Newbie ...How to Focus with Zwo Cmos 2600mc camera.

[NSR]

Hi, I started Astrophotography several months ago. I have progressed at a modest rate from using a Astro modified Canon DSLR, Star adventurer and a Redcat51.I have been using Astro Photography Tool to focus via the Live view feature and a Bahtinov Mask, without any issues other than practice , practice and practice again ha ha.I have now bought a ZWO ASI2600MC CMOS camera to use with the Redcat51.I have only had a few nights to test the camera and I am finding it hard to focus using the APT live view as I don't yet fully understand what settings I need to use to capture a  'Live' feed into APT from the 2600MC to allow me to see an image to check the focus.This may be a simple question but I can't find a decent video or written answer to my question.

My modest progress is in the main thanks to the members on this site so any advice would be much appreciated thank you.

Regards

NSR

[bottletopburly]

You don’t need live view for focus in APT , take a 10 sec image of a bright star and adjust and redo focus to suit using the bahtinov focus aid in tools menu ,put the cross on the bahtinov star a press calculate and it will tell you how close to focus you are .

[Clarkey]

When I used APT I always struggled with the Bahtinov tool. Why can you not focus manually using the Bahtinov mask instead of using the tool. If you magnify the view you should be able to get it close enough without any other tools. As said above, you do not need live view - just loop short exposures as you adjust your focus. Live view with the astro camera's is generally not as good as a DSLR.

[NSR]

Hi, Thanks for that quick replies. I will try this out if it's clear at anytime over the weekend. I suspect very short exposures would be needed to loop the image ?

Cheers

NSR

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by NSR

[Clarkey]

On a bright star 5 seconds will be plenty.

[smashing]

3 hours ago, NSR said:

Hi, Thanks for that quick repies. I will try this out if it's clear at anytime over the weekend. I suspect very short exposures would be needed to loop the image ?

Cheers

NSR

 

So APT, if I remember correctly, uses the bulb setting for live view for these cameras and don't forget to use the auto stretch function on the histogram tool as well...I just let it loop using a few seconds and it worked fine

[NSR]

Thanks for the reply.