guidance please in getting started with imaging

[dmkmedia]

hi i have just bought a telescope and all it comes with  a barlow lens and a erecting eyepiece. also a H20mm eyepiece and a H4mm eyepiece.

i have just took it out to the garden and had a quick go trying to to see what it can see .

but what i really want to do is connect my Canon 5D mk2 to it to take images.

what do i need to take connect it to the telescope to take images

[RichM63]

It would help if you include the details of the telescope, the mount etc.

At a minimum you will require an EOS to T2 adapter but not knowing what setup you have makes things difficult beyond this.

PS welcome to the forum.

[dmkmedia]

not sure of the model but it says BRES on the side... it wasn't that expensive. as i know nothing about telescopes. it came with the eyepieces which i didn't know what they was for until i came across this forum now i know but i just wanted to connect the camera to it

[RichM63]

BRES will be BRESSER and if you have an erecting eyepiece it will likely be a Refractor telescope.

But it would still help, if you could at least describe the mount/tripod. The 5D is a pretty hefty lump and I doubt what would be termed an EQ1 mount could take the weight.

[dmkmedia]

the tripod seems pretty sturdy .. you lock it in to position and you can carefully trim the position with 2 twist handles for left and right and up and down... i have just seen a very detailed crater on the moon with one eyepiece i could see the whole moon and the other one brought me right in to a crater on the moon...  once the tripod is locked in to position it is very sturdy...

the legs extend and there is a tray half way down the tripod.. it came with the telescope  

[dmkmedia]

do you have a link to the converter i need to buy because when i search i get all sorts

[iksose7]

Do you have any paperwork that came with the scope and mount that will give you the models? At the moment it seems it may be more important to find out what mount you are using so we can tell if it can handle the weight. Or if the scope is suitable for astrophotgraphy. Do you have a picture of it or a link to it online?

Callum

[ronin]

I will jump in and say you will not realistically be able to use the mount (at least) for getting images - except with the exception of the moon.

In astrophotography things are simply so dim that you need long exposures - as in several minutes, which since the sky (well the earth) rotates means that what you want to get a picture of has to be tracked accurately. Consider can you keep a flying bird absolutely central on the camera for 10 minutes.

It is this exposure time that initially gets overlooked and with the rotation of the sky it really upsets things.

Then throw in that you cannot see the image on the rear screen or via the finder when the image is being taken so you cannot attempt to move the mount to maintain an object in the centre.

As a minimum you need an equitorial mount with a set of dual motors and a polar scope.

[dmkmedia]

here are images of the one i bought 

hope this helps

[rwilkey]

Hi, for learning about astrophotography you will need to get a copy of 'Making Every Photon Count' by Steve Richards here: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html  I am afraid the telescope and tripod/mount you have will not be robust enough for astrophotography, and for the other reasons stated above.

[happy-kat]

Should see great views of the Moon :-)

I think if your were to attach your camera to your telescope the tripod will not hold it and the telescope will swing fast and point very upwards as the camera will make it very heavy at one end.

But you could have some fun with a webcam which can be great for imaging the Moon or Jupiter.

Because these objects are so bright you take short movies and use free software to create an image from them. Movies are very quick exposures so not affected by field rotation.

[Thalestris24]

As pointed out, that scope will only be ok for the moon which is bright so just needs a short exposure. Attaching a webcam with lens removed would be feasible. Assuming it has a standard fitting (1 1/4") for the diagonal, an eos T-ring and T-adapter might let you attach your Canon camera though you may also need an extension tube as you would image without the diagonal so need to make up the distance. Balance would be an issue but you could counterbalance with an appropriate weight.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adaptors/t-rings.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adaptors/flo-125-inch-t-mount-camera-adapter.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adaptors/baader-t2-extension-tube.html

Louise