can not see anything through camera !

[EASYLEE]

hi all i have a celestron ed80  and a cannon 450d removed ir filter '

i can get some great shots of the moon so iam assuming it works ok as it is second hand and iam new to this 

but when i try to aim at anything else i get nothing - i normaly practise with vega as its bright but carnt see nothing on the laptop screen sorry forgot to mention i use back yard eos the camera does not have live  view but does have when connected to bye  on the laptop

i have to take 30 sec exposure then i can see it on the laptop but its miles out of focus so i turn the focuser and take another photo but this seems to be a longwinded route, as it takes half my night up lol but without taking the photo theres nothing there at all i have a 2x barlo that screws to the camera and then fits the scope 

would like to start to photograph nebulas and galaxy's but without being able to see them it looks like an  impossable quest 

iam i doing something wrong or isit this awkward to focus  on an image 

thanks all. lee

 

 

[SteveNickolls]

Hi Lee, 

Is there a reason your camera doesn't have Live View? There's the option on Canon cameras to either view through the finder or Live View. You ought to be able to connect up the camera with an adapter to the telescope and use a Bhatinov mask to focus. Once that's done you're good to go. Never used BYEOS unfortunately.

Regards,
Steve

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Have you tried increasing the ISO? I'm normally use something like ISO 3200 when focussing on a star. The other problem may be the use of the 2x barlow, that will slow down the scope 2 stops so only a quarter of the light will reach the sensor. The barlow is great for taking shots of the bright moon but not for faint deep sky objects, if the camera will reach focus (which depends on the travel of the focusser) without it then you are better off removing it.

Hope that's some help.

[steppenwolf]

The Canon 450D does have LIveView but you are better off using software to view the image in real time when focusing - I use EOS Camera Movie Record but I have no doubt that BYEOS will do the job just as well.

When preparing to image a Nebula, you don't focus on the nebula itself but on a bright star nearby and, as Steve above says, a Bahtinov mask makes this task very simple. With your 450D and ED 80, a 6 second exposure should be more than enough for Vega so either you are not aimed accurately at Vega or there is something amiss with the camera.

Once Vega is in focus, any other deep sky object will also be in focus so it is now just a matter of slewing your telescope accurately to your target object.

[DougM43]

I have the same camera and also use backyard eos  but with the skywatcher ed80 and have no problem seeing stars, backyard eos has a great feature to help with focus, I think the problem may be the Barlow dimming the star, can you not attach the camera to the scope with a t ring and do away with the Barlow?

[ronin]

Really need to know everything you are doing, what you are doing may be correct but unless told there will be doubt.

The 450D appears to have live view. You need to set the camera up totally manually. You set the ISO, You set the exposure time and you set the focus - there is no option for the f-stop as it is the scope.

For focus use the moon, get that sharp then do not touch or alter it in any way, then point at the DSO or patch of sky. Set the ISO to say 1600 and the exposure to 30 seconds - assumes it is on a tracking equitorial. Take a shot with a cable release or intervalometer. Canon's may set the NR mode On as default so be aware of that as it in effect doubles the exposure time.

Hopefully the 1600 ISO will show something on the live view screen, not sure what it does with BYE

[djh]

One thing I have noticed in the short time I have been doing this, is that when using live-view via Eos Utility and APT on a laptop, is that you need to set the ISO and shutter duration miles in advance to what you would use for the imaging, just to see the stars on the screen. Once you can see your subject and then focus, you then need to re-set the ISO and shutter speed to what you need for the exposure. Don't worry when the subject then vanishes of of the laptop, just take the picture and it should then be OK. 

I don't know the reason this happens, I dare-say someone will know and explain. It can however be disconcerting when you first start.  

[EASYLEE]

hi and thanks to all that replied 

picked up a few pointers. 

so when trying to image dso s  i dont need any lenses conected barlows .diaganals etc

and if i get good focus on a star i should be able to use the same focus on a galaxy etc

i have a thing sorry dont no what it is called that fits the camera it is 2" with a light poloution filter on the end and this fits in to my scope but there are no lenses in it its just like a tube would i be bette using this ? i thought you had to have some sort of lense to use with the camera for it to focus so i have not used it .but yes i can connect the camera without the barlow.

i have an eq5 mount with goto and also the bahtov mask thing but never used it with the camera because ive never been able to see any stars through it on live view  but will try again without the barlow.

i always have the iso at 1600 thats as high as it goes and the shutter on bulb except for imaging the moon and use bye to control the shutter etc so i dont have to touch the camera