canon 1200d help with Settings for Canon 1200D

[romx]

I need some help, recently got a Canon 1200D and got some shots of the moon not great quality but also not the best conditions to take them so I thought everything was fine, today finally Jupiter and Mars decided to come out and play for 20 - 30 mins, like an excited school child I quickly got my scope and camera and went out to try get some images only to find no matter what settings i used when i used the camera i saw nothing but black in the LCD and in the viewfinder. does anybody have any suggestions of the settings I need for the 1200D to be able to see/image stars and planets with the 1200D, I tried with no barlow and a 2x cheapo that came with my scope and neither showed anything whatsoever I am assuming it is to do with iso but I am a complete newbie when it comes to DSLR cameras so any and all help greatly appreciated thanks in advance everyone

[michael8554]

 I'd guess your problem is probably difficulty in focusing, but have you got your finder aligned with the main scope?

Practice getting focus during the day on a distant object, and leave the focuser locked off so that you can just insert your camera when you come to image.

Then maybe practice on the moon.

My scope has a similar focal length, and the DSLR rear screen is just about good enough to see a star in LiveView mode - set ISO high,

The star may well appear initially as a faint white doughnut when not quite in focus .

You really need to see the LiveView output on a PC screen to get best focus.

So if you have focus right you should be able to see Mars and Jupiter on the rear screen - the viewfinder is too small and dim to be of any use I'm afraid.

Turn down ISO when you're happy and ready to image.

Adding a Barlow will make the Jupiter and Mars images larger in LiveView, but focus will be different - again try during the day and somehow note the two setting positions of the focuser.

Good luck

Michael

[romx]

I have great focus on daytime objects and the moon when it is darker, but can not even see a single pixel of light from planets or stars, i do leave the screws loose and swap from lens to camera quickly then try focusing in and out but I see nothing whatsoever unless it is as big and bright as the moon

[romx]

I havent tried using a pc to see the liveview but images taken magnified a great deal always come out simply black, the min iso is 400 and it is set to that

[Adriano]

Use your camera in manual mode. Increase the exposure time. Point your lens/telescope to a bright star or planet and, then, try to focus it (manual focus). Use the LCD. Do not use the viewfinder.

[romx]

On 6/29/2016 at 21:25, Adriano said:

Use your camera in manual mode. Increase the exposure time. Point your lens/telescope to a bright star or planet and, then, try to focus it (manual focus). Use the LCD. Do not use the viewfinder.

thank you I will give this a try

[michael8554]

On 25/06/2016 at 21:40, romx said:

I havent tried using a pc to see the liveview but images taken magnified a great deal always come out simply black, the min iso is 400 and it is set to that

Just a thought, are you shooting in RAW? Your images will look very dark when previewed on a PC, your target my well be in there and will be revealed when you have processed them.

Do not swap between eyepiece and camera unless they are parfocal, or you have counted how many turns of the focus knob between these two ( and the direction). Keep the focus set for the dslr, and find the target with your finder, which you will have accurately aligned to the telescope?

ISO 400 is probably a good setting for imaging, but as I said up, the ISO while you're finding the target.

Michael

[Dazzyt66]

Great advice already above. I have an 1100D and usually use iso 1600 when setting up. Manual mode. You should be able to see through the viewfinder but use live view - I use the screen, but point at a bright star first and get focus with that. All others will then be in focus. It really helps if your finder is spot on centre so check that. Also, when you check your focus (assuming the above has a star in roughly centre of view) crank up the mag on the camera live view to 10x. This will really make sure you have a focus. You should then be good to go and you can alter the iso for best shots - make test ones to check.

You may need to do a slight refocus on a planet but this should get you started. What scope are you using?

[romx]

I use the lcd but thats always pitch black, I will try again and connect to a pc as soon as this crappy weather clears up enough, weeks of nothing but cloudy nights. the problem ive been having is nothing has been on screen to focus on even pointed at bright stars or jupiter etc not even pixel seems to have any light. I am using a skywatcher 200p telescope 

[Alien 13]

Its odd that you cannot see anything on the live view screen I can see very faint stars/nebula with mine but it has to be set up as follows.

Focus has to good the better it gets the more stars pop into view.

Shutter set to 30 seconds

ISO 1600 or above

After initially getting good focus use the screen zoom function for some reason this increases the number of fainter stars in view and refocus.

There is also an in camera menu for the screen exposure simulation setting or called something similar thats worth playing with.

Alan