In praise of low budget astrophotography (moon shot)

[heathenwoods]

I think one of the pieces advice that is most off-putting is 'you can't do X with Y'. It's often well-intentioned and intended to prevent people building up false expectations. But it can often be a barrier to just biting the bullet and giving things a go. Sometimes, sure, you can fall on your face and realise that even with the best polar alignment in the world isn't going to help your star tracker turn that £10 135mm lens you got from fleabay into a Samyang rival. But sometimes it's worth the risk.

'Scope: Nexstar 80GTL £30 from Facebook Marketplace
Camera: SVBony SV105 £35 during their December sale
I knew the 105 got bad reviews when I bought it but I figured it would pair well with telescope - or at least let me mess about with solar system targets until I worked out how to balance the scope with my DSLR.
Sharpcap/Registax/Microsoft ICE did the software stuff for free. I messed around with it in PS afterwards but nothing I couldn't have done in Gimp.

I know the photo's not great but it's better than I could have imagined being able to produce considering how bad I expected the camera due to it not being 'good enough' and the low-end nature of the scope. Low cost? Low risk. Just give it a go.

 

[Mr Spock]

For the equipment used I'd say that's pretty good. No excuse for not having a go!

[AstroNebulee]

7 minutes ago, heathenwoods said:

I think one of the pieces advice that is most off-putting is 'you can't do X with Y'. It's often well-intentioned and intended to prevent people building up false expectations. But it can often be a barrier to just biting the bullet and giving things a go. Sometimes, sure, you can fall on your face and realise that even with the best polar alignment in the world isn't going to help your star tracker turn that £10 135mm lens you got from fleabay into a Samyang rival. But sometimes it's worth the risk.

'Scope: Nexstar 80GTL £30 from Facebook Marketplace
Camera: SVBony SV105 £35 during their December sale
I knew the 105 got bad reviews when I bought it but I figured it would pair well with telescope - or at least let me mess about with solar system targets until I worked out how to balance the scope with my DSLR.
Sharpcap/Registax/Microsoft ICE did the software stuff for free. I messed around with it in PS afterwards but nothing I couldn't have done in Gimp.

I know the photo's not great but it's better than I could have imagined being able to produce considering how bad I expected the camera due to it not being 'good enough' and the low-end nature of the scope. Low cost? Low risk. Just give it a go.

 

Very true and your image just goes to prove it. That is one fantastic Lunar image, so much crispness and contrast. Just keep doing what your doing, excellent quality.👏

Edited January 13, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[Clarkey]

Great shot for the budget. I'd be well chuffed with that.

[heathenwoods]

Thanks, guys. I think I struck lucky with the seeing. Tonight's effort isn't quite up to the same standard but I could see in SharpCap the image was wavering a lot more. Working out the problems/solutions and knowing what I'm doing just seems to add to the fun 🙂

[malc-c]

10 hours ago, heathenwoods said:

Thanks, guys. I think I struck lucky with the seeing. 

That's often the problem.  Sometimes you can get lucky and get stunning crisp and contrasting images with basic equipment, and the next fall below expectations - the quality of the air and how turbulent it is can make all the difference.

As others have said, for the money that's a very good image