Dslr or ccd, or both

[Woodgnome (David)]

As a newb, I'm confused as to the practical differences between using a dslr camera or ccd camera for viewing and astrophotography. I have a celestron nexstar 8se an canon 600d, but have not bought any t piece kit yet, as I wondered whether getting a web cam and modifying it might provide a better solution.

Any ideas?

David

[raymo]

As you will see from the post I just submitted, I am biased, but regardless of that the 8SE is not really suitable for long exposure
imaging, due to field rotation caused by the type of mount it employs.
The difference in imaging technique between CCDs and DSLRs is
quite large, CCDs requiring more time at the computer after acquiring the image. It's actually almost a different world, with different equipment, and to some extent, different jargon.
A webcam is a good starting point, and you can get great lunar and
planetary images with the 8SE. If you find you enjoy imaging, you can
get a more AP friendly scope further down the track.
raymo

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

you can use the video function on the 600d for planetary photography.
i'm not familiar with the nexstar but you could start off with 20 second exposures at ISO3200 on the brighter deep sky objects.

[Woodgnome (David)]

Originally Posted by raymo

As you will see from the post I just submitted, I am biased, but regardless of that the 8SE is not really suitable for long exposure
imaging, due to field rotation caused by the type of mount it employs.
The difference in imaging technique between CCDs and DSLRs is
quite large, CCDs requiring more time at the computer after acquiring the image. It's actually almost a different world, with different equipment, and to some extent, different jargon.
A webcam is a good starting point, and you can get great lunar and
planetary images with the 8SE. If you find you enjoy imaging, you can
get a more AP friendly scope further down the track.
raymo

Thanks Raymo,

I gathered there would be some differences. In general, for photos, I plan to use large numbers of short exposures, and stacking software for pre-processing, so hopefully the AZ mount won't prove too much of an issue.

I was wondering if anyone had used a DSLR for live viewing and image capture, when connected to a laptop, rather than a webcam. Given the Canon has a video function, I thought it might be able to the same task as the webcam, but with higher quality/faster response given the sensor is better.

Cheers,
David

[pluto (Hugh)]

If you want to use your 600D connected to your laptop then check out Backyard EOS. It has many great features that make using a DSLR for astrophotography much more intuitive.

Also your 600D has the crop video mode which is great for planetary/Lunar imaging.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

Woodgnome, here are some recent examples of what I've been doing with the 8SE on its single arm alt-az mount. Decent results are certainly possible, with persistence:

http://www.astrobin.com/users/Amaranthus/
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=120317

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

Originally Posted by Woodgnome

Thanks Raymo,

I gathered there would be some differences. In general, for photos, I plan to use large numbers of short exposures, and stacking software for pre-processing, so hopefully the AZ mount won't prove too much of an issue.

I was wondering if anyone had used a DSLR for live viewing and image capture, when connected to a laptop, rather than a webcam. Given the Canon has a video function, I thought it might be able to the same task as the webcam, but with higher quality/faster response given the sensor is better.

Cheers,
David

david you don't need to use a laptop with the 600d (although you can use backyard eos if you feel the need).

live view works well enough.

you can see my results with an alt-az setup for both planetary and deep sky. they were all taken with a 600d and no laptop (the photos taken through the scope that is).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80336656@N07/