Settings help for Cannon 1100D.

[Bignev]

Hi all,

         Hoping someone can point me in the right direction here as i all i seem to be doing right now is loosing sleep with little to show for it.

I am using a skywatcher 200p which has the 2.5 barlow on, as said above i am using a canon 1100d with a T ring and a 1.25 adapter on the body of my camera which fits direct into the barlow. I have been up every night now for ages and i just cant seem to get any settings on it to 

actually take any really good pictures at all, Im taking mostly fuzzy pictures, nebulea are not bad but i have finally been able to capture jupiter after having to wait for months while on my holidays and the picture i had last night would have been fantastic, all 4 moons were lined up with the planet last, it was amazing but alas my camera only took a white ball. I have tryed over the last couple of nights with every combination i can imagine but with no luck at all.

Tryed changing shutter speeds to iso to well everything but i just still cant sort it out.

If anyone has one and knows what all of the settings should be on i would be eternally grateful if you could point me out of the darkness and back into the light, From a very lost begginer.

                                                                          Many Thanks for all replys.

[sonic190178]

hi try it without the barlow and get a 2" max adapter

[sonic190178]

for the planets a dslr isnt the best,try a webcam for the planets

[mitchelln]

If you are just getting a white ball it means you are over exposing it. Jupiter is so bright through a 200P You need to drop the ISO down to 800 or lower and set a pretty fast shutter speed. Try somewhere around 1/60th of a second if going for a single shot. Zoomed liveview is your friend here

However, it is best to capture a video and then process it. This stacks the frames and helps cancel out atmospheric turbulence and also the movement of the target. I use Autostakkert for this and get good results. It's really easy to use.

http://www.astrokraai.nl/software/latest.html

For video, set the ISO to 800 or 1600 and capture 30 seconds or so. Use zoomed Liveview to get good focus and set the shutter speed to what gives you a nice exposure of Jupiter's detail. Stick with the barlow to get more pixels onto the target.

I've tried both my Canon and also a Philips SPC900 webcam and I got far better results with my Canon and it is much easier to set up. One top tip if you have an Android phone is to use DSLR Controller. You can run the camera completely from your phone or tablet and also get the liveview display that you can zoom. Complete hands off control, so you don't judder the scope and camera. A nice easy pocket sized set up

Good luck! The first time a good final image jumps out of Autostakkert makes it all worthwhile. A really "wow" moment.

Deeps Sky objects will be more of a challenge. What mount have you got? If you have a manual mount you'll not get enough time on the target.

[Bignev]

Yes at the moment i have just got the Sky 200p/1000 on the basic EQ5 stand so it is very difficult indeed to keep the sho in view, of course i do intend to upgrade it to auto tracking but i just have to wait as i have exhausted funds available at the moment, I will try to change the shutter speeds as i have already changed the iso levels and there is no differance so it must be a simple case os too much light i will have a look through the settings on the camera and find them. i do already have the celestron Neximage 5 solar system imager but unfortunatly its vertually  impossible to use without the auto tracking so just waiting for my cash flow to rise again, thats what happens when you dont ask for advice i guess.

Thanks again i will keep you imformed no how i get on with things, Many thanks again.. 

[chris285]

Best of luck with that, just picked up an 1100d myself this week and had a couple of nights trying to get to grips with it just on widefield shots only for now

[toxic]

i havent used the 1100D for planets yet i just got one but have used the 10D and i used iso 400 1/160 to 1/250 white balance set to fluorescent  and that seems to work for me hope this helps Jupiter & moons taken with a skywatcher 200pds on a celstron cg5 gt mount and a canon eos 10d 20 x 250 th second subs  and 1 x 5 second shot for the moons no darks or flats