Use of a dslr using its movie mode instead of a webcam

[drnat]

Hi Guys,

Thinking of getting a Dob but wondered if it would be feasible to use a dslr rather than a webcam via a t-tube link? I am mainly interested in visual but thought doing some videos of planets may be fun.

Is this feasible etc?

Thanks,

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[jambouk]

Yes, plenty of people have done planetary imaging with a DSLR and done planetary imaging with a Dobsonian mounted Newtonian (with webcams and DSLR). There is plenty of stuff on the forums about this, like some of these:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208605-jupiter-and-jupiter-again/?hl=%2Bjupiter+%2Bdobsonian#entry2223769

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/209204-first-light-with-the-new-dslr-jupiter-from-tonight/?hl=%2Bplanetary+%2Bdslr

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208610-planetary-imaging-with-dslr-video-mode/?hl=+planetary%20+dslr

So good luck, and I look forward to seeing your results.

James

[drnat]

Thanks, really helpful & definitely possible....

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[ronin]

Check the format that a movie is produced in from a DSLR, they are not always the expected .avi.

Also be reasistic on what you will get, a manual dobsonian mount cannot match a motor driven Alt/Az or EQ. There is a diffierence between "Can I ?" and actually getting a good result. You can close your eyes point a 2MP camera towards the moon and get an image, but a good image takes a lot more.

[oldpink]

take a look at some software like Backyard EOS or APT this allows you to take movies from some DSLR's and also allows zoom mode

and it captures to your laptop rather than the camera

this was from a canon 600D last night

[jambouk]

PIPP will convert most video formats into an avi.

Jd

[SJP]

I've found a big difference between DSLR's video modes usefulness in my short time trying to capture interesting stuff in the night sky - if you're after planetary stuff then a DSLR with a "crop-video" mode (like my Canon EOS 60D) which uses the central 640x480 pixels @ 60fps gives what is in effect 10x magnification and works well, but for wider-field stuff the DSLR's high-def video mode of 1920x1080 spreads the video-pixels across the whole sensor and whilst you get up to 30 fps the resolution is inferior to the usual 20-odd megapixels you get from a still image, and you don't have the same control over the exposure.  I've therefore tended to use still-mode for deep-sky, and crop-video mode for planetary work.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I am not an imager, but i have experimented with this:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/eos-movrec/

Eos camera movie record. It allows you to essentially take movies through your camera/scope/laptop, if you have an Eos camera (such as the 450D) which does not have a movie function. The frame rate is very good and the quality is also very good. I'm not sure how long you can record for, but i think it will keep running/recording as long as your computer has memory.

P.S.~~~it is free to download.

[Wyvern]

Cheers for that link Luke. Most useful!

Les

[LukeSkywatcher]

Cheers for that link Luke. Most useful!

Les

Its a sweet little programme.

[Steve Ward]

+1 for EOSMovieRec , I personally prefer it to the Planetary features in APT or BYEOS ... 

[bruno]

If you have a canon you could use zoom browser that come on the disc