Photography

[adamsp123]

As per another post, I highly recommend Steves' book "making every photon count" IMO THE best beginners guide to astrophotography I have read and I have been through a few.

Reading this will give you a very good idea of what you need, and more importantly, to your wallet, what you don't.

[astropete]

hi o/p, astrophotographs are hard to take, with you requiring a driven mount and a reasonably priced camera and mount. if on the other hand you wish to take pics of the moon, as i do then the price drops. my kit is a 127mm 1500fl sky watcher on a super track mount. my camera is a samsung nv4 8mp digital, held to the scopes eye piece via a digimount, and the pics i get are well worth the efford (after editing) to post on these boards. i will post some pics so you can have a peep.

http://stargazerslounge.com/members/astropete-albums-moon-picture3572-10102009154.jpg

[Sparrow]

Opps - didn't mean to upset or cause controversy - sorry Martin if I offended. Wasn't my intention. "Every Photn Counts" certainy is a good idea as a starter.

I think realsitic expectations are important. I didn;t expect brilliant photos with 4 second exposures with my bridge camera but it was a real thrill to see that I had caught some nebulosity in M42 - that was as basic as it got with a camera on a tripod, holding a borrowed LP filter in front of the lense by hand. The important thing is that I took the image and I got a result which put a smile on my face. Obviously I'm a few years down the line now with a proper rig - the results are obviously much better, but every experience right from day one has come in useful and wasn't wasted. The most important thing is to enjoy it and keep expectations realistic for the equipment you have.

[ashworthacca]

Opps - didn't mean to upset or cause controversy - sorry Martin if I offended. Wasn't my intention. "Every Photn Counts" certainy is a good idea as a starter.

I think realsitic expectations are important. I didn;t expect brilliant photos with 4 second exposures with my bridge camera but it was a real thrill to see that I had caught some nebulosity in M42 - that was as basic as it got with a camera on a tripod, holding a borrowed LP filter in front of the lense by hand. The important thing is that I took the image and I got a result which put a smile on my face. Obviously I'm a few years down the line now with a proper rig - the results are obviously much better, but every experience right from day one has come in useful and wasn't wasted. The most important thing is to enjoy it and keep expectations realistic for the equipment you have.

Not offended in the slightest.

You are right it's all about expectations. Look at this forum and review the kit list of the members who have posted mind blowing DSO images.....I can guarantee that 100% of them won't have been taken with a P&S held up to the eyepiece. That says it all to me. Spending a couple of hundred quid isn't going to satisfy in the long run and is really false economy (IMO).

[RADCOM]

I too wanted and answer to this question. Being an avid techie and gadget monster but noobie amateur astronomer and photographer I wonder if the astrotrac tt320x would be helpful to me? I have a decent entry level DSLR and tripod along with a laptop and access to mountains of software. Would a lightweight telescope attached to the camera be advisable? I am going to Cape town South Africa in January and I'd like to get some decent shots of their "beautiful nightime sky" All input gratefully accepted and yes I am going to order "making every photon count"

[ollypenrice]

The Astrotrac is a great idea for camera and lens imaging. The longer the focal length of the lens the more accurate the tracking required. A lens of about 85mm gives an attractive scale on the sky with enough detail to show many objects recognizably. Be sure to mug up on how to do your polar alignment, especially in the S Hemisphere!

Olly