Digiscoping what rubbish....

[NIGHTBOY]

Just made a mock up digi scoping devise out of bits lying around the house and as for the results... Well.... Absolutely appalling.

Firstly I could see the focuser tube in the image, also the criss that holds the secondary mirror in place. I tried different distances from the eyepiece including right on it. Couldn't even get a full screen pic.

For anyone thinking of getting a digiscope adapter, put the money towards a ruby and a few beers.

[Steve Ward]

When digi-scoping you are filming through the eyepiece , sounds to me like you were trying without the EP in place ...?

[NIGHTBOY]

Yes I had the ep in Steve.

[Moonshane]

you must have been completely out of focus. surely you cannot say that all coupling methods are rubbish based on what sounds like a poorly constructed DIY attempt? seems to me like you need a bit more determination to succeed (or some money to buy a unit that works?).

[Steve Ward]

It must just be a case of focus adjustment surely  ,  if the view through the eye-piece was focused visually then the focus of the imager needs adjusting .

[NIGHTBOY]

It was very sturdy and in line. When the camera was pressed pretty much right against the ep the focuser tube and cross were less noticeable. But full screen was a no no. I found them at the focuser became a zoom.

[101nut]

Digiscoping works for thousands ... loads of birders rely on it. Don't knock it on the basis that you can't get your efforts to work.

AndyG

[Moonshane]

I have taken about three photos of the moon through my telescope and then used the focuser to focus with the camera on manual not auto focus. use your lowest power eyepiece and the zoom on the camera to get to full screen views. you just need to trial and error it until you find a position that works.

[Steve Ward]

You need a combination of experimentation and patience , can't have you running off smashing up the furniture and kicking the dog again .... 

[Ant]

I used the afoucal method for the Venus transit in 2004? Took 900 images and made a great animation.

Don't give up, there is something wrong with what you've done (might be focus), not the process of afoucal imaging.

You need to have the EP in place AND the lens on the camera.

Cheers

Ant

[NIGHTBOY]

I found the focuser on the telescope became the zoom.

[frugal]

Nightboy, I have been doing some reading around this (because the 300mm lens does not cut it and the scope can't support a dslr attached). The consensus appears to be focus the telescope so you get a crisp image when visually viewing. Set you camera to focus at infinity, and it should all just work.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

[Ant]

I found the focuser on the telescope became the zoom.

Then you are doing something wrong, because the EP and camera are fixed to the focuser I cannot see why that would happen? Can you take a pictures or two of everything and we'll try to problem solve.

[NIGHTBOY]

Just about to upload some images I've just take. Through it

[NIGHTBOY]

Here's some pics...

Firstly sorry for dismissimg it as 'Rubbish'...v If you guys say otherwise then it must be ok as I am gratefull for all the help and advise from you guys.

Secondly. I'd like to be able to get this to work as I'm thinking of getting a digiscoping set up and have been for a while. I posted a thread about the equipment I was looking at but no one replied.

[Steve Ward]

Which EP  do you have in the scope ?

[NIGHTBOY]

25mm

[Steve Ward]

I'm guessing that you need to get the camera lens as close as you can to the back of the EP , the only time I used this technique was of a partial Solar eclipse through one side of a binocular while looking through the other , I had to have the camera hard up against the rear eyepiece to reduce the vignetting to a minimum.

[asset189]

Here is my first effort last week.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/199167-1st-attempt-at-a-focal-imaging/

Took a lot of fidfling about to get the camera properly aligned with eyepiece. Once this is achieved you can use the camera zoom to fit the screen , then use the telescope focuser to focus your image. Finally when you are happy with the set up, set your camera self timer so you get a stable image. Lock the focus by depressing the shoot button half way down, then take your picture. Ive had more efforts like your than good photos like this one but its worth the effort when you get it right,stick with it.

[NIGHTBOY]

Think I'll stick to my dslr connected directly to the scope!

[Moonshane]

I agree the camera lens is not close enough to the eyepiece.try hand holding it and you'll see roughly where it needs to be.

[nightfisher]

with practise, this is the sort of image you should get.....

[NIGHTBOY]

Yah I can get that with my I phone. I'd rather not bother pressing the lens of my camcorder up against the EP as it has a Leica lens in it.

[Moonshane]

why not just buy a webcam? a lot of people go that route for lunar and planetary imaging.

[JED-E3]

Did you try using the cameras zoom to fill the frame with the circular image in your pictures?