Newbie needs advice please :)

[J5bond]

Hello All 

My names Jake and I live in Bristol, Uk. 

I often find myself staring at the night sky thinking it would be awesome to take some detailed pictures but have never done much about it until now. We often go on weekend camping trips in the sticks so there will be a many opportunity for some astro photography

Luckily i live in an area with little light pollution and get a good view on a clear night. 

I have a nikon d3100 Slr and its a pretty good camera in my opinion and i hope to be able to utilise this rather than forking out for a new one. 

I need some advice on what equipment i need to get started. I really don't know anything about what is needed to get some decent pictures of the nights sky. But everyone has to start somewhere! So any advice on kit needed to go with my camera and how much its going to cost will be greatly appreciated

Also if there are any good books/ guides that you can recommend that would be great too. 

I'm sure I'm not the first or last person to be posting this message so thanks for your time.

Hope to hear from you soon. 

If theres anyone in the Bristol or Bath area of the Uk who would be willing to share some tips that would also be amazing. 

Rant Over. 

Cheers 

Jake 

[Guy Wells]

Tripod and cable release...that's it.

[Guy Wells]

[knobby]

Making every photon count, full of info re: imaging and this forum is full of good ideas

[wookie1965]

Every photon counts is the best book you can buy. Knobby you beat me to it typed to slow.

[Charic]

J5bond...........Hi, A T-Ring for the Nikon should attach to an adaptor that is often part of the focuser adaptor assembly, called the T-Adaptor(depending on the telescope. When you use the Nikon, by removing the lens of the camera and attaching directly to the telescope (prime focal) you will need to set the camera to manual, then work out your manual settings. ISO 400-800 maybe and then play around with the shutter speeds. 

A tripod is already suggested. You can get some great star trail images using that set-up. My D5000 has a wireless release. It avoids camera shake. Its also possible to lock the mirror for more vibration reduction, but your tripod needs to be stable, very stable. telescopes need to be able to track their targets to be of any real use. I have a few snaps, playing around with my DSLR and a HTC Android? Their only snaps (in my gallery) If I want bigger images from the DSLR, I`m sure I need more magnification, but more aperture too. A great book to get is Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards available from the sites sponsor, and Steve is also one of the regular members of this site.

My Images were taken with a Newtonian on a solid Dobsonian mount, but not the best method or set-up. You will need an Equatorial mount, motor driven, for best results. 

[Langy]

Hello Jake and welcome to the forum.

I'm fairly new too, hunting for YouTube videos and reading articles has helped me loads. I may sound like a broken record here but the link below is one of my favorites that got me using my camera on a tripod for capturing the skies. There are loads of others out there but just something to give you some ideas of how detailed you can capture something just with a normal DSLR and reasonable lens.

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

[J5bond]

Thanks for the quick replays guys really appreciate your advice. 

Forgot to mention I also have a tripod too

Think I'll start by reading the book (just ordered one) by steve and go from there.

Cheers

Jake 

[steppenwolf]

Think I'll start by reading the book (just ordered one) by steve and go from there.

...... and I am literally just off to the post office to post it to you

[knobby]

Quality service :-)

[J5bond]

Thanks steve appreciate it! Heard nothing but good things so thanks in advance