What should I look for in a camera?

[Puffafish]

Over the winter I got into playing with a phone mount on my telescope eyepiece and got some pictures of the moon... But not much else as there are always limitations on what a phone camera can do (and how well I can align the camera to the eyepiece).

 

If I was to upgrade to a camera to mount onto my scope, what should I be looking for? I have been tempted to give it a go with whatever I can find on ebay or similar, but don't want to buy something only to discover that it's lacking something important. The only thing I know to look for at the moment is to make sure there is a suitable mounting ring for the camera (a T ring I believe they're called).

 

My targets will probably be: Orion nebular, Jupiter and Saturn to start with. This is purely because these are targets I know I can find.

 

Scope: Skywatcher Explorer 130P (650mm focal length, 130mm diameter)

[happy-kat]

Hi does your mount have a motor or is it static?

 

[Puffafish]

51 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Hi does your mount have a motor or is it static?

 

Should have included that in the original post!

It's a static one, so multiple short exposures rather than fewer long ones.

Though there was a kit once upon a time which was supposed to quite easy to convert my mount to motorised which may be bought if I get into it.

[Astro Noodles]

7 minutes ago, Puffafish said:

Should have included that in the original post!

It's a static one, so multiple short exposures rather than fewer long ones.

Though there was a kit once upon a time which was supposed to quite easy to convert my mount to motorised which may be bought if I get into it.

Is this what you are thinking of?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-starquest/sky-watcher-ra-motor-drive-for-starquest-and-az-eq-avant-mounts.html#

[happy-kat]

Your 130p assuming it is the 650mm focal length doesn't reach focus with a dslr as it runs out of inward focus travel.

You could use a barlow to combat that but that increases your focal length further.

Or some move the primary mirror higher (voids warranty).

A webcam would I expect reach focus without any changes though a webcam is suited more for the Moon or planets as you take video and process that say using Registax. 

Planets and Moon would be very short exposures anyway so a static mount does not prohibit that just makes it trickier.

A DSLR has a bigger sensor so DSO generally fit but they are dim unlike the Moon and a static tripod with long focal length means super short exposure which in turn doesn't participate capture faint objects.  Taking hundreds of images helps.

It's hard to suggest what to do but my immediate thought is have you exhausted what you could do with your camera phone you are already using. Are you able to take raw images and have you fashioned a way to position your phone to take wobble free images.

 

[Astro Noodles]

6 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Your 130p assuming it is the 650mm focal length doesn't reach focus with a dslr as it runs out of inward focus travel.

You could use a barlow to combat that but that increases your focal length further.

Or some move the primary mirror higher (voids warranty).

A webcam would I expect reach focus without any changes though a webcam is suited more for the Moon or planets as you take video and process that say using Registax. 

Planets and Moon would be very short exposures anyway so a static mount does not prohibit that just makes it trickier.

A DSLR has a bigger sensor so DSO generally fit but they are dim unlike the Moon and a static tripod with long focal length means super short exposure which in turn doesn't participate capture faint objects.  Taking hundreds of images helps.

It's hard to suggest what to do but my immediate thought is have you exhausted what you could do with your camera phone you are already using. Are you able to take raw images and have you fashioned a way to position your phone to take wobble free images.

 

I agree with what you say here. I can't achieve focus without a barlow on my 130p.  That puts the focal length out to a whopping 1300mm. Also, the mount and tripod are too wobbly for the scope. I'm sure that, with the right mount and guiding that the 130p would produce very fine DSO images but it would be very expensive.

[happy-kat]

Just a couple links to smartphone images you might find useful

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/279-imaging-smartphone-tablets/

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/283-imaging-challenge-24-android-vs-ios-now-closed/

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/236-imaging-challenge-10-smartphones-tablets-now-closed/

[AstroMuni]

22 hours ago, Puffafish said:

It's a static one, so multiple short exposures rather than fewer long ones.

You could go for an Astro camera like the ZWO ASI224mc (approx £200) if you dont have a DSLR. I found that I could get very decent images with short exposures. I am sure someone who has used the ASI with 130p can tell you if its suitable to use without any extensions etc. I use mine on a Celestron 130 which has similar focal length.
 

 

[AstroMuni]

20 hours ago, Astro Noodles said:

I'm sure that, with the right mount and guiding that the 130p would produce very fine DSO images but it would be very expensive.

In this hobby you need to define what you mean when you say very expensive 😉