Starting Astrophotography

[Mike Oliver]

I guess this question must have been asked many times before so forgive me for doing so again. I've decided I want to try astrophotography and couple that with viewing targets on my laptop. I've looked at various cameras and items of equipment plus a few review videos but haven't really come away with any real concept of what I should buy. I have about £70 - £80 to spend and I'm not looking for anything super-professional - just something to get started. Own a Celestron Nexstar 127SLT and my laptop runs Windows 8.

Can anybody please advise me on the kind of camera that I should be looking at? 

[carastro]

The only thing you could possibly do with your equipment and budget is planets and the Moon.  Deep sky imaging requires different equipment and several £1000s 

A webcam with an IR filter should do the trick.  Even then you'd probably be looking for a 2nd hand one.

I am afraid I am rather out of date with planetary webcams, but hopefully some-one will reply with a suggestion.  

If you happen to have a DSLR camera you could try your hand at some short long exposures and see what you can get.  You would need a T ring and T adapter to fit this to your scope.

Carole 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by carastro

[don4l]

You can take fairly impressive photos of the moon by using a mobile phone camera just held up against the eyepiece.  Controlling the exposure might be the biggest problem, but you would learn some valuable stuff without incurring expense.

If you have a DSLR, then the T ring and adapter would be a good way to go.

 

[R26 oldtimer]

1 hour ago, Mike Oliver said:

I'm not looking for anything super-professional - just something to get started

If you're on such a tight budget, then astrophotography is not for you (yet).

But if you can up your budget to £200, then you can get a second hand imx224 camera such as the zwo asi224. With this camera and your current setup you can do great EEVA (check the EEVA subforum) and very good planetary AP. Should you decide to venture to real AP later by aquiring another mount & scope, you can still use that camera for guiding, or stick with EEVA. Even if you decide to proceed as a visual observer, you can always sell that proven little camera with minimum loss.

[Mike Oliver]

Thanks for the quick responses. Unfortunately, photography is not a subject I have been interested in until now. My camera is a Kodak "Easy Share" Z1485 IS (at least according to what it says on the back). I don't know if that qualifies as a DSLR but it's all I have. I'm happy to restrict my astrophotography to the solar system, at least for the time being, so the limitations are not a problem right now. The equipment I have looked at online includes a Svbony SV205 Digital Eyepiece, an Orion StarShoot USB Eyepiece Camera, a Bresser Wireless Smartphone WiFi camera and a somewhat "iffy" candidate from Hong Kong called a "Telescope Electronic Eyepiece Digital Lens for Camera Camcorder WiFi 2MP" which creates its on WiFi hotspot and will transmit images to a laptop. However, this last item is just £36.20 including shipping and appeals to my financial status if not to my common sense. I'll await further responses with interest.

 

 

 

[Mike Oliver]

4 minutes ago, R26 oldtimer said:

If you're on such a tight budget, then astrophotography is not for you (yet).

But if you can up your budget to £200, then you can get a second hand imx224 camera such as the zwo asi224. With this camera and your current setup you can do great EEVA (check the EEVA subforum) and very good planetary AP. Should you decide to venture to real AP later by acquiring another mount & scope, you can still use that camera for guiding, or stick with EEVA. Even if you decide to proceed as a visual observer, you can always sell that proven little camera with minimum loss.

This is not meant unkindly but there speaks someone who has yet to enjoy the state pension as his main source of income 🙂 Seriously, to deal with the "yet", I doubt if I shall ever again have such riches as to spend that kind of money on my hobby. My family kindly bought me the 'scope for my 80th birthday and, without them, I could never even have considered getting anything so good. I am stuck with a low budget and a desire to try Astrophotography whatever the level. I'll put up with something short of ideal and, if it doesn't do the business, then I shall retire gracefully from the arena and go back to getting frozen when I venture into the back garden with my 'scope. 

[R26 oldtimer]

I know, that's why I suggested EEVA with the above specific camera. It works very well with your existing telescope, and will show you almost every object you see in an astro photograph , yes a lot noisier but it will show up with all the bells and whistles.

When I said that astrophotography is not for you (yet), I wasn't commenting on your economic status rather than the willingness to spend on a hobby, which might change (or not) the more you enjoy and pursuit this hobby.

[Mike Oliver]

I just found a second hand Phillips SPC900nc CCD Webcam within my budget - does anyone have any views on this one?

