DSLR + star adventurer pro

[JudeHS]

Hi there,

Thinking of buying the star adventurer pro to get into astrophotography and I would like to get a DSLR to go with it so I can get used to using a camera. (It's new to me). I've been looking at the canon 700d or 800d. There are plenty of deals on eBay second hand and most come with the 18-55 zoom lens which I could use for some basic wide-angle imaging. Would either of those be a decent DSLR to pair with the star tracker or is there a better one you could recommend me.

FYI, once I'm comfortable with using my mount, camera and processing I plan on getting the WO ZS61 and attaching the camera to that - not sure if that influences my camera choice but I'll say just in case.

Cheers,

Jude

[cjdawson]

HI JudeHs

 

I've got a Star Adventurer pro and use that for Deep Sky Imaging.   Here's my setup that I'm using

 

Mount:

* Star Adventurer Pro (I'll call this SA For short) - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html

* Sky-Watcher 3/8" Stainless Steel Tripod - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/sky-watcher-38-stainless-steel-tripod.html

 

Guide scope:

* ZWO Mini Guide Scope - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-mini-guide-scope.html

* ZWO ASI 290MM USB 3.0 Mono Camera - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi290mm-usb-3-mono-camera.html

 

Main scope

* William Optics SpaceCat 51 APO f/4.9 - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/william-optics/william-optics-spacecat-51-apo-f4-9.html

 

Power and Dew control

* Tracer 12V 24Ah LiFePo4 battery - https://www.tracerpower.com/tracer-12v-24ah-lifepo4-battery.html

* Lynx Astro 4 Port Dew Controller with DSLR Power Supply - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/lynx-astro-dew-controllers/lynx-astro-4-port-dew-controller-with-dslr-power-supply.html

* (2 of these) Lynx Astro Silicone Power Cable 2.1mm DC Jack to 2.1mm DC Jack with Coupler - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/lynx-astro-silicone-power-cable-21mm-dc-jack-to-21mm-dc-jack-with-coupler.html

* Lynx Astro Dummy Battery Cable - Canon Fit -  https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/lynx-astro-dummy-battery-cable-canon-fit.html 

* LanParte E6 Dummy Battery Pack - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/lanparte-e6-dummy-battery-pack.html

* Astrozap Dew Heater Tapes - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astrozap-dew-heater-tapes.html

* ZWO ASiair  (link is for the current pro model) - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-asiair-pro-wireless-astrophotography-controller.html

 

Misc

* Astro Essentials Multi Finder Adapter for Sky-Watcher - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/astro-essentials-multi-finder-adapter-for-sky-watcher.html

 

And finally

* Canon EOS 70D - https://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cameras/digital_slr/eos_70d/

 

The above is the setup that I have taken to using for deep sky work.  There's alot of kit there and some of it, I would still recommend even when doing wide field shots.   Here's how I would go about building up a setup similar to what I've listed and how I'd go about it if I were starting from scratch.

 

1. Get the tripod and Star Adventurer as shown above.  Alternatively, I would look think again and maybe look at switching out for

* Sky-Watcher EQ3 PRO Go-To Astronomy Mount - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-pro-synscan-goto.html

Whilst the star adventurer is a great wide field mount, and I'm extremely happy with mine.  It does lack one feature that can be the cause of frustration.  That is the ability to platesolve and correct images.  The GOTO features of this mount will mean that will work, and once you grow, the mount will grow with you, allowing you to access this feature which the Star Adventurer doesn't and cannot offer.    That said, having seen the EQ3 mounts I would still be looking at getting the 3/8" tripod that I listed above as it will make the platform much more sturdy.   If you don't plan on getting a telescope to mount on the mount for a while (as in years) the Star Adventurer is a great mount for starting out.

 

2. Camera

Starting out with a Canon camera is always a good idea.  Other cameras are great as well but my experience is with canon, so I know that they work out of the box.  I use the 70D, and that has the advantage of being able to turn the gain up to 25600 ISO, which is a crazy figure.   The x00 series, the consumer level are limited more in their ISO capability, so that means that you'd need longer exposures to get a good exposure.  Just means more time trying to capture data.  Using the Kit lens (that's the nickname of the 18-55 zoom lens that you mentioned) will take a while to capture data as well as widest apeture is F4.5   You'd be well advised to get  a faster lens, I'd recommend the 50mm Prime Lens that you can get for about £100 ish.  Whilst the focal length is fixed, the F ratio is much faster so you can use much shorter exposures.  That will make a huge difference.    In addition, I tend to use an different lens which is capable of F2.8 which means I can 1/2 the exposure times compared to the kit lens (I'm trying to keep this simple)

 

In the kit list above you can see that I have a dummy battery listed and a cable that plugs into my dew controller.   This means that I don't need to worry about charging the canon battery every time and having the worry about the battery going flat mid run.   Using a big powerful battery I can run my entire telescope setup for the whole night without worrying about flat batteries.

 

3. ASI Air and Guiding?

At this point, I'm a few steps on from a beginner level setup, I know, but let my explain the reasoning behind why I have this and why it's worth considering.

Firstly the ASI Air allows me to perform an extremely accurate polar alignment without having to use the polar scope that is built into the SA.  This is where the mini guide scope, and ZWO 290MM cameras come in handy as I doing my polar alignment using that setup.   If starting from scratch you can get a bundle of an ASI Air, Mini Guide Scope and a ZWO120MM camera.  That will work exactly the same, and will be a great setup.   I'm only using the 290MM as I already own one and was able to repurpose it for this.

