Live View Canon in Movie Mode Question

[mikeyjames]

Hi all,
Yesterday I practiced during the day using my 5x Powermate to take some pics of the edge of the sun (to test focus) and found it worked very well if I connect the camera to a t-adapter and then into the Powermate, rather than using the Televue t-adapter for the Powermate (I think I'd need a 30cm extension tube to use it).

So last night I get Saturn looking good through the Powermate with a 40mm eyepiece (does that mean same as an 8mm eyepiece?). I use my 12.5mm reticle eyepiece to centre Saturn even though a bit blurred due to over magnification.

So far so good, and then I attach my camera in movie crop mode via the same way I had earlier in the day and live view shows me nothing. I check the aim again and Saturn is still centred, put the camera back and then nothing in live view again. I then switch to photo mode on the camera and Saturn is clear as day. Back to movie mode and nothing.

Any ideas why this is happening? Saturn looked nice and bright and I can't figure why I can't see anything in movie mode yet can see it perfectly in photo mode??:confused2:

Any :help: much appreciated.


Cheers
Mick

[Mickoid]

Mick, check your settings in movie mode. Your settings i.e Shutter speed and ISO sensitivity may not be set to enable Liveview to give you an image. Give the camera sensor more signal by increasing the ISO or reducing your shutter speed. Your camera settings may be set such that it does not give the sensor enough signal in this mode, that's why you may be getting discrepancies in the view between camera and movie mode. I usually have my movie mode set at around 1600 ISO and 60fps at a native f5 OTA to capture planets like Saturn. Saturn is way past opposition so it won't be very bright. Without knowing your telescope focal length and aperture, it's hard to say what's going on.

[mikeyjames]

Thanks Mick. I have an F5 8" Skywatcher Newtonian. I noticed yesterday when taking pics of the sun, to get a good exposure I needed to turn ISO down and shutter speed up to the point that live view stopped working but I was still able to use the view finder to focus.

I'll copy your settings and see how go.

Cheers
Mick

[Mickoid]

I hope you have a good solar filter fitted, I certainly wouldn't be focusing the sun through the view finder without one. You have the same scope as me, so I can tell you that when Saturn is at opposition, I can crank the magnification up to about 300X with a 9mm eyepiece and a 3X Barlow. I then shoot in crop mode at 1600ISO but as the weeks progress after opposition, I find I have to use a 12.5mm eyepiece to maintain the brightness, then having to up the ISO as well if needed. At 125X, your magnification will mean Saturn should be bright enough but very small. It's all about trial and error.

[mikeyjames]

Thanks Mick. Yes, I have a store bought Baader ND 5.0 filter for looking at the sun. I've made myself a Baader Astrosolar Photo Film (ND 3.8) and I'm well aware no looking, not even through view finder on the camera, live view only. What I d is use the ND 5.0 one to get focus and then swap them.

That said, I nearly had an accident yesterday (it won't happen again). I was practising setting up the mount and then checking how accurate I was by using the goto to find and track the sun. After lunch I set up and asked it to find the sun and nothing. I was really frustrated and reset everything and tried again, and nothing. I was very frustrated and remembered that I should be seeing blue not black. I then remembered I had put the end cap on the scope before my lunch break. cursing myself for being an idiot I reached around and ripped the cap off and immediately felt intense heat on my cheek and instantly realised what I had done and moved away. Very lucky I wasn't looking as I ripped the cap off or I'd be very likely blind in one eye today.

Anyway, I Guess I will keep going with the trial and error.

BTW - I just noticed that I have my live view set to simulate the exposure, so I'm wondering if I turn that off maybe it could help?

Cheers
Mick