate says he has a Toucam Pro II I can have which looks like it has the same sensor as the Phillips ones everyone mentions, which may be better!?

Going to buy the dual axis motor tomorrow which If I understand it correctly will let me run some longer exposures?

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poogle

poogle

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If I connect the webcam to the computer without scope I get some blurry nonsense on the screen. It shows change when I move my hand about. Is this correct?

Don't worry, that's correct since the lens was removed from the webcam. Try connecting it to your scope and try it out during daytime. You might have to play with the focus to get it right

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mareprah

mareprah

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Found this topic right now, and saw you went for the 150p. Congrats! I just wanted to tell you that I began with the 130/900, and after a short year already wanted to upgrade. So you made a great choice, this might last a few years with you:) Tell your wife, that by this choice you saved a bunch of money - and you did, believe me! Now the 130/900 is a great scope, don't get me wrong. A great begginers scope to be exact. Lets you learn how to find objects by yourself and shows you a decent amount of detail, but the problem comes when trying to image. I must say, i got a few decent photographs of saturn, jupiter, moon (with a compact cam via afocal), and quite good DSO pics (M42, M31, M44, M13, M45 etc.) Still, to get 1 pic right it was a lot of frustration since I had an EQ2 with only RA motor.

Some of the pics:

jupiterjpg.jpg

saturn-svetlejsa.jpg (didn't turn out as nice as i wanted it to be)

M13

za-na-forum-jpg.jpg

M42

orion5.jpg

I uploaded these to give you a bit of a feeling which border you MUST cross, since u have a great mount and a great scope! :) Just dont forget a good polar alignment, and of you go:) (guiding may be even better and you can do it with a normal webcam, although you are limited to mag4 or brighter stars it is enough for a begginer and later on you can buy a QHY5 or smthn similar, maybe even a SPC900 can do it with fairly dark sky).

CS, M

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MikeMc

MikeMc

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If I connect the webcam to the computer without scope I get some blurry nonsense on the screen. It shows change when I move my hand about. Is this correct?

Yes that's correct, as long as you can see some form of light/dark change then you are good to go. Connect it to e scop and laptop, get hold of sharp cap (or something similar) and off you go!

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t0ny

t0ny

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Mareprah: I'd be very happy with those DSO images, especially m42. Should I be able to get something similar on my set-up?

Mike, thanks for that ill give it a test at the weekend if my 2yr old allows a moment and snow leaves Norfolk!

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  • 3 weeks later...
t0ny

t0ny

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Not sure what drift alignment is and polar alignment is very difficult due to Polaris being blocked in my back garden. Looks like I need to go out with a laptop and software just to align!!?

Was going to get a polar scope but I guess that's a little pointless!

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MikeMc

MikeMc

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How's is it going?

I don't think you can go out and align and then come back home, from how I see it you need to align from where you photo.

Could you use other alignment methods, 3 star etc?

Let us know how you get on.

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