Piggy-backing DSLR on 90mm refractor

[Stephen Blythe]

Hi all,

I have a SkyWatcher Star Discovery 90i (link).  I also recently got a Canon DSLR (EOS 500D), and I'd like experiment with piggybacking on the telescope.

I know there are alternatives to this, like mounting the camera directly on the mount, but I like the idea of being able to stick the camera on there and taking a wide field of where the 'scope is pointing without having to swap everything around.

Has anyone done this?  I've looked for some kind of universal clamp that will sit on the scope tube, but the only option seems to be to add a tube ring which has a camera-tripod-screw thing, but that looks like it would end up being a bit flimsy.

Ideally, I don't want to spend stacks of cash at this stage, I'm only experimenting.  It feels like there should be something out there already though, I'm just not searching for the right thing...

Thanks!

Stephen

[PeterCPC]

If you want something more substantial then you could use 2 tube rings then fix a small dovetail bar on the top to mount the camera onto. You should be aware of balancing issues whichever way you go.

[Stephen Blythe]

Thanks Peter. That makes sense. I'll look into that. 

I think if I get a fairly long dovetail bar I can put the tube rings either side of the centre of gravity and keep it nicely balanced. 

Thanks for the advice. 

Stephen