Olympus and Canon

[Steve1976]

Hello folks!

How much potential is there for taking half decent photos of planets and some nebulae, galaxies etc with either an Olympus OM10 manual SLR or Canon Powershot A710IS. The SLR is aperture priority but I have a manual adapter for shutter speed control. I also have ALL accessories for it in the way of filters, tripod, different lenses and cable shutter release etc etc.

The scope I have is only a Skywatcher Skymax 127 MAK and it's on an EQ3-2 mount so I know I would need to buy motor drives.

Will my equipment be enough after buying motor drives and how should I go about it all?

[barkis]

Well you have every chance of succeeding.After all, film was the popular medium not all that long ago.

Making the right choice of target, film and exposures, will enable you to gain some results which can always be improved by processing.

Your chances of Deep Sky Imaging will tax you a bit though. The main drawback being the need for long exposures accurately guided.

Not easy with the mount you currently have. You could manually guide using a second guidescope and illuminated reticule, but it is an arduous task.

Why don't you try to find a copy of Astrophotography by Michael Covington. There is one dedicated to film cameras.

Your best results could be widefield work, piggybacking your camera on the scope.

Ron.

[brianb]

The OM10 (with the optional manual adapter) is a great film SLR.... but unfortunately great film for astro purposes is hard to get these days, Kodak Technical Pan #2415 was discontinued a long, long time ago.

You could try ISO 400 transparency film, this gives much more reliable results than print film (especially when printed using high street enprint machines, which don't understand astro subjects at all!) Ask for the film to be "pushed" a couple of stops when processed, this is an extra cost service but worth it.

Ilford Delta 400 or Kodak Tri-X are also worth trying, especially if you have a developing tank.