Canon 60D DSLR and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM

[tjrobinson]

I'm just starting out and thinking of buying a telescope (dobsonian mount, reflector, ~5") later in the year. However, in the meantime I have access to my wife's Canon 60D DSLR and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens.

I don't have a tripod yet so this is an obvious thing to borrow/buy first - I assume a standard tripod would be fine? I don't have the budget/desire for a specialist DSLR mount at the moment.

I'm after some basic advice as to what kind of things I might be able to capture with this camera. I'm thining the moon be a good first target to get the hang of things, then maybe Jupiter?  I'd love to try and capture some star trails too.

Any tips on camera/lens set up would also be welcome. I noticed in another thread that it might be best to not extend to the full 400mm? 

I'm not looking to spend very much on this set up as I'd rather optimise my future telescope purchases towards live viewing rather than astrophotography, but since I don't have a telescope yet this set up seems like it might be a good temporary alternative.

Thanks.

[GuillermoBarrancos]

Sadly, you will need a tracking Mount to be able to make Pictures of the night sky, as just a short exposure of several Seconds will already give you star trailing.

Even photographing the moon will be challenging with a fixed tripod.

Everything is in constant movement in the nightsky, due to earth rotation.

[happy-kat]

Do you so have the kit lens?

Less zoom less star trails so quick

[Wetsparks]

I have a 70D with a whole range of lenses from 18mm throught to the 100-400 and a 800mm mirror lens. Best astro results so far are with a nifty fifty, a cheap (ish) 50 mm prime lens. But, you still need an equatorial mount to get the best out of it and thats where you start spending dosh. I've got the Vixen Polarie and a polar scope for it. Say goodby to 500 quid for that little lot

[happy-kat]

Are all lens equal in the same size?

I have the kit lens goes to 55mm and a 50mm prime (old tamron) Should the theory be they have the same fov please?

[Davey-T]

Focussing  can be a problem, you should have the Canon software that came with the camera, it includes the EOS Utility that connects to a laptop with the, hopefully, supplied USB lead, then you can turn off auto focus and manually focus on a bright star using Live View.

Dave

[Wetsparks]

I cant remember the exact numbers, but the Canon kit lens is made for the smaller CCD sensor in the cameras. The old Tamron will be a conventional 35mm film lens, this produces in efect a longer focal length when used on a DSLR. Off the top of mehead I think its something like 80mm effective. This is the same as the nifty fifty I use, originaly made for 35mm format.

[nicks90]

I'm after some basic advice as to what kind of things I might be able to capture with this camera. I'm thining the moon be a good first target to get the hang of things, then maybe Jupiter?  I'd love to try and capture some star trails too.

i think you have been given some slightly ropey advice so far on this thread - sorry.

for star trails and the moon you do NOT need a tracking mount. the moon is so bright you only need very short exposures to get a decent picture. for star trails you WANT the earth to rotate about your camera. Neither of these needs anything more than a tripod.

Have a look in the imaging widefield sub forum and the getting started imaging subforum and look at peoples pictures using just a dslr. Even deep space objects are possible, a lot are done by taking lots of short exposure pictures on a tripod and 'stacking' them to get a more detailed picture. you wont get immense detail, but you will capture things like orions nebula and other such lovelies.

[nicks90]

i would take a look at both these threads

Eddy is doing it with a micro 4/3rd camera on a gorilla pod.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/206638-a-couple-more-from-my-camera-and-lens-m8182-and-m31/?hl=%2Bgorillapod

and

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/204614-first-attempt-at-astrophotography-orion-nebula/#entry2168681

[GuillermoBarrancos]

i would take a look at both these threads

Eddy is doing it with a micro 4/3rd camera on a gorilla pod.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/206638-a-couple-more-from-my-camera-and-lens-m8182-and-m31/?hl=%2Bgorillapod

and

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/204614-first-attempt-at-astrophotography-orion-nebula/#entry2168681

Ehmm.... have you seen the kit he uses? Not exactly cheap.  The F1.8 lens alone is more expensive than the camera.

We are talking about a 1600 bucks kit here. Not exactly cheap.

You can buy a very Nice cooled CCD camera (like QHY8L) + Equinox ED80 Pro Apo scope for that kind of Money.

It's due to that expensive, very fast F1.8 lens he is able to collect that amount of detail With just 3 second exposures.

Still, it's very impressive what he has achieved with that kit for sure! Don't get me wrong.

[66mikeg]

One step better than a mount on its own is a "barn door" mount, two bits of wood, a hinge and a suitable bolt - look it up on Google. This is fine for constellations and the larger nebulae such as North American, Orion Nebula etc. Cheaper than an F1.8 lens also

[jgs001]

Firstly, you could, with a lot of care, manage a moon shot with the 60d and the 100-400. Other than that, you will need to use a tripod as a minimum. You can shoot non trailed stars from a static tripod, however, on a 60d, you're looking at exposures of (as a rule of thumb) 400/ focal length) to avoid star trails. The wider you go, the longer you can shoot on each exposure. 

[tjrobinson]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I do also have the kit lens (Canon EF-S 18-55mm) and a Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro. I'll give them a go and see how I get on.

I have a GorillaPod and a basic static Jessops tripod too.

Thanks for the EOS Utility tip, I wasn't aware of that. The barn door mount looks a bit beyond my skill level but I'll read up on it.

If I manage to capture anything, I'll let you know!

[jgs001]

Give it a go with the kit lens first... have a look at http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/36308-basic-widefield-with-a-camera-and-tripod/

[Langy]

You don't need a tracking mount to get some reasonable pictures of the night sky. As a beginner to astronomy and a lot of years experience with photography it's quite a surprise as to what you can capture with a DSLR and long lens.

The longer the lens the shorter shutter speeds you will need to stop any star trailing.

People use the 600 rule which is basically maximum exposure = 600/(crop factor x focal length)

The crop factor differs between camera, especially manufacturers. However my EOS 300D like a lot of Canon cameras is 1.6. So the above rule with my 300mm lens is 600/(1.6x300) = 1.25 seconds. Some people reduce the 600 to a 500 and I have seen some examples of people using a 400 rule.

Wiki on Crop Factor and some example sizes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_factor

You can take Deep Space Objects like close Galaxies and Nebula with a 300mm or 400mm lens by taking lots of exposures of the sky. Make sure you check your alignment every 10 or 20 exposures that you don't drift too much. Then take about 20 dark and bias images to finish with. Finally using a piece of free software called Deep Space Stacker load and process all the images to stack and bring out hidden detail.

The link below is what got me started and I wish I had know this a few year ago as I would have done a lot of imaging without a telescope to start with. Having a telescope or a good set of binoculars will help to find the objects easier. For example the Orion Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy are visible easily through a telescope or binoculars but you don't get any colour until you start to record with your camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0JSTF8SGi4&list=WLpWIx6AVA0qogAX0syRenFPf3pGFWEB6K

Now you're not going to capture Hubble type images, but when you do start to get the final results you will be quite pleased in what you did capture just with an everyday camera you use for capturing daily pictures.

Good luck and post back for us to see your work.