Is anything possible with a Fujifilm FinePix S602?

[Puffafish]

I have (what I see as) the nice 130P Skywatcher 'scope, and I'm happy with what I've been able to see through the scope (though does need some collimation, but the decent collimation tools are a bit pricy from my first look).

I'd like to do some imaging, and I've got access to a Fujifilm FinePix S602 camera. I'm not too hot on what the camera can do, as I don't do any real photography, but I'm curious if anyone has had a go with it on a basic scope like mine?

(Current hope is to possibly get a decent shot of the Orion Nebula, but slightly dubious about my low-end kit...)

[ronin]

Looking at it the camera seems to have a fixed lens.

Which although people talk of afocal imaging that is normally using a smaller webcam sized unit.

You will not be able to hold the camera in place with any attachment I am aware of.

So on the canera basis alone I would say no realistic chance.

You say 130P is that the small dobsonian or a 130P on a motorised EQ mount?

To get anything like M42 you would need an exposure of some duration, or more likely several longish duration exposures, and that means an equitorial mount and motors to track the object. On a manual dobsonian type mount then again no realistic chance.

Visual and imaging equipment sound the same but are somewhat different. Bit like going off-roading and going for a track day. Both use a car but a somewhat different car.

[Puffafish]

Thanks for the response.

Fair enough, there are a few mentions about swapping the lens on the camera online, but I'm not convinced either.

And it's a 130P on a EQ mount (not motorised, but it can be if I get hold of a motor for about £60)

[LukeSkywatcher]

Looking at it the camera seems to have a fixed lens.

Which although people talk of a-focal imaging that is normally using a smaller webcam sized unit.

You will not be able to hold the camera in place with any attachment I am aware of.

So on the camera basis alone I would say no realistic chance.

 

After googling the camera, i tend to agree with Ronin. If the camera was a small "point and shoot" then you could have used a universal digital camera adapter to connect to the scope to get some lunar images and maybe some planetary. The fact that it is a fixed lens SLR means you are limited in ways to connect it to the scope. By limited,i mean i cant of a way to do it.

[rowan46]

your best bet is to piggyback it on your scope. If I remember right the 130p has a screw on one of the rings that will take a camera. It's not ideal but you may with some perseverence get some wide field shots out of it

[dph1nm]

I think this camera has a threaded lens (55mm?). In which case you should be able to connect it securely to a t-threaded eyepiece for afocal imaging. How well this works optically will be trial and error - some camera-eyepiece combinations seem to work better than others. It only seem to do up to 15sec exposures, but that would be fine for e.g. M42 providing you stack a few of them.

NigelM

[Oddsocks]

I had an earlier incarnation of this camera the 6900Z which uses the same body and lens assembly and would advise against trying to attach it to the telescope because the lens assembly motor-drives in or out of the body to zoom, the thread on the end of the lens barrel is only to take a filter or the teleconverter and wide angle lens attachments, I don't think the lens zoom motor would stand up to dangling the whole weight of the camera off the front lens barrel and you could damage the camera.

Looking at the instruction manual for the S602 the longest exposure possible is only 3 seconds so that makes it unsuitable for piggy back photography as well.

I think the S602, great as it is for daytime photography is just not suitable in any form for astrophotography.

William.

[rowan46]

in manual mode it will do 15 sec  exposures not great but you may get something and truth to tell I would be surprised if your tracking accuracy is much better than that on your mount. The only way to see is to try 15 sec exposures stacked on low iso on a fairly bright target with the apparture wide open. Like oddsocks I am not hopeful but if you don't try you don't learn good luck

[dph1nm]

I had an earlier incarnation of this camera the 6900Z which uses the same body and lens assembly and would advise against trying to attach it to the telescope

There appear to be  digiscoping sets specifically for this camera

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-25-26mm-eyepiece-camera-adapter-FujiFilm-S7000-S5600-S602-S6900-Digiscope-/221236325359?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item3382b66bef

so I would image it will work fine used this way. 

NigelM

[rowan46]

There appear to be  digiscoping sets specifically for this camera

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-25-26mm-eyepiece-camera-adapter-FujiFilm-S7000-S5600-S602-S6900-Digiscope-/221236325359?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item3382b66bef

so I would image it will work fine used this way. 

NigelM

you can get many things on ebay not all of them are good things. the motor on your lens isn't designed to take the full weight of the camera there's a good chance you will break the camera

[dph1nm]

I think you attach the eyepiece to the adapter ring, which I don't think is attached to the camera lens itself, so this is still free to move and doesn't take the weight.

NigelM

[Puffafish]

Thanks guys.

I've looked into it a bit now, and there seems no simple and secure way to attach the scope to the camera. At least I know what I'm limited by now!

No doubt there's lot of people out there willing to suggest something suitable, but can anyone give me an idea of how much I should expect to spend on a camera to get a good image of the Orion Nebular or Andromeda or similar?

Suggestions seem to be web-cams for planetary stuff, but is there any thing that can do both?