 

After the polar alignment has been done, I am about to then switch a few settings around, then can use the camera as a guider, this means that some corrections can be applied whilst I'm making an imaging run.   This means that I can make longer exposures.   The combination of being able to do very accurate Polar alignment, and guiding puts this setup into a place where the Guide isn't even needed for the wide field shots.  The Polar alignment will solve pretty much all the error that you can cram into a 5 min exposure at 18mm.

 

4. Dew prevention is a must have.

There's nothing worse than seting up your gear on a cold clear night, leaving it running whilst you go into the warmth for a couple of hours.  And when you come out to clear up finding that your lenses are fogged up.  You just know that you've lost 1/2 your images maybe more do to water that can be prevented.   Whilst I have astro zap bands for my gear, you can easily use Hand warmers or USB camera lens heaters, they all work and can suit your budget.   The point is don't leave home without dew prevention.

 

5. weight limit.

The SA and the EQ3 mounts have a weight limit of 5Kg, this isn't alot, and is good enough for a small scope like the SpaceCat51 I mentioned, and indeed the camera with kit lens that you mentioned.    However, I'd consider this to be the upper limit of what the mount can handle.   The combination of the SpaceCat, GuideScope, Camera, dew bands and fittings all add up to quite a significant amount of weight.   I'd not be looking to add anything bigger as I don't think the SA would be able to handle it.  What would happen is that the whole telescope would start to wobble with the slightest breeze and this will wreck images by smearing light.

 

 

I meantioned about that I'd go for the EQ3 Pro Goto mount if I was building this setup again, the reason is that combined with the ASI Air and the guide scope, it would allow me to guide in both X and Y Axis, the mount would be able to be controlled by the ASI Air, allowing me to tell the scope where to point and have the ASI Air and mount do all the hard work of finding the target.     For wide field imaging, which is what the SA was intended for the Goto feature isn't really needed, framing a constellation is not hard.  It's only when going for deeper sky objects that the advantage of Goto really comes out.

 

As for the results that you can get with the setup that I have, here is a couple of examples.   

 

M51 - taken with a ZWO 1600MM and LRGB filters.  (so not my canon 70D)  This is a cooled astro camera, oh and I discovered that I had a mark on my L filter, which created those spikes.  I'm planning on doing this image again in the future and adding even more data.  I don't think there's a huge amount of light pollution in this image, and I'm sure that there is much much more details looking to be pulled out.

 

Here's my first image that I took with my Canon 70D and the SpaceCat51 on the SA.  I'm fairly sure that I over exposed the image as Andromeda turned white.  That said, the transparency of that night wasn't good there was mist and visual observers had all given up.  I kept this going because I could, they were all jealous that night.  hehe.

 

Here is a wide field shot that I took of a random part of the milky way.  This is an hours worth of data taken with my DSLR using an 18mm F2.8 lens.

 

Hope this gives you some hints tips and ideas of what you can expect from the kit that you are thinking about getting.  As well as some things to think about for how you are likely to grow as you gain experience and want to explore further.

[JudeHS]

Wow- thank you for taking your time to write such a detailed response! Lots for me to ponder...

I wasn't aware of being able to power everything at once thanks for the tip  

The goto feature is of EQ3 PRO is appealing I agree however I don't see many reviews on it whereas the SA has been reviewed a lot. Obviously, I want to have a good understanding of what I'm buying! Its specs look nice - can you vouch for its performance (or anyone else...) If it is indeed a good mount I suppose I would choose it over the SA as in the future I see myself progressing to adding a refractor to my equipment.

 

[cjdawson]

I don't have the EQ3 Pro myself, it's something that I'm considering picking up at some point.  That said, I'm very happy with my SA.

 

There is also an alternative approach that you might want to consider as well.  Rather than using a Tracer battery like I linked above....

Use several USB power packs, the internal battery in the DSLR and the AA's in the SA as well.   This is a completely different way of thinking.  Firstly, the SA documents says it'll run for several days from a set of AA's.   You can get USB camera lens warmers - I have one that I have used and they work well.

If you were to get a basic setup.....

SA Pro Pack, a good tripod (I do recommend the one I linked above), the DSLR, a camera lens warmer (USB) and a usb power bank, have everything you need to get up and running for wide angle photos.  You'll be able to get decent results without needing to do a perfect polar alignment.  With an 18mm lens, the polar scope should get you to the point where 1-2min exposures should come out just fine.  And with a bit of practice you should be able to get up to 10 min exposures as well.

 

The rest of the stuff can come much later, and maybe even form a second setup.   By the time you get round to that you might also be considering getting a bigger telescope, so rather than stepping to the EQ-3, you might want to then look at an EQ-5 or higher as they can take much bigger payloads.   (This also translates to a lot more stable mount with a smaller telescope)

 

The widefield photo that I posted above, was taken with the camera on the SA, but I had only done a polar alignment using the polarscope, I had not used the Asi air for that one.  So, I can tell you that you can get great results, without having all the items from my shopping list.

Edited March 19, 2020 by cjdawson

[happy-kat]

If looking to keep a budget and if you already have those hand warmer tabs these I have read members use these to keep a lens warm, put it in a sock and rubber band it to the lens.