Skywatcher 72ed and Canon Dslr

[shropshire lad]

Hi... Does anybody use the above equipment as I'm thinking of getting the 72ed to use with my Canon 70D camera.

[Mr Green]

Hi,

You'll probably get a few responses but thought I'd say hello.

I have the SW 72ED and a Canon 500D therefore the camera model is different but setup potentially very similar.

Are you just starting out?

[tonyglossop]

3 hours ago, shropshire lad said:

Hi... Does anybody use the above equipment as I'm thinking of getting the 72ed to use with my Canon 70D camera.

Hi, I have a Sky-Watcher Evostar 72 ED DS   with a Canon EOS 600D DSLR Camera with  bare sensor conversion, I have fitted the ZWO auto focuser on it and the ASIAIR Plus. I have it all set up ready and have sussed out the asiair software, I just haven't had a chance to get any images yet with it but am now ready for the first clear skies that come along . I also took delivery of a SEESTAR S50 a week ago and am looking forward to trying that as well.

[AstroNebulee]

I have used my Skywatcher 72ed with a Canon 450D and then a 600D in the past. Both worked perfectly well and really gives you a good start in imaging before falling down the rabbit hole for an astro camera. 

I also used my asiair pro with the 600D all worked great with fabulous results to start. 

Lee

[WolfieGlos]

I used to as well, paired my modded 800d with the 72 ed. Only reason I don’t use it really anymore is because I have a Starfield 102ed which is a fabulous scope.

[shropshire lad]

8 hours ago, Mr Green said:

Hi,

You'll probably get a few responses but thought I'd say hello.

I have the SW 72ED and a Canon 500D therefore the camera model is different but setup potentially very similar.

Are you just starting out?

No, been stargazing for around 3 years now, but never had a telescope only been using my Sigma 150-600mm C lens but want to upgrade to a decent scope.. 

[Mr Green]

My setup is pretty basic as I returned to the hobby only a few weeks ago.

I have the mentioned 72ed scope, star adventurer GTi mount, ASIair plus, guide camera and a few other accessories and with the limited clear skies, have managed a few images. (Andromeda, Triangulum galaxy & Orion). 

With short exposure time (between 20 mins & an hour) on each target with a stock DSLR, I've been pleased with the results.

Do you have any idea what you want to image? That's a big factor in potential cost to get setup properly.

You'll also need a field flattener and probably a longer dovetail than the one that comes with the mount to achieve declination balance.

I can send you links if you need the info to get an idea on costs.

 

[Mr Green]

Sorry I meant, dovetail for the scope, not mount....

[shropshire lad]

9 hours ago, Mr Green said:

Sorry I meant, dovetail for the scope, not mount....

I have a budget of around £500 so think that might not be enough for all the bits, Also need to decide if the upgrade will give me much better images (I have included a few of my images). I would like to get a decent image of Saturn and Jupiter.

Edited November 8, 2023 by shropshire lad

[Mr Green]

Your images are much better than what I've managed so far although I've only had a few hours in total with clear skies since getting started over the past few weeks which is frustrating.

It's definitely possible to get started with that budget although there will be other bits you'll need in the future. 

You could always build your rig over time if money is tight.

I've worked out that you could get the scope, field flattener, m48 camera adapter & dew heater strap for under £450.

To be able to take longer exposures, you'll want a guide scope and camera which will set you back another £200ish but you could see how you get on for a while.

Others might disagree with my advice but it looks like you've made a good start with what you already have. Maybe crack on with what you've got, save a bit more and then buy the above along with upgrading the mount. 

If you don't plan on getting anything bigger than the 72ED, the Star Adventurer GTI is a great little mount and works well with this scope.

[Elp]

Although you will be able to image planets with a 70mm scope, note they will be very small even whilst using a Barlow lens to magnify the image onto the sensor. Your dslr will also be at a disadvantage because A, the sensor is usually quite large so a projection of a planet will be quite small on a few amount of pixels on the sensor, and B, you usually cannot take images fast enough for planetary work as atmospheric seeing causes the planet to "wobble" in view and you need a very fast FPS to increase the probability of capturing images where the seeing is quite still for the sharpest captures. Planetary cameras are used for this reason where they can get close to 100 FPS or more when imaging/capturing video at a low resolution. So likely you'd be looking at a scope and camera upgrade.

For reference here are two images taken through my Z61 with Barlow lenses, note visually even with a 9mm eyepiece Jupiter was realistically around 5-6mm diameter and Saturn was only around 2mm:

And the difference in resolution when imaging at a much longer focal length through an SCT, note this camera also has a larger sensor than the previous one as it could support the projected view but it's still heavily cropped like the top two (didn't have long to image this so it lacks detail):

[Mr Green]

Sorry I completely overlooked that you wanted to take planetary images.

Planets are definitely tiny in this scope!