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Budget lens DSO


Brosnan

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+1 for a tracking mount if it's possible. And also +1 for the Carl Zeiss Jena 135/3.5.

I do have several old M42 lenses and the most used one is the Tair 3s @300mm, stopped down to F/5.6. Though, most of my (not so good) images are guided.

Some of my images taken with the Tair 3s and my Canon DSLRs:
this one is guided, 300s exposures - drive.google.com/open?id=0ByhJ_xuQxcnjMWJIcE85WEpwc2c
this one is also guided, 300s exposures - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByhJ_xuQxcnjeE55cjZzdXFQNWc
this one is unguided, 30s exposures - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByhJ_xuQxcnjWExQOGhPR2ctalE
 

You could get at cheapest a second hand EQ-5 + RA drive maybe at about 200 pounds and then still use it for visual observing if you decide later to upgrade to a proper mount better suited for astrophotography. You could get good results up to 200mm focal length unguided, possibly even a little longer. That's what I would do if I wouldn't want to invest too much.

Regards,

Alex

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22 minutes ago, moise212 said:

+1 for a tracking mount if it's possible. And also +1 for the Carl Zeiss Jena 135/3.5.

I do have several old M42 lenses and the most used one is the Tair 3s @300mm, stopped down to F/5.6. Though, most of my (not so good) images are guided.

Some of my images taken with the Tair 3s and my Canon DSLRs:
this one is guided, 300s exposures - drive.google.com/open?id=0ByhJ_xuQxcnjMWJIcE85WEpwc2c
this one is also guided, 300s exposures - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByhJ_xuQxcnjeE55cjZzdXFQNWc
this one is unguided, 30s exposures - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByhJ_xuQxcnjWExQOGhPR2ctalE
 

You could get at cheapest a second hand EQ-5 + RA drive maybe at about 200 pounds and then still use it for visual observing if you decide later to upgrade to a proper mount better suited for astrophotography. You could get good results up to 200mm focal length unguided, possibly even a little longer. That's what I would do if I wouldn't want to invest too much.

Regards,

Alex

Wow Alex, those images are awesome! Thanks for your input! 

Upgrading to a better mount seems to be the way forward! ??? 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 31/12/2016 at 22:05, Victor Boesen said:

Even tho this has been written some time ago, i still want to know if you ended up getting any lens, if so, which one?

Victor Boesen 

Hi victor, I got the Tamron 70-300mm lens and the celestron motor for my celestron eq mount! The lens is very good but am having a bit of trouble with the motor, I'm not sure if it's actually working as I cannot see any movement on the slow motion cables on the mount! It will probably just take some getting used to! 

:D

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18 minutes ago, Brosnan said:

Hi victor, I got the Tamron 70-300mm lens and the celestron motor for my celestron eq mount!

Nice! I am looking for a lens for my Nikon d3300 that I could get in the future, so I have read this thread and therfore I wanted to know which one you bought.

https://www.amazon.com/Tamron-70-300mm-4-5-6-Nikon-International/dp/B003YUBTIA

Is this the right one?

or is it this one?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0012UUP02/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483476160&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=tamron+70-300mm+nikon&dpPl=1&dpID=51xp%2B3mxxCL&ref=plSrch

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16 hours ago, Victor Boesen said:

Nice! I am looking for a lens for my Nikon d3300 that I could get in the future, so I have read this thread and therfore I wanted to know which one you bought.

https://www.amazon.com/Tamron-70-300mm-4-5-6-Nikon-International/dp/B003YUBTIA

Is this the right one?

or is it this one?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0012UUP02/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483476160&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=tamron+70-300mm+nikon&dpPl=1&dpID=51xp%2B3mxxCL&ref=plSrch

It was the second one I got! (Student budget haha). There is probably a lot better lenses but it really just depends on your budget. I am happy with mine so far anyway :) 

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The cheaper one has LD low dispersion glass - the dearer one has SP which is "pro" grade. The dearer one also has vibration control which is good for hand held but wont matter for your astro use. You should get good results with the LD version although you may get some chromatic aberration - even the pro grade Canons do. This can usually be corrected with software. 

Good luck!

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Getting beyond the realms of Astro here, but the VC should get better results as more stable hand held - you can google for more details.

TBH you would probably be better with a faster lens too - but the F2.8 version is a big lump - and and big lump of cash too. 

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50 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

I don't think the Nikon's reach focus using old m42 lenses??

Yes, that I believe is the case. However there are plenty of cheap Nikon compatible lenses on eBay for around the same price.

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Hi Brosnan,

I'm very satisfeid with my Sigma APO 150 mm f/2.8 lens, you can find it for your Nikon too and it's not too expensive.

 

Here you can find my simple test and at the bottom a link to my a M45 image:

http://astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-sigma-150mm-f2_8-lens-vignetting/project-sigma-150mm-f2_8-lens-vignetting.html

 

What you really need in future is some kind of tracking mount. I bought a used Skywatcher Star Adventurer and like it a lot:

http://astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-star-adventurer-repair/project-star-adventurer-repair.html

 

/Lars

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi everyone, 

just thought I'd share with you my first proper shot/edit of the Orion Nebula (any DSO in fact) as you were all so helpful! 

There's a gradient in the picture that I can't quite get rid of but oh well! ?

Thanks for all the advice 

IMG_0084.jpg

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Another long imaging post without mention of buying a copy of Making Every Photon Count! :)

If you're at all interested in imaging then it's well worth investing in even if at this stage you're not planning on doing 10 minute + guided imaging etc. 

Really well written and you'll learn an awful lot. 

I'm just waiting for a break in the clouds so I can attempt my first images and have spent the time in the meantime reading this and everything else I can on the subject!

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