Help for a newbie with a camera and a scope...

[Neil78]

Hi folks,

Ok, so here is a little précis of where I am so far...:

For the last couple of nights I've been able to view the moon very well with a Vista 80 400 I got for Christmas. Really pleased with the view of the moon, although the view was slightly shaky (I think possibly due to the tripod, which is a desktop set-up, not being quite rigid enough).

I'm now dying to capture what I can see on camera. I have a canon 450D, and on the advice of the telescope vendor, I also have an Antares T-mount adaptor ring, and an Astro Engineering AC325 Basic 1.25 Camera adaptor and eyepiece projection unit. Not a single set of instruction came with anything, so at the moment I am struggling to figure out what tithe set-up should be. Of course, I have screwed the adaptor ring on to the from of the camera, and the adaptor unit onto the adaptor ring; now I'm am stuck. Doe this now just slot in in place of the eyepiece on the telescope? I did try this, but the cam are wasn't picking up anything to photograph.

Can anyone please give me some pointers?

[Hawklord]

It's going to be challenging with the tripod you have. However the camera you have is a great start. I'd start on the moon provided you can keep the tripod still. You just need the t-adapter and the 1.25" eyepiece unit which should screw directly into the T-adapter. Id just try the P setting on the Canon first with live view and adjust the focus. Have it on ISO 800 or 1600 and once it looks in focus try the shutter. Let us know how you get on?

[brantuk]

For moon and planets use fast shutter speeds eg 1/30th, 1/50th sec. Otherwise the brightness will wipe out any features.

[Neil78]

Hawklord, thanks for that. I did have the feeling that I might need to invest in a sturdier tripod.

Thanks for the general tips also. At the risk of sounding daft, when you say 'adjust the focus' you do mean on the telescope rather than on the camera don't you, as you can no longer focus with the camera? Will let you know how I get on... Fingers crossed for a clear sky tomorrow night.

Thanks also brantuk. For something like this I'll probably experiment with a few shutter speeds. My plan was to take pics of the moon throughout its phases over the course of a month. I'm guessing when there is a full moon an even quicker shutter speed will be required to offset the greater amount of light coming in?

Will let you know how I get on...

[Neil78]

Hi guys!

Well, it's update time. Unfortunately it's taken me this long to get an opportunity to post again due to terrible sky conditions, or being away when they have been good, but I guess that comes with the territory...

Anyway, thankfully i was at home last night, and although by the time i got outside it was quite cold, and a haze was in the air, the moon was still relatively clear. Thought it would be the ideal opportunity given that it was it its closest! I tried followed the advice of Hawklord and brantuk, but no matter what I tried, I could not seem to to get the moon into focus on the live view in P mode. I even went as far as running through the entire focusing range whilst live viewing a variety of shutter speeds, from about 1/20 to 1/250. Just could not get any focus. In the end, I managed to get some shots taking a picture through the scopes own magnifier, but clearly this isn't satisfactory. Somehow I can't help feeling I'm getting something fundamental wrong.

If any one has any suggestions, please feel free to fire them over!

N

[Neil McRae]

Hi Neil78

Iam new to this but have te same camera and succeded in capturing the moon 2 nights ago by doing the following.

Connected the camera to the ring adapter and then the adapter to the scope (SW 200P) directly. Used Red Dot Finder to centre on Moon and then tweaked the mount controls to see moon in camera eyepiece. Adjusted focus and set the camera to MANUAL and ISO 400 and speed to 1/250th sec. Played around with the speed in Manual mode and had some good results.

Another method used was to insert a Barlow lens into the focusser and connect the camera via the ring adapter and T Mount. Set the camera same as above and played with different ISO settings and Speed settings.

Hope this helps

Neil

[brantuk]

Hi Neil - sorry to hear you're still struggling. When I use eyepiece projection I actually have eyepieces that allow a T-ring to be screwed onto them at the observing end for a direct camera attachment.

However - the telescope and eyepiece still has to be in focus first, in order that the camera can focus on the image in the eyepiece. There may be better ways but I focus the ep/scope first.

Then I take the ep out, attach the camera, and put the lot back in again. The image might be slightly defocussed if it doesn't go back in exactly the same position, but at least I know it only needs a small tweak on the scope focuser to correct it. It helps if you can lock the drawtube in position after setting the ep focus.

Then get the live view tuned in so you can tell on the screen if the scope needs a tweak before final adjustment on the camera focus. For planets/moon I use ISO 800. For the full moon last night I would have chosen a very fast shutter speed, maybe 100th sec or less.

Of course - a dslr is more suited to LE photography of dso's - most use a webcam for moon/planets. It's not impossible with a dslr though, I got some nice frames of Jupiter with a 1000D last time I had the imaging kit out. Hope I've helped