My first ever capture, so now I have questions....

[Adam78]

So I’ve finally managed to find time and a clear night to test out my gear :) This is a single frame, 5 sec at iso 3200 - Sky Watcher 80mm Black diamond with Canon 80D. (Suburban Melbourne backyard)
My first questions are, is there an easier way to focus rather than using the viewfinder? I found this fairly awkward, as there was nothing at all visible on the LCD in live view (I was surprised by this). Also, is there a way to mount the camera to the diagonal? I found that I needed to mount directly to the tube in order to achieve focus, which made for an awkward angle through the viewfinder.
Thanks!
Looking forward to learning to stack!

[Atmos]

Welcome to the black art that is astrophotography!

Focusing with the viewfinder would be very difficult to say the least, the best way is to go into Live View and then zoom in on a star and get that as small and tight as possible.

You are best not imaging with a diagonal anyway. Going back to using live view and the back screen, some people get a DSLR that has a flip screen for this purpose.

You’ve made a good start :)

[that_guy]

You can also use capturing software like apt and use a usb cable for liveview on laptop monitor.

[bojan]

Focusing via live view (and zoom to bright(er) star) is the only option (for me).
Magnifier and Bahtinov mask helps a lot, see here, post #3 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=145306&highlight=life+easier), and here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=142768&highlight=magnifier).

[Mickoid]

Your 80d should have a fully articulated LCD screen which means you can have the screen facing you for comfortable focussing, no matter what angle the camera is pointing. Good effort for using your optical viewfinder this time. Make sure your settings are letting enough light in for Liveview, it will be near impossible to see anything but the brightest star if they're not. I set my camera on the longest shutter speed and widest aperture at no less than 1600 ISO to make Livescreen usable for night photography. Good luck, the fun ( or frustration ) is just beginning!

[Adam78]

Thanks to all - some great advice here! :)

[pfitzgerald]

All of the above advice is good Adam - especially using a Bahtinov mask (they're not too hard to make yourself) and live view on your laptop using EOS utilities.

I'd also recommend joining the ASV and/or attending an Astro Camp like Snake Valley in March.

All the best, and welcome aboard.

Paul

PS here's a link to making a Bahtinov mask for your own scope.
http://astrojargon.net/maskgen.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSu pport=1
http://www.deepskywatch.com/Articles/make-bahtinov-mask.html