[daz]

Mike

What are you like in hunting down drivers for things?

I have an old Phillips SPC webcam that you would be most welcome to try, but it might be a challenge to hunt down drivers for Windows 8.... if you're happy to give it a go, drop me a PM with your address and I'll send it off to you!

 

[spillage]

Have a look here it may still be okay running a win 7 driver.

[Mike Oliver]

7 minutes ago, daz said:

Mike

What are you like in hunting down drivers for things?

I have an old Phillips SPC webcam that you would be most welcome to try, but it might be a challenge to hunt down drivers for Windows 8.... if you're happy to give it a go, drop me a PM with your address and I'll send it off to you!

 

Daz:

Would this be the same as the SPC900nc I mention in my earlier post? If so, I may get some pointers to the appropriate driver(s) from the ad I found.

Cheers,

Mike

[Mike Oliver]

17 minutes ago, spillage said:

Have a look here it may still be okay running a win 7 driver.

Thanks, spillage. I've been to the Philips site and located and downloaded the Windows 7 driver. Once I have a camera, I can try it on my Windows 8 laptop with the Windows 7 driver - maybe using the compatibility facility that Windows provides.

I also found a link to a site where somebody claims there are Windows 8 & 10 versions available - but I haven't yet located them.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Mike Oliver
spelling error

[Mike Oliver]

30 minutes ago, R26 oldtimer said:

I know, that's why I suggested EEVA with the above specific camera. It works very well with your existing telescope, and will show you almost every object you see in an astro photograph , yes a lot noisier but it will show up with all the bells and whistles.

When I said that astrophotography is not for you (yet), I wasn't commenting on your economic status rather than the willingness to spend on a hobby, which might change (or not) the more you enjoy and pursuit this hobby.

I found the EEVA subforum and the first post there was "What is EEVA?". I read through a lot of replies, etc. and have come away still not really knowing what EEVA is. There were masses of abbreviations, technical terms and learned speak but it mostly went over my head (that's the trouble with getting old!) So, would you humour me and tell me what EEVA is, please?

[daz]

19 minutes ago, Mike Oliver said:

Daz:

Would this be the same as the SPC900nc I mention in my earlier post? If so, I may get some pointers to the appropriate driver(s) from the ad I found.

Cheers,

Mike

Responded to your PM Mike, I'll look and advise when I get home later.

 

[carastro]

Quote

second hand Phillips SPC900nc CCD Webcam

I used to use this camera and it works well on Moon and planets.  (Not totally sure about the nc part of the title, but it could just mean it is a newer version.  You must make sure it is compatible "driver wise" with you laptop though.  

HTH or if you miss this opportunity, then Daz's kind offer will be good too.

We now understand your financial situation and so replies hopefully will be adjusted accordingly.

Carole 

[Davey-T]

Keep us updated as I've got some unused cameras around here, I gave away a Philips SPC900 recently but should still have something suitable gathering dust 

Dave

[Mike Oliver]

Wow! I'm overwhelmed - what a great group this is. If I can't get my Astrophotography organised from all this help, I deserve to be drummed out of the brownies - er, sorry, cubs. Thank you everyone. I'll let Daz's offer take precedence right now and come back to Hyper Giant if that doesn't work out. Despite my responses, I am able finance the exercise up to my stated limit and will be happy to pay for any items I obtain from members of the forum.

I've read some reviews on most of the cameras I've looked at until now and some of them seem reasonably good so I am confident of a positive outcome. I'll get back to you all as things progress. Again, my thanks.

[R26 oldtimer]

1 hour ago, Mike Oliver said:

So, would you humour me and tell me what EEVA is, please?

I'll try to skip all abbreviations and technical terms. EEVA with a camera is when you use a very sensitive camera with a fast (F/ratio) scope to register as much light possible using short exposures. This camera connects to a laptop through an application such as "sharpcap". This application takes in short exposures, one after the other and combines them (by aligning and stacking) to produce an image of your target, which gets clearer and  better the more exposures it gets. The good part is that with those short exposures you don't get star trails as you would with longer exposures so it can be done with the alt-az mount, you already own.

