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08/10/2003 11:44:14 PM · #1 |
I'm looking at buying a telescope which I can hopefully connect my camera to. My camera can take size 52mm filters, so any adapter for this size would be perfect. My only problem is I don't know anything about telescopes, so I don't know what size to ask for etc.
Has anyone had experience in this area?
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08/11/2003 12:40:43 AM · #2 |
I cant answer all your questions about what telescope you should get, but I will give a few links to some good pointers for chosing the right telescope for you and what you want out of the scope.
also look in your area for an Astronomy club and hang out with them so you can look at and through a few different types of scopes and see some different setups in person. The web is a great resource, but you cant test drive a telescope over the web. Go see a few in action before you buy one....
//users2.ev1.net/~earthlings/Telescope_Selection/Choose_a_Scope_Summary.htm
(sorry the post link button was not working for me, so copy and paste)
//skyandtelescope.com/howto/imaging/
//skyandtelescope.com/howto/scopes/
James
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08/11/2003 12:46:39 AM · #3 |
| Search for/check out the moon photos and PM those photographers; there are at least 2-3 folks here with telescope attachments. |
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08/11/2003 01:16:20 AM · #4 |
Jaxson,
I hope this helps and isn't too rudimentary but here goes:
I have connected my Canon EOS 10D up to my Celestron 113mm Newtonian. It gives a slightly brighter and closer image than my 300mm zoom lens. The difference is that in a telescope, the numeric value refers to the width of the aperture rather than the focal length of the lens.
You need a T-Mount adapter. These devices are based on the camera body. All they do is connect to the body and then screw into a barrel that fits into the eyepiece of the telescope. Expect to spend less than $20 for one of these.
If you want to do color photography you'll need some serious light-gathering power and it'll have to be equatorial mounted with some kind of drive so that you can keep the subject in the viewer for longer photos. Aperture size matters for different reasons in different types of telescopes. I'll try to rank the types of telescopes and how size and mounts affect what kind of astronomical photography you can expect.
Dobsonian - These are the cheapest per mm of aperture but they cannot be equatorial mounted and, thus, are useless for extended exposure without MAJOR $$$ or mechanical know how. You can get incredible views of local objects and good views of extra solar system objects but not for photography. These work on the principle of reflectors (mirrors).
Newtonian - This is a tradeoff between cost and volume of light. You can probably pickup a 114mm 'scope for less than $450 with a tripod and a drive but don't expect to take great photos (see my PBase gallery named Astronomy) without a LOT of patience and very long exposures. For any kind of colored photography of a nebula, you need something more along the lines of an 8"+ aperture with a Newtonian. These are very heavy and expensive at this size. These telescopes work on the principle of reflectors. You will look through a lens attached to the side of one of these scopes and you'll mount the camera to the side of one of these scopes. You can always decrease the field of view (magnify the image) with a Barlow lense but IMHO these tend to blur the image as well. With a Barlow and a 113mm Newtonian, I have seen the red spot on Jupiter but only faintly.
Refractors - Generally the highest quality image per mm of aperture but also the most expensive per aperture. These are the scopes that you see people looking through the end of the barrel up at the stars or planets, etc. These gems work on principles exactly like camera lenses. They use ground glass and elements to refract a large volume of light onto the viewing lens. These also are equatorial mounted so that almost any new refractor telescope will have a tracking motor and software to drive it so that you keep the subject in the viewing window for those extended shots. By way of comparison, a 113mm (4.5")refractor would give you light more along the lines of a 6" (or more) reflector telescope. The one thing to be careful about with these is that the camera body doesn't inhibit the tracking motor from turning the telescope barrel or tilting it up or down.
All-in-all, if you want to get into astro-photography, check out sites online (there are tons of them) and pick out some images that you would like to duplicate; then contact the photographer and ask what kind of equipment he/she used and how long that shot took to create. I did that AFTER my wife bought me a 'scope for a gift and we found out that some of the nebulae pictures require a 16" aperture Newtonian for 10+ minutes of exposure time. That's a TON of light gathering equipment. For more on this, you can see one of the local guys I've talked with briefly and what kind of equipment he has (//www.mindspring.com/~dhanon/).
