Nikon D80

[steve_bham]

ive got a Nikon D80, and want to try and use it for astro photography, will it be any good and whats the basic kit you will need to start using the camera with a 5" SCT.

[Psychobilly]

Nikon T mount and an SCT -T adaptor will get you going... a remote for release will help a lot but you can get away with using the self timer...

SCT-T adaptor will give the most secure fixing and largest possible clear aperture mimimising any vignetting...

Peter...

[steve_bham]

Hi Peter, thanks for info. Ive got a remote for the camera so that bits sorted. Is there any method of moutning it to take pics through eyepiece or is that more trouble than its worth?

[Beyond_Vision]

Hi Peter, thanks for info. Ive got a remote for the camera so that bits sorted. Is there any method of moutning it to take pics through eyepiece or is that more trouble than its worth?

Yes it will cause a lot of vignetting. It's much better to attach the scope to camera directly which is called the prime focus method.

Regards

Kevin

[Catanonia]

I have tried to mount a dslr to an eyepiece and to be honest, just not worth it. Get a cheapo household point and click to do this. 2mpixels will do ok.

If you have a DSLR and a scope, then as said use them to thier full advantage and use them as a prime setup. You can always add a 2x teleconverter in between, I have done this and it works well.

[steve_bham]

Does it produce good images if you attach it to the scope or are they not a patch on a ccd camera

[Catanonia]

Does it produce good images if you attach it to the scope or are they not a patch on a ccd camera

The modern DSLR camera s produce amazing images mate.

Look on my website in my sig. These were done with a bog standard Sony DSLR A700.

However they have a filter in for normal day to day usage than reduce the red side of light (Ha). For the best images this needs to be removed that will cost anywhere upto £200 and make the camera pretty much useless for normal usage.

Therefore I swapped out my A700 for a 'modded' Canon EOS350 with the filter replaced. Now this is for astro only and the A700 for all my other photography.

Hopefully will start to produce some images with this camera soon.

If you want to go straight into it, I wouldn't mod your Nikon, I would buy a 'good' ccd which may cost upto £1000. But I suggest you start off with a t adapter and the nikon and give it a go.

Keep ISO to about 800 and manual mode with shutter durations of about 30seconds to start with and stack the images. Shoot in RAW and use deepskystacker.

As said, everything on my website was done this way.

[steve_bham]

Cool, thanks for info will give it a go

[Whippy]

If you want to go straight into it, I wouldn't mod your Nikon, I would buy a 'good' ccd which may cost upto £1000.

I think that's a minimum of £1000.

Tony..

[steve_bham]

Cataniona,

you pics look great. Ive also got a piggy back mount on the tripod so when we finally have clear nights im going to try that 1st see if its any good.

Any beginner tips you could give would be great, also any recommend books worth reading?

Steve

[Catanonia]

Dude,

Books, nah not me, your are on the best source of information here in my opinion. I am sure someone will recommend a book like 'Every Photon Counts'

I sent ya a PM with my number, gimme a call anytime if you want and will talk you through experiences and what you need to know from a newbie point of view.

Cat

Cataniona,

you pics look great. Ive also got a piggy back mount on the tripod so when we finally have clear nights im going to try that 1st see if its any good.

Any beginner tips you could give would be great, also any recommend books worth reading?

Steve