Astrophotography books

[Rohan]

Hey,

I'm just about to get my first telescope and soon after would like to get into astrophotogrpahy. I will most likly get a canon 350d in the next year to pursue this hobby.

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a good book (ie. idiots guide to astrophotogrpahy) that will get me started on all the jargin and methods. It would be useful if it also had a chapter or a few on general photogrpahy with an SLR as well. many thanks.

[ving (David)]

I have a book here at work called "astrophotography for the amateur" by michael covington.
it looks ok but deals only with film. I have only flipped thru it tho.

[gbeal]

Rohan,
I fear that the new age digital stuff will not be covered all that well just yet.
Wait until you get the camera, and cast about for one then.
To be honest I reckon trial and error, (OK, lotsa error) is the way.
With digital it doesn't matter, apart from the failure syndrome, so just try it, and try it again.
There are plenty of knowledgeable folk, who are only too pleased to help, on this forum, so tap into them when the time comes.
If there is someone in your neighbourhood that has one, or is using one, rub shoulders with them, it is THE way to learn.
Gary

[rowena]

and the great thing with digital, you can take as many phots as you want, and if u don't like what you have taken u can delete it and try again without having to wait for processing of the film!!!


rowena

[Rohan]

thanks for the info. Guess what i'm really after thou is something to teach me about camera basics, ie f ratios or whateva they are called, ISO levels, exposure. I'm abit of a noob. But i guess a film book would prob cover all that. Thanks again.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

I would recommend vings suggestion of "Astrophotography for the Amateur". Yes its mainly about film photography but alot of the fundamental photography principle remain the same., either film or digital. Particularly on differnt ways to use a cameral to get those ellusive shots. It's still pretty much my bible and will be until Gary's point comes about, ie unavailability of information.

[Rohan]

Picked up the book metioned at BINTEL on saturday, managed to get them to chuck it in free with my $3500 purchase. So far its a great read.

[silvinator]

Hi Rohan, another great astrophotography book I would definitely recommend is "Wide Field Astrophotography" by Robert Reeves. As the title suggests, this lets you into the foray of wide field shots, so you don't necessarily need a telescope to start out with. It tells you all about what you need to get started in asotrphotography with just a simple SLR camera and a tripod. It also goes into piggyback photography and then into the more advanced deep sky stuff. There is a wealth of info about films, apertue and exposure settings etc, all which would apply to digital photography as well (the techniques are the same, just that digital requires a slightly different setup than film cameras). It has similar concepts as Astrophotography for the Amateur (which I also have and is also a great book) but it is still a wonderful book to learn from.

[ving (David)]

I might try and get that book for the library silvie.
Thnx

[gbeal]

So what was the $3500 purchase then????????

[silvinator]

I just stumbled across some news on Robert Reeves' website (author of wide field astrophotography) and he is releasing a brand spanking new book called "Introduction to digital astrophotography" this May. Here is his website: robert reeves website.
Just scroll down a bit to find the news. The table of contents for this new book looks very promising. Very tempted to pre-order this.

[Rohan]

$3500 purchase =

1 * Meade LX90 LNT
4 * eyepieces
5 * filters
1 * Barlow
1 * piggy back
1 * dew shield
1 * dew zapper
1 * AC power adaptor.
1 * free astronomy book