Dark Sky

[serbiadarksky]

So, if I can see the Milky Way with naked eye pretty clearly in my backyard,did that mean that I can photograph it and get some good results?especially if I can track it and get like 100sec exposures?

[Victor Boesen]

You will be able to get very nice pictures!! You will also have less problems with gradients.

[serbiadarksky]

27 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

You will be able to get very nice pictures!! You will also have less problems with gradients.

Even with a 600D and kit lens?

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Yes, a 30 second exposure with a kit lens at 18mm, f3.5 and ISO 800 or 1,600 will show up the Milky Way. Here's a couple of example images, 30 seconds at ISO 800 and using a tracking mount 12 minutes at f5.0 (6x2 minutes probably). If you're interested, I have a few tips here for getting started with a kit lens.

[serbiadarksky]

10 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Yes, a 30 second exposure with a kit lens at 18mm, f3.5 and ISO 800 or 1,600 will show up the Milky Way. Here's a couple of example images, 30 seconds at ISO 800 and using a tracking mount 12 minutes at f5.0 (6x2 minutes probably). If you're interested, I have a few tips here for getting started with a kit lens.

I like them!

What tracker you used?

[Knight of Clear Skies]

57 minutes ago, serbiadarksky said:

I like them!

What tracker you used?

Thanks. The above was taken with a second-hand EQ3-2 with battery powered RA motor. It works very well with my camera lenses up to about 135mm focal length. The problem with my 200mm lens is weight rather than magnification, I did try a lighter 250mm lens once and that was OK. Its weakest link is probably flex in the lightweight tripod, some people do get decent results with a small telescope, especially after working on or replacing the tripod. A sturdier mount would preferable for telescopic imaging though, especially if a second guidescope is used in order to obtain longer exposures.

[Victor Boesen]

I use the star adventurer which I have seen you have shown some interest in. It performs very well, even with my 50mm lens I can easily get 2min subs with no star trailing. If you get a good polar alignment you should be able to get maybe 5min subs with just a kit-lens at 18mm.

[serbiadarksky]

5 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

I use the star adventurer which I have seen you have shown some interest in. It performs very well, even with my 50mm lens I can easily get 2min subs with no star trailing. If you get a good polar alignment you should be able to get maybe 5min subs with just a kit-lens at 18mm.

I think that it can even make up to 10+ minutes of tracking w/o trailing but maybe im wrong

[Victor Boesen]

Just now, serbiadarksky said:

but maybe im wrong

Maybe not, the star adventurer is a very good mount, but you will need very precise PA then

[serbiadarksky]

Just now, Victor Boesen said:

Maybe not, the star adventurer is a very good mount, but you will need very precise PA then

There you can call some PolarFinder app to help, they are very accurate

[Victor Boesen]

Just now, serbiadarksky said:

There you can call some PolarFinder app to help, they are very accurate

I use one of these apps, and so far, it has been very helpful.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Things are very forgiving at short focal lengths. Think I managed 2 minutes at 50mm with my EQ3-2 before I bought a polar scope, just sighting on Polaris through the mount.

[serbiadarksky]

12 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

I have seen you have shown some interest in

Yes I do, I find one for 270euros the mount+equatorial wedge+the L bracket

[serbiadarksky]

1 minute ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Things are very forgiving at short focal lengths

I agree

[Victor Boesen]

3 minutes ago, serbiadarksky said:

Yes I do, I find one for 270euros the mount+equatorial wedge+the L bracket

The exact same setup as I have bought. Works like a charm!

[serbiadarksky]

Just now, Victor Boesen said:

The exact same setup as I have bought. Works like a charm!

Will it work withouth the equatorial wedge? If yes than it can save me like 60euros and I can buy a pretty good tripod for that money which can handle the Star Adventurer in my opinion becouse I saw that they are selling the tripod at the star adventure setup part (all parts the counter weight,shuter cable, l bracket, mount,etc...)

And whats the trick if I dont buy the equatorial wedge?

[Victor Boesen]

1 minute ago, serbiadarksky said:

And whats the trick if I dont buy the equatorial wedge?

Then you will need to have a tripod with a very solid pan and tilt head. Then that can work as your wedge.

[serbiadarksky]

Just now, Victor Boesen said:

Then you will need to have a tripod with a very solid pan and tilt head. Then that can work as your wedge.

Can you tell me what tripod I shud use if I dont buy the wedge?

[Victor Boesen]

I can't recommend a specific tripod, but a lot of people in here use the velbon dv-7000, but they use it without the pan and tilt head. I found that on my velbon tripod, the pan and tilt head is the weak spot on the tripod. The only thing I can give as advice, is to get a tripod that can carry up to 7-10kg. Then you should be good.

[serbiadarksky]

6 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

I can't recommend a specific tripod, but a lot of people in here use the velbon dv-7000, but they use it without the pan and tilt head. I found that on my velbon tripod, the pan and tilt head is the weak spot on the tripod. The only thing I can give as advice, is to get a tripod that can carry up to 7-10kg. Then you should be good.

Yeah but they are all expensive, my budget for tripod is max 80e

[Victor Boesen]

I think that there is some good ones out there within your budget, but I can't help you any further. I would suggest you to make another post about this, so that other people can help you.

Clear skies!

[Red Dwarfer]

This is a 30 second exposure with lens at 24mm and ISO 6400 edited in Lightroom 5 and the camera was just on a flat surface with a 10 second timer ...