Confused about t-ring vs t-adapter

[Jon the Newb]

Hello once again!! I'm ready to begin taking photos of the planets and deep sky and have a question or two.

My telescope is a Ioptron 80mm.  My camera is a Nikon D90.  I just have the 18-55 lense, and the 55-200 lense, that came with it.

My question is: do I need a t-ring, or a t-adapter to hook to camera up to the telescope?  And are there any other accessories I need?

Any advice you want to give is always greatly welcomed too!

Thank You,

Jon

[Owmuchonomy]

The T ring is the part that connects directly to your camera body and so is camera specific, that is Nikon, Canon etc. The t adaptor then screws into the thread on the t ring and also slips into the focuser of you scope. Usually they are  M42 size (42mm) but also come in M48. So check what size fits your focuser and get those.

[MARS1960]

I believe it's just different terminolgy.

What you could do is get one of these,

http://uk.telescope.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=115358&utm_source=google&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_campaign=UK-googlemerchant&gclid=CNPJh9_p7NECFQkq0wodD-8EXQ

Or get a t-ring which goes on in place of a camera lens, with for instance a t2 extension tube that screws into the t-ring, the extension tube length is dependant on the scope.

For my mak i have to use the 50mm, for my primaluce i have to use the 25mm.

[Cornelius Varley]

Whether or not you will need a t ring and a t adapter will depend on whether or the focuser on your telescope is equipped with a t thread. Is this your telescope ? Ioptron 80mm refractor . The instruction manual R80 manual pdf suggests that there might be a t thread on the end of the focuser. The t ring will screw onto this and then onto the camera. It might not be possible to reach focus without the aid of an extension tube to compensate for the removal of the diagonal.

[Cornelius Varley]

4 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

I believe it's just different terminolgy.

What you could do is get one of these,

http://uk.telescope.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=115358&utm_source=google&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_campaign=UK-googlemerchant&gclid=CNPJh9_p7NECFQkq0wodD-8EXQ

Or get a t-ring which goes on in place of a camera lens, with for instance a t2 extension tube that screws into the t-ring, the extension tube length is dependant on the scope.

For my mak i have to use the 50mm, for my primaluce i have to use the 25mm.

The adapter you quoted may not fit the Ioptron 80mm because the telescope does not have a 2" focuser.

[MARS1960]

Ah, ignore me OP, i should have checked your scopes specs before posting. You will still need a T-ring and then a 1.25 in adapter.

[Cornelius Varley]

12 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

Ah, ignore me OP, i should have checked your scopes specs before posting. You will still need a T-ring and then a 1.25 in adapter.

If the Ioptron is similar to the Skywatcher and Orion ST80 then it will only need a t ring because the focuser will have a suitable t thread on the focuser.

[Jon the Newb]

2 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Whether or not you will need a t ring and a t adapter will depend on whether or the focuser on your telescope is equipped with a t thread. Is this your telescope ? Ioptron 80mm refractor . The instruction manual R80 manual pdf suggests that there might be a t thread on the end of the focuser. The t ring will screw onto this and then onto the camera. It might not be possible to reach focus without the aid of an extension tube to compensate for the removal of the diagonal.

Cornelius, that is my scope.  The only differnce is that I've added this :

http://agenaastro.com/gso-1-25-90-refractor-mirror-star-diagonal.html

so it sounds like a need both the t-ring, and the t-adapter?  But I'm not sure which thread size I need....

[Cornelius Varley]

18 minutes ago, Jon the Newb said:

Cornelius, that is my scope.  The only differnce is that I've added this :

http://agenaastro.com/gso-1-25-90-refractor-mirror-star-diagonal.html

so it sounds like a need both the t-ring, and the t-adapter?  But I'm not sure which thread size I need....

Does the focuser have a threaded end where the diagonal fits ?

[Jon the Newb]

3 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Does the focuser have a threaded end where the diagonal fits ?

I don't believe so.  I think it just slides in.  I'm boarding a flight from Arizona to Colorado as we speak.  When I get there, I'll check it out, but I think it just slides in.

[Cornelius Varley]

The outside of the focuser might have a t thread. If it doesn't you will require a Nikon t ring and a 1.25" t adapter example here.

[cnmcferren]

The t-ring is what you put into the camera body. It's a small ring that has threading on the inside of it and is placed in the camera as if it were a lens. The t-adapter screws into the t-ring and is then inserted into the telescope. Generally speaking, if you are attaching a DSLR to a telescope, you will need a t-ring. But you will not always need a t-adapter. Some telescopes have threading directly on the focused so that t-ring is place on the telescope without the use of the t-adapter

[Moonshane]

I am no imager so maybe others can comment but you might want to bear in mind :

- you don't generally use camera lenses or eyepieces when imaging

- to get any sort of image scale on a planet you may need to include a Barlow or two in the optical chain

- a DSLR is not necessarily the best imaging unit for planets.

 

[happy-kat]

I personally always use a t ring with a t mount as I find it a lot easier inserting my camera into the telescope focuser tube just like you do an eyepiece.