Astrophotography mounts for cameras

[nicolaas]

Hi All

I have been doing astronomy for many years now, and recently started with Astrophotography(taking my observations to my friends and family, which is easier than getting them to my scope...)

My equipment is a 6inch skywatcher reflector(with motorised mount), and a canon A720 camera, I mostly take AVI's and stack them in Registax. Now, I don't have any method of attaching my camera to my scope. I used to hold it with my hands, which yielded results, but poor ones. This was sufficient for experiements(I took 100's of photos and AVI's before I got it right), and I thought I could build my own one adaptor, but I have given up.

Taking my gear in consideration, what would be the best equipment to buy?

On this page

http://www.astro-engineering.com/Camera%20Mountings/digitalcameraand.html

I found 'Ultra standard digital camera support' and 'DigimaxT 40 - digital imaging eyepiece'.

Don't know which one will be best, any ideas? or maybe you guys know of equipment not found on the link I posted? I am in the UK at the moment(I am from South Africa), so I figured I'll buy it here while I am still here.

Thanks

[themos]

I have the Ultra Deluxe AC295 and a Canon PowerShot like yours (A540). I've taken good pictures of open clusters, Moon and Mars, afocally, with that setup. The problem is the bigger rings are extra and I don't have any that will go around my Nagler. You should also look into the Hyperion series of eyepieces because they have some nifty mounting options. Whiplash has done a lot of afocal work with a PowerShot and a Hyperion.

[jgs001]

I have the new version of this Baader Microstage, which is what replaced this. I ordered it from FLO and got the new one anyway. The attachment fits on a 5mm Hyperion with room to spare. On the new one the theory is that you can set the camera up fully, then swing it away from the eyepiece. Use the ep as normal, then when you want to snap afocal, you just swing the camera back into position. This seems to work quite well, but you have to get it setup during the day to make it work properly see here for some tests I did with it during the day. I intend to set it up and mark the correct positions on the adapter so that when I set up at night, I can just slot it together and be ready to go. My one attempt at night was a dismal failure down to not being able to see what I was doing properly, so I couldn't set it all up proeprly. Another lesson learned.

[themos]

I should add that I have the AC295 permanently attached to a 25mm eyepiece (the one that came with the Skyliner 300P). So I only need to pop the eyepiece in the focuser and screw the Canon on using the tripod thread socket.

[cygnusx1]

Hi Nic, i'm from SA too - Cape Town born n bred,been in UK 5 yrs,hope to be returning in the near future :hello1:

Really miss those spells of clear :stars: and no and !!

Good luck on your choice of equipment, you'll get plenty of advice here.

[nicolaas]

Thanks all.

jgs001: they had no image on your link so I searched for the Baader clickstop, and that looks like the piece of equipment I want, looks quite sturdy. Thanks

cygnusx1: I am from Caledon, 100km outside Cape Town, really miss those dark skies!

[dph1nm]

Doesn't the A720 take a Canon 58mm lens adapter? In which case the best option may be to get one of these and a 58mm-T2 converter ring, plus the astro-engineering AC530 T2 lens attachment. Then the whole lot screws together to form a secure, well-aligned system.

Nigel

[nicolaas]

it takes the LA-DC58G which is a 58mm lens adaptor. Sounds like the camera / eyepiece alignment will be immediate with this method, and not prone to misalignment should you bump the telescope. Thanks, I'll do some investigation into this.

[gary1968]

Check this out, afocal adaptor for your camera..............................

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/F-ADAPTER-4-Canon-G9-G7-G6-G5-A640-A630-A540-A720-A710_W0QQitemZ330221999763QQihZ014QQcategoryZ30070QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I just bought one for my new Fuji camera, still waiting on it coming but they look the busiess....

Gary

[nicolaas]

I have done some searches and think I'll get the LA-DC58G(compulsory, actually) and this afocal adapter. Thanks for the recommendation gary1968.

[coliea]

You might find the Canon Powershot Series Users Group thread on Cloudy Nights useful: http://tinyurl.com/n5mgu

Col

[Whippy]

Sorry, must have missed this one! As themos has pointed out, I was using a Canon Powershot A610 with one of those 58mm lens adapters, not an official Canon one but one of the 3rd party ones from Ebay. My understanding is the that the official Canon one is made from plastic and is more expensive, while the cheaper one is made from metal. Take your pick!

Anyways, here's the setup and a shot of M42 using the afocal method. The equipment used is further down the thread.

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,20287.0.html .

HTH

Tony..

[MikeWilson]

Sorry, must have missed this one! As themos has pointed out, I was using a Canon Powershot A610 with one of those 58mm lens adapters, not an official Canon one but one of the 3rd party ones from Ebay. My understanding is the that the official Canon one is made from plastic and is more expensive, while the cheaper one is made from metal. Take your pick!

Anyways, here's the setup and a shot of M42 using the afocal method. The equipment used is further down the thread.

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,20287.0.html .

HTH

Tony..

Hello Tony,

Thanks for your informative post - I didn't realise you could get third party adaptors for these Powershot cameras...

I have the Canon A570IS and the "T-Ring" adaptor that comes from the Revelation Photo/Visual Eyepiece set (the one that FLO sells). I also have no idea what I need to connect the two. I think 58mm might be too large?

[dph1nm]

also have no idea what I need to connect the two. I think 58mm might be too large?

Astro-engineering do (or did) a 58mm-T2 adapter. Part AC559:

Camera Adaptor Rings

This should be all you need. Telescope House used to sell them, as do ScopenSkies (and maybe others). Failing that, you could get a stepper ring (any camera shop) to convert the 58mm to a more widely available thread size for which you can find a T2 adapter. This would add more space between the camera and the eyepiece, though, which is probably not what you want, as it may increase the 'vignetting'.

NigelM

[MikeWilson]

Thanks Nigel! That kit is a little expensive for me right now, having gone quite a bit over budget already

The tricky part is finding the right ring for the Canon (cheaper) first...

[dph1nm]

Hmm - it can add up. If you are not careful you end up paying 20 quid for the Canon mount, 20 quid for the 58-T2 and 20 quid for a T2 ring for your eyepiece!

If the Revelation T-ring is what I think it is then it will not be any use for afocal imaging - it is only for (D)SLR cameras. You need to fasten your camera to the eyepiece. Have a look at my afocal imaging page - it describes how I connected my Olympus digicam

Afocal Astrophotography

NigelM

[MikeWilson]

I will take a look at your page shortly, however I want to do prime focus, rated than afocal. My mount can support the digicam's weight but I'm still unsure about the mounting on the canon side of things. I'm not keen so spend £50+ on rings - there has to be a cheaper way.

The revelation photo/visual eyepiece set that I bought comes with a t ring to diagonal adaptor. You just pop it in the diagonal and then screw something (dunno what) onto the end of it. And then you screw something into that and the camera into that something? I'm confused since there's no eyepiece in this prime focus puzzle - just scope, diagonal, camera.

Is that right?

Thanks again for your time!