[Mike Oliver]

Hi SF:

Right, for this operation, you say I would need a very sensitive camera and Sharpcap. I have heard of "Sharpcap", which was recommended by one of the sellers ( Svbony) for use with their webcam-type eyepiece. As I said, the only camera I own is a (fairly old) Kodak "Easy Share" Z1485 IS and I've no idea if this would meet the sensitivity requirements or how I'd fit it to my telescope - it isn't at all like the cameras one sees being used for astrophotography in online videos. I will, however, take a look at my 'scope with the camera close by to see if it can be fitted. If it works, I'll owe you a big vote of thanks.

[cjdawson]

Hiya

 

I've just taken a quick look and think that the Kodak Easy Share is a point and shoot camera.   This means that the only option for astro photography open to you is a thing called Eyepiece Projection.  How this works is that you place and eyepiece into the telescope and focus, then place the camera behind the eye piece and take a photo through the telescope.   It is limited in what you can do, but if done right can be a good way to get started.    All that you need to do is hold the camera up to the eyepiece and take the photo.    However, that is easier said that done as the alignment of the camera and eyepiece has to be perfect otherwise things will go wrong very very quickly.

To help with this, you can get brackets that hold the camera to the eyepiece, it can be a bit fiddly to get these to work.

Here's an example of the bracket that I'm thinking of.

https://www.telescopehouse.com/astro-imaging/camera-adaptors/revelation-p200-a-universal-digiscoping-adapter-43mm-65mm.html

 

Thing is, that these days brackets like this are few and far between.  This is because most people tend to use a camera with a removable lens which can then be attached directly to the telescope.

[Mike Oliver]

52 minutes ago, cjdawson said:

Hiya

 

I've just taken a quick look and think that the Kodak Easy Share is a point and shoot camera.   This means that the only option for astro photography open to you is a thing called Eyepiece Projection.  How this works is that you place and eyepiece into the telescope and focus, then place the camera behind the eye piece and take a photo through the telescope.   It is limited in what you can do, but if done right can be a good way to get started.    All that you need to do is hold the camera up to the eyepiece and take the photo.    However, that is easier said that done as the alignment of the camera and eyepiece has to be perfect otherwise things will go wrong very very quickly.

To help with this, you can get brackets that hold the camera to the eyepiece, it can be a bit fiddly to get these to work.

Here's an example of the bracket that I'm thinking of.

https://www.telescopehouse.com/astro-imaging/camera-adaptors/revelation-p200-a-universal-digiscoping-adapter-43mm-65mm.html

 

Thing is, that these days brackets like this are few and far between.  This is because most people tend to use a camera with a removable lens which can then be attached directly to the telescope.

Hi CJ: That's very useful information. I suspected my camera was a bit basic for the purpose but I may give it a try when the sky clears and I can brave the outside temperatures again 🙂 . At the price, the clamp looks to be a potential resolution to my problem. I'm still very tempted by the webcam option, because that would allow me to use my laptop screen in my living room via a USB cable (see my remark about the weather) but the use of my Kodak camera opens other options..

[cjdawson]

Just make sure that if you get a bracket like the one I linked, that it's got the correct dimensions for your scope.  Would hate to hear you get one, just to find that it won't clamp on your eyepiece or something like that.

[happy-kat]

Being reminded of your much earlier thread you already have a Meade DSI camera, why not exhaust what that camera can do. *If* sharpcap can talk to that camera that might open up an EEA opportunity.

 

Edit

I had forgotten the DSI camera does not work with sharpcap, but probably nebulousity from googling

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by happy-kat

[Mike Oliver]

I do intend to give the Meade DSI a run out but my recollection of a friend's experience with this camera doesn't fill me with confidence. Also, Meade have told me I shall have to use a laptop running Windows XP for the camera to work. Luckily, I have an old Toshiba laptop with XP on board but it is a mini laptop and it hasn't seen the light of day for a few years. Still, it will be worth a try. Onwards & upwards...

[Mike Oliver]

I managed to fit the Philips SPC900 camera (kindly provided by Daz) to my 'scope, locate my Windows XP laptop and install the camera driver, then load Sharpcap (V2.9). I managed to get everything working and ended up counting the lichen spots on a rooftop about 300 yards away. I have one question: the size of the picture in the Sharpcap window is pretty small. Selecting Full Screen doesn't do what I expected  (i.e. fill the screen of either Sharpcap or the laptop) and I'm wondering if there is some other way to achieve this.