humble beginnings...

[lark2004]

Well here is my first attempt at using a camera on telescope at night...http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c168/lark2004/moontele1.jpg

I am using a Kson 4inch newtonian prime focusing a Canon 400D. I don't have much spare cash to throw at this hobby and the whole setup owes me less than $200 (thanks to Cash Converters and my job which allows me to scout around all the Brisbane stores...)

[raymo]

You'd be surprised by what you can achieve with your setup.
Good first try. DSLRs are not normally favoured for lunar work
because of mirror and shutter vibration, but you can minimise
the problem by using higher ISO and therefore higher shutter
speeds. Focus is critical in astro work; it has to be spot on.
raymo

[lark2004]

Thanks for the feedback Raymo. I have a lot to learn... I tried some wide field shots last night too, but they were less than impressive...

[Rex]

Hi Andrew, well done on your first shots mate. Don't be shy about it mate, we all started somewhere, and most of us started out in the same place you are at now. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, it's a fast slippery slope but lots of fun.

[raymo]

Hi again Andrew. When posting pics it is good to include details of the
gear and settings used, in order to help members to help you.
raymo

[ZeroID]

OK, so the widefield is not such a success obviously but your moon shot is a dang good start. My first scope was a 4.5' Newt and most scopes used for astro pix are even smaller, 80mm Refractors of various sorts.
As Raymo says if you want help give us plenty of info to work on and don't be afraid to ask. I don't think anyone on here bites :question:.

The Moon shot is well exposed, features visible and nice terminator where the light meets the dark. Best place to explore features. Not too sure on focus or scale as pic is not large. The Moon and planets are normally videod and stacked to eliminate air turbulence effects so single shots can be lucky or not so lucky with the seeing.

Your widefield is obviously not tracking so you will get trails as it shows. Normally widefields would be done with just a normal photo lens, no scope. You can get longer exposures that way as movement is minimal and 20-30 seconds will give you more of those elusive photons. The narrower the field, as through your scope the more apparent the movement is.

Is your scope on a EQ type mount ?

[rustigsmed]

hi Andrew,

nice start with the moon.
widefield was done through the telescope? you might want to try with the regular lens you should be able to get some good milky way shots.

cheers,

rusty

[lark2004]

thanks for the reply's. The widefield was done with my Canon 400d, and a 28-80 zoom lens. I had it backed out to 28mm. I've been reading as much as I can and a couple of things jump to mind that didn't help me... The main one being that I didn't have the mirror lockup turned on, so the camera might have moved a little when I pressed the button (I am using a remote cable). As for mounting, I did pickup an EQ2 mount from Astropete's a few months ago when he had them on sale, I still need to get my hands on a motor for it though.

[raymo]

You don't say how long the exposure was, but I am assuming that
you have star trailing. Mirror lock up is not the cause of your problem.
raymo

[lark2004]

sorry, the exposure time was 30 seconds for each frame. Ten frames in total put together in Deep Sky Stacker.

[raymo]

Hi again Andrew. Firstly, your pic is huge. I had to reduce the screen
mag on my laptop to 24% to get the whole pic. At that mag the star trailing disappears. A 30 sec exposure should show a lot of detail, so I'm guessing that you have the lens stopped down to it's minimum aperture. Try it with the lens one stop down from wide open. If it's max is f/ 3.5, set it to f/4. I assume that you have the camera on manual, setting the aperture and
shutter speed yourself. What ISO setting were you using? ISO 800 is a good starting point. I suggest that you leave stacking for now. Get your basic astro imaging working reliably before moving on to the next step. I have no idea of your level of expertise with a camera, so forgive me if I am trying to teach grandma to suck eggs.
raymo

[OzStarGazer]

The moon pic is very nice for being your first one!

[lark2004]

thanks Raymo, I have been taking photo's for a while (closeups of flowers has been my favorite...) , just new at astrophotograhpy, so any advise is well received. I'll try again as soon the rain goes away.