#1  
Old 23-09-2005, 11:37 AM
josh's Avatar
josh (Luke)
luke

josh is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Mullumbimby{near Byron}
Posts: 126
Question Is my camera up to it?

Hey folks
All going well with the new scope. I just wanted to ask if you think my digital camera is worth buying the adapters for. Its a nikon coolpix 4300. Can do exp up to one minute and its highest iso is 400. Ive been trying it out on planitary {held to eyepiece} a bit and i think it will be fine for that. Just not sure if i should spend the cash on the adapters or think about saving it for an slr. Do many of you use digis or do you outgrow their capabilities to quickly to bother with them.

Thanks for any advice, im in no rush
See ya
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 23-09-2005, 06:19 PM
acropolite's Avatar
acropolite (Phil)
Registered User

acropolite is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Launceston Tasmania
Posts: 9,019
Any camera can be used Josh, all you need is some adapters. DSLR's, especially the Canons, have far superior noise performance and that's their main advantage. The cost of adapters is insignificant compared to the cost of a DSLR and you still need adapters with the DSLR. Shop around for the adapters though, I bought mine from the US for half the cost of the locally sourced items and a better product as well.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 24-09-2005, 11:52 AM
fringe_dweller's Avatar
fringe_dweller
on the highway to Hell

fringe_dweller is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 2,623
Hi Josh, ditto what Phil said there.
The 4300 or any in the Coolpix range are less than ideal for deep sky work - DSLR's at prime focus or cooled astro dedicated CCD's are the best at that job. The DSI's webcammy things are popular too i see. But some CP's (or just about any P&S fixed lens digicams) arent bad for afocal planetary work (especially full disc moon/sun in a single shot (non-mosiac)- something that webcams cant do) and widefield normal nightsky stuff, as you have probably found. My two CP's are VERY noisy in long exposures.
The only CP's I saw half decent DSO stuff from was the ones with raw mode, including CP 4500's with the russian RAW mode hack - but even they werent super wild, very much on par with the DSI stuff in final outcome appearance.
heres a lady who uses a nikon cp 4300 for afocal work and wide field - (some of these pics in this gallery are from a film camera)
http://www.spacew.com/gallery/image004956.html
Kearn
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 24-09-2005, 11:59 AM
josh's Avatar
josh (Luke)
luke

josh is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Mullumbimby{near Byron}
Posts: 126
Thanks for the advice hhmmm...what to do...
Better do some more research. My gilfriend has a pretty good slr, could try that. I think my generation has been ruined by digital. Dont think im up to using film anymore. I wanna see my pics now
Better check the money jar {hope she's not looking}
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 24-09-2005, 03:21 PM
fringe_dweller's Avatar
fringe_dweller
on the highway to Hell

fringe_dweller is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 2,623
Mate its all about fun number #1 (it has to be coz there is little or no money in it - so it cant be for any other reason? LOL) and maybe personal satisfaction #2? you could swap these two around maybe. if you get those two things from your 4300 than that is all that matters. I dont want to be responsible for discouraging anyone from trying things. I love my CP 4500 for afocal moon/sun/planetary stuff - no lap top required - simple - i will never stop using it for certain jobs.
But then if you want to kick butt for Bigtime Glory and mass peer admiration in close-up hubblesque shots - then you need a quite a few money jars to raid.
I used to be a luddite widefield film only hard head - but I have changed my tune greatly in the last few years. quality film slr bodies are a dime a dozen these days - it would be a cheaper short term option maybe? - till you get your new digital set-up. you need dark skies to use film generally tho - hard to remove LP from film shots - if not impossible.
Could you post a link to the type of images you would like to be taking - that would give us a better idea of the direction you want to head in.
Kearn
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 24-09-2005, 10:36 PM
josh's Avatar
josh (Luke)
luke

josh is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Mullumbimby{near Byron}
Posts: 126
Thanks Kearn
At the moment im just trying to get a good shot of anything. Messing around with mars and the moon. Of course i have dreams of getting shots like the ones i see in mags. You know those big bright galaxies. But i guess that aint happening for quite awhile.A got a quote for a digi t adapter..$150! Thinking about getting that adapter for my cp{seems like alot} and learn with that for some time. Ill post my first shots in a few days if the weather holds out.
Wish me luck
See ya
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 12:46 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement