M42 with a Non DLSR compact & EQ-2...

[Aramcheck]

I thought it might be worth posting my very first attempt at a DSO, taken back when we had a SW 130M & EQ-2 mount in March 2019. The pictures were taken with a Canon Sure Shot compact digital camera using  eye-piece projection & were so bad that there was no way they would stack. Initially I used an ancient copy of photoshop & manually stacked the jpg images... Today, for a laugh I had a go at reprocessing the raw files using Pixinsight (using Dynamic Alignment before integration (stacking)). Only 10 twenty-sec frames @ ISO 6400....
Quite a contrast in quality between this and the results (on other targets) since we've upgraded to a DLSR & and EQ-6 mount...
Hope it's of use to some newbies with EQ-2's out there.
Ivor

[Marvin Jenkins]

I think that is a great result, considering that it is in effect a holiday point and shoot camera on a bracket clamped to the eye piece. In my opinion you have done very well. My own personal favourite is a moon shot I have using a Sony Cybershot in the same bracket as yours. It is my screen saver and I have been asked from where did I download it. Makes me smile.

Marvin

[Mr niall]

Still looks pretty great to me!

[RT65CB-SWL]

They are great images @Aramcheck / Ivor. 

What I used to use was an Olymus C2040, CLA-1 adaptor tube/ring or a Nikon CoolPix900, 28mm to T-ring adaptor tube/ring and an eyepiece projection unit (made by Beacon Hill Telescopes). They occasionally come out of hibernation. The best images I have was of the transit of Venus during 2004 and they are on a 'mislaid' CD-ROM.

Now I have two Nikon DSLR's, a T-ring, the eyepiece projection unit, ...and lots of cloud.

[Marvin Jenkins]

Sometimes it makes me realise how far tech has come. Does anyone out there know when the first image of M42 was taken? It would be interesting to know when the image in this thread became roughly equal to professional efforts.

[Aramcheck]

2 hours ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

Does anyone out there know when the first image of M42 was taken?

From a quick 'Google' it was first photographed in 1880 by Henry Draper. Several citations including https://www.facebook.com/svtelescopes/posts/day-in-history-september-30-1880-the-first-photo-of-orion-nebula-taken-by-henry-/10156668223133434/ which indicates a 51 min exposure & includes this photo: