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Post by mike7000 on May 28, 2008 17:31:32 GMT
Hi, I have purchased a Meade DS2102 Refractor goto telescope, and I am interested in astrophotography. I have captured a few nice shots of the moon by holding my Nokia N95 camera phone to my 26mm eyepiece, but I want better shots of planets, etc. Could anyone help me, as I am also on a tight budget, I was looking at a Nikon coolpix L11or a Nikon D70, but dont know if these are suitable, are these cheapish digital cameras ok for that type of photography?Could any one help, especially with the adapter needed to attatch the camera to my telescope, as I don't want to "piggy back" it I want to use the telescope as a lens. If anyone could help, that would be great, many thanks, Mike Thomas.
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Post by phoenix on May 28, 2008 22:30:47 GMT
The Meade DS2102 is a Mak scope with an F ratio of 13.3. If this is the one you have then it should do well on planets. Most people who image planets use a webcam like the Philips SPC900 which retails at under £60 connected to a laptop. A webcam will give far superior planet images than any off the shelf digital cam. The webcam would need an adaptor £20 like this one www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Webcam_Adapter_For_Philips_SPC900.htmlYou unscrew the lens in the web cam and screw in the adaptor which fits straight into the eyepiece holder. You can download for free QCfocus to image and focus the webcam with the laptop and then use the free download software registax to stack all the web cam images. If you do not have a laptop then you could buy usb extension cables and run it from a desktop. The problem with cheaper digital cameras is that they save images in JPEG format which compresses the data and thus you loose detail. If you go down the road of buying a digital camera then adaptors are available for some or you could try an afocal adaptor like this www.scopesnskies.com/prod/Astro-Engineering/Ultra/PH047.html but get it from somebody else rather than scopesnskies since they have a rep of taking the money and making you wait 3 months for delivery.
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Post by nemesis on May 28, 2008 23:43:52 GMT
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Post by Veronica on May 29, 2008 11:08:55 GMT
Ah, that's Brendan's (Mystif's) scope, and he's used his off-the-shelf digital camera for moon shots. I've the DS2070 version and have used my wee Olympus digital camera with the Ultra mount Kieran gave the link for. That mount is a pain in the butt. It is really irritating to set up and align the camera lens with the eyepiece precisely and you've got to watch out for the camera lens moving out and hitting the scope eyepiece when you want to zoom. Also, you can't change scope eyepieces once you have the camera attached with that mount. I've managed to get a few lunar and solar images using that setup but to be quite honest, it was £25 poorly spent - I actually find it easier just to hand hold!
If I wanted to get into astrophotography more with the Meade I have, I'd go down the webcam/laptop/PC line for planets and just handhold my digital camera for lunar and solar shots.
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Post by garyr on May 29, 2008 13:13:51 GMT
A camera I recently purchased relatively cheap is the Finepix s5700. Its isn't an SLR but has some of functionality. It is pretty good for afocal stuff due to the fact that the zoom lens does not move in/out when trying to focus on the eyepiece and is very light compared to some. The lens also has a 46mm thread so various adapters and filters can be attached.
The downside is that it has a maximum exposure of 4 seconds which makes long exposure shots not really an option.
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Post by garyr on May 29, 2008 13:18:13 GMT
That mount is a pain in the butt. It is really irritating to set up and align the camera lens with the eyepiece precisely and you've got to watch out for the camera lens moving out and hitting the scope eyepiece when you want to zoom. Also, you can't change scope eyepieces once you have the camera attached with that mount. I've managed to get a few lunar and solar images using that setup but to be quite honest, it was £25 poorly spent - I actually find it easier just to hand hold! I thought I was doing something stupid or wrong and I am glad that someone has admitted that those mounts can be painful. Mine has to be adjusted with tiny allen keys which are really not conducive to fumbling about in the dark. I managed to get an extension tube from jessops (bargain at 97p) which fits the thread on my camera and is big enough to accomodate an eyepiece. All i need to do is find some way to securing the eyepeice inside it now.
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Post by mike7000 on May 29, 2008 16:49:14 GMT
Hi, thanks Nemesis, that is the scope I have ( but I have had no trouble with the red dot finder,lol), so I think its a great scope for me. Am looking at a cheap finepix on ebay, to be honest I dont think I will get good enough views with my current scope for long exposures, so I am not that bothered, as long as I get a couple of planets etc, I 'll be satisfied. if I could bother you good people some more, what adapter is best, and do you unscrew the camera lens, attatch the adapter and then attatch the whole unit to the scope lens? Sorry about the questions, but I am a complete newbie to this and I can't find the info I want on the net. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to reply to my constant questions, all the best, Mike.
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Post by phoenix on May 29, 2008 20:48:08 GMT
Most cheap cameras have a fixed lens which cannot be removed which was another reason I suggested a webcam. How tight is your buget?
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Post by mike7000 on May 30, 2008 14:48:21 GMT
Hi, its very tight, after purchasing all the other bits and bobs for the scope, but the main reason I'm not too interested in webcam photography is I have not got a laptop, and my scope is no-where near my computer, as I transport the scope to observe, so I'm pretty much geared to the digital camera way. Could possibly stretch to £100, maybe £120 but thats about it, hope theres a good camera and adapter for that price, pity they don't sell them in beginner sets, like they do scopes,lol. Any help would be gratefully appreciated, all the best, Mike.
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Post by mike7000 on May 30, 2008 15:27:07 GMT
Hi again, also Garyr mentioned in his post above that there are adapters available for the finepix S5700, which I have a bid for on ebay at the moment. Could someone show me where they sell 43mm adapters for attatching it to the eyepiece, as I am still confused,lol. Many thanks, Mike Thomas.
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Post by garyr on May 30, 2008 22:45:50 GMT
The finepix s5700 is a 46mm thread which are pretty common as far as I can see. There are a number of f-adapters available for various threads but I think 52 is one I have seen a lot. You can get a 46-52 step up ring on ebay or jessops. I havent personally tried using one of these adapters but i do intend to as the bracket thingy mentioned above is driving me to distraction.
I was going to go the way of webcam but I dropped my laptop a few nights ago and now it n longer functions. It was a freebie from work so easy come easy go. Just wish I hadnt forked out 10 quid for a 8 foot firewire lead before I killed the laptop.
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