astrophotography help

[charmedkelly]

Hi all i may have posted this before but im starting to save up to do astrophotography using my 6" Skywatcher hopefully this is goood enough its on a eq3 mount i think, first what do i need is ur help on what equipment im going to be needing as i know how much roughly to save up.

i appreciate all ur help

kelly xx

happy stargazing

[greenkat]

Hi Kelly

Not sure this is any help, but it depends how deep your pockets are lol

You can get started with a basic point n shoot digicam, or a webcam for imaging the Moon ect.

Do you want to photograph DSO's, then you will probably have to spend more.

Let people know how much your willing to save or spend and i'm sure people will suggest options for you.

Good luck

Greenkat

[charmedkelly]

hey i will save how much i need to lol, yea DSO's interest me so much so probably them,

kelly

[arad85]

Is your mount motorised/goto Without motorised control, you will be unable to image any DSOs successfully (you need to track the object for a long time to get enough light onto the camera sensor). Additionally, you need to be able to open the shutter for long times (1-5minute exposures are not uncommon) so you will need a more expensive DSLR or a specialist CCD camera. At a guess, budget £200-300+ for camera/bits to mount it + whatever the cost is to get your mount motorised.

For moon/planets, you could use a webcam - but make sure it is suitable for astro work (there's enough info out there, but you need a CCD chip and you may have to resort to buying second hand at £50-70. They do come up on here reasonably often. The moon is about the only object bright enough object to be photographed easily with a hand held digital point and click camera but then you have to get the camera onto the scope. A variety of solutions exist, including hand held to the lens...

[greenkat]

hey i will save how much i need to lol, yea DSO's interest me so much so probably them,

kelly

Well, that puts me in my place

[gataki]

Hi Kelly,

I suggest you start by getting a copy of Steve Richards' book "Making Every Photon Count". In it he explains all you need to know about DSO astrophotography and as a complete beginner I am finding it invaluable. It's brilliant! You'll get a good idea of what you want to do and what you'll need to achieve it.

His 'name' on here is "steppenwolf". I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to his website but if you do a search in these forums for a Book Review for that book you'll find it and his sig has his website in it.

Liz