Canon 600D 18-135mm lens mounted on a Skywatcher Star Adventurer.

[Ryan_86]

Hi guys, I'm planning a imaging session come winter with the equipment mentioned above. Im a bit lost to what targets will be a decent size worth imaging at 135mm.

Does anybody have any experience with the same or similar equipment. The camera is unmoded, my plan is to dabble with this until I think my bank balance and experience, is ready to dive into Neq6 etc.

Much appreciated

Ryan?

[Aidan]

Hi Ryan,

I am just starting the Star Adventurer journey myself.. but concentrating more on Milky Way - Widefield imaging.   What f stop is your lens?   Most of the reading i have done recommend f4 as a minimum.  

I would say that at 135mm you should be able to get some good images of M42 in Orion and probably some of Andromeda galaxy.   Probably worth doing some googling and seeing what others have captured at 135mm.

 

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Here's a few DSOs I shot with a 135mm lens, along with the Moon to show the relative apparent sizes. These are all 2 minute exposures at f3.5 to show relative brightness and difficulty, although they were taken with a modded camera. There is a longer exposure at the bottom of the page. Off the top of my head, there are a few more large targets such as IC1396, The Flaming Star Nebula, The California Nebula, Angelfish, Witch's Head, and M101. With an unmodded camera M31, the Pleiades, the North America Nebula or Sadr Region could be good places to start. Hope that's some help.

[Ryan_86]

Hi Aidan, thanks for your reply. Just starting as well,  have you taken any shots of the milky way? I plan on some of to pal.

I've covered future dew problems, bought a Canon hood and a dew strap system. 

My lens goes to F3.5 but not sure at 135mm, will have to check. Hope it's 4 or lower ha. 

I'm searching for accurate images, was hoping somebody would post one on here, you can't find a better source??

[Knight of Clear Skies]

3 minutes ago, Ryan_86 said:

My lens goes to F3.5 but not sure at 135mm, will have to check. Hope it's 4 or lower ha. 

Faster lenses certainly help, but here's a 1 minute Andromeda Galaxy with a 250mm lens at f5.6, pretty much straight out of the camera.

[newbie alert]

There's lots of targets to go for with a 135mm,and with the star adventurer it opens up a whole new world..good luck and enjoy

[Ryan_86]

22 hours ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Here's a few DSOs I shot with a 135mm lens, along with the Moon to show the relative apparent sizes. These are all 2 minute exposures at f3.5 to show relative brightness and difficulty, although they were taken with a modded camera. There is a longer exposure at the bottom of the page. Off the top of my head, there are a few more large targets such as IC1396, The Flaming Star Nebula, The California Nebula, Angelfish, Witch's Head, and M101. With an unmodded camera M31, the Pleiades, the North America Nebula or Sadr Region could be good places to start. Hope that's some help.

 

[Ryan_86]

Hi pal, firstly thank you for posting your images?? They have given me a great reference to where I want to be later on. Incredible to think what can be captured without big aperture light buckets. I have a 200p but it's out of action whilst I clean both mirrors.

I think M31 has to be my starting point. Can I ask, what method do you guys use to find targets? I have a Rigel red dot finder on the 200p with a right angled RA finder. Can I mount either using a hot shoe or must it be a different red dot sight e.g. a compatible sky watcher etc?

One last question haha, dew. Anybody have experience using a dew strap and controller?

Much appreciated ???

[happy-kat]

astroboot do a red dot finder that mounts in a camera flash hotshoe.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

10 hours ago, Ryan_86 said:

Hi pal, firstly thank you for posting your images?? They have given me a great reference to where I want to be later on. Incredible to think what can be captured without big aperture light buckets. I have a 200p but it's out of action whilst I clean both mirrors.

I think M31 has to be my starting point. Can I ask, what method do you guys use to find targets? I have a Rigel red dot finder on the 200p with a right angled RA finder. Can I mount either using a hot shoe or must it be a different red dot sight e.g. a compatible sky watcher etc?

One last question haha, dew. Anybody have experience using a dew strap and controller?

Much appreciated ???

Glad you found them useful, I was hoping they would be a helpful reference for imagers starting out.

I often look through the viewfinder and star-hop to my target, I have the camera on a ball-head mount which makes this easier. Another trick I've used is to rest a laser pointer on top of the camera.

I've used a dew strap and controller, its best to get it going before the lens dews up rather than try to clear it. Alternatively, wrap a thick sock around the lens with a foot warmer inside. Clear Outside includes predicted dew point, dew is much more of a problem on some nights than others.

Finally, Andromeda is better positioned later in the year. The North America Nebula, Sadr Region and Veil are all bright enough to show up with an unmodded camera (although the Veil could be tricky) and are high overhead at the moment, if you want to get started sooner.

[Ryan_86]

Ok so it's best I run the dew strap as soon as I'm set up and ready to go?? prevention is the best method for sure. 

As happy-kat kindly mentioned, I've ordered a red dot finder that fits the cameras hot shoe. I think I'm ready to go now just waiting for a gap in the clouds. Last night I run a firmware update and today I checked the polar scope which is spot on?? The North America Nebula may well be my 1st target , any reccomendations exposure wise. Time iso etc?

Much appreciated as always

Ryan

[happy-kat]

ISO and exposure is influenced by your local position and light pollution and using the histogram will help you judge what works in your location. I'd probably start with ISO 800 and work from there.