I'm not trying to dissuade you, just want to make sure you have an honest equaluation before you go getting into another costly hobby. For instance, I never knew that the unaided human eye will not ever be able to distinguish color from nebulae or from almost any star with a telescope that you can cary and setup. About the most sensitive the human eye gets is that it can tell the yellows from the whites from the blues (sometimes). When you're picking out your telescope, I'd suggest a decent little handheld GPS as well because almost all the current software can configure your telescope and find heavenly targets but they have to know where the telescope is sitting. If you can feed the GPS coordinates into the scope you don't have to waste time each time you setup the scope on having the scope track down at least 3 different stars and then you confirm that you see them centered exactly in the viewfinder.
Anyway, this is a cool thing to do; its fun and its another challenging skill set but you probably need to find out much more about what equipment can and can't do before you snap a T-Mount onto your camera and start trying to photograph deep space objects.
Message edited by author 2003-08-11 01:17:18.
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08/11/2003 09:15:59 AM · #5 |
I'll stress what Jab said: find your local astronomy club. These guys are fanatics and in all of the clubs I know, there is someone there who is an expert at what you need--they even go so far as to make their own lenses and telescopes from scratch because they are better than the ones you buy!
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08/11/2003 10:15:13 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by dsidwell:
I'll stress what Jab said: find your local astronomy club. These guys are fanatics and in all of the clubs I know, there is someone there who is an expert at what you need--they even go so far as to make their own lenses and telescopes from scratch because they are better than the ones you buy! |
Yes what dsidwell said....some of these guys are into astronomy BIG time....I have seen some very cool set ups and home made telescopes (ATM's). Me im just a beginner and have been into it about a year now.
Also search for a "Star Party" in your area.
I went to the Texas Star Party back in April and saw some very interesting set ups for telescopes and camera connections. The people are very friendly and love to talk about their gadgeds and gizmos and what nots.
James
Almost every state has a BIG star party once a year. |
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08/11/2003 11:15:26 AM · #7 |
| Check out a company called Scopetronics. Their email is info@scopetronics.com |
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08/11/2003 03:57:05 PM · #8 |
| I have been using Nikon Coolpix 990 and 4500 with a Meade telescope for a couple of months now. In this case the camera shoots through an eyepiece, so you can get a lot more magnification than when mounting a camera directly via a t-adapter. Scopetronics, //www.scopetronics.com, is a great source. Product quality and customer service have both been excellent. |
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08/11/2003 10:53:29 PM · #9 |
Thanks everyone for your input. Very helpfull. I now have a much better idea of how & what to look for.
James |
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08/12/2003 06:56:51 PM · #10 |
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08/12/2003 07:12:55 PM · #11 |
If you get your telescope in time, I'll be looking for some good shots of Mars!
Originally posted by Jaxson:
I'm looking at buying a telescope which I can hopefully connect my camera to. My camera can take size 52mm filters, so any adapter for this size would be perfect. My only problem is I don't know anything about telescopes, so I don't know what size to ask for etc.
Has anyone had experience in this area? |
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08/12/2003 09:17:06 PM · #12 |
| A good book that has alot of info about how to choose a telescope, what accessories to get and how to get the most out of your purchase is 'The Backyard Astronomer's Guide'. |
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08/13/2003 09:10:06 PM · #13 |
That's the first thing I'll be doing with it :)
Originally posted by kavamama:
If you get your telescope in time, I'll be looking for some good shots of Mars!
Originally posted by Jaxson:
I'm looking at buying a telescope which I can hopefully connect my camera to. My camera can take size 52mm filters, so any adapter for this size would be perfect. My only problem is I don't know anything about telescopes, so I don't know what size to ask for etc.
Has anyone had experience in this area? |
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08/13/2003 09:15:42 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by pitsaman:
check this spacewar |
Thanks Kosta. Yeah the current Mars position is the main reason for purchasing a telescope now. Hopefully I'll get some good pics and then post them on here. |
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