Help with CCD imaging system

[maksutover]

Hi all! hope everyones well and enjoying better weather than in sydney:P

As you can probably tell from the title, i wanted to move into astrophotography but i must admit that im a complete beginner and have no clue on how to go about it. Ive been looking around and saw there are a few low cost easy to use ccd imagers such as the LPI, NexImage or the Starshoot. But im also interested in the Toucam system since ive read that it delivers good quality for both planetary and DSO use and its moderately cheap compared to systems like the DSIs.
Primarily i want to start with planets but i also want to do some east nebulas such as orion.

Please give me some insight based on your experiences with any of the systems out there.

Cheers :)

[matt]

ToUcam....

Simple as that.

Best on planets of all the cams you've listed, and modded will also deliver acceptable results on DSO. Have a look at the work of Ken James (Ballaratdragons) for what can be achieved with a modded ToUcam.

All the others you've listed will do one or the other, planetary or DSO, but not both. They are certainly not as versatile as the ToUcam:)

LPI and NexImage don't come close to ToUcam for planets.

[maksutover]

cool... But the way i see it is the Toucam has to be modified and cant simply be bought from a shop. Or can it ?!? The conversion to long exp requires some electronics mod'ing also which i dont think i can handle. How did you aquire your toucam system?

[matt]

You can buy a modded Toucam. All the hard work done for you:)

I think telescopes-astronomy.com.au is the place for you?

There are plenty of places to buy a ToUcam.

[maksutover]

thanks matt. Ill contact them and see what they have in store.

Cheers.

[maksutover]

Ive got another question which comes naturally for a beginnner like me,.. What software can be used if one uses the ToUcam system? Is there a software which can undertake the filtering and corrections along with image stacking?

Cheers.

[bojan]

Registax for stacking :-)
http://www.astronomie.be/registax/

[[1ponders]]

You are looking at two entirely different kettle of fish here. It true you can do DSO work with the ToUcam and GStar etc, and there have been some truely remarkable images taken with them. I would like to offer an alternate point of view though.

ToUcam definately for planetary for starting out. But keep your eye out for a second hand Canon 300D or 350D for DSOs. I haven't checked but I would be surprised if you couldn't pick up a second hand 300D for around $400 - $500. The 300D will give you a much higher quality image than a ToUcam (which is around $270 for the modded) or GStar. Plus you will get a much wider field of view. Plus you can do widefield with the lenses that come with it, no need to get adapters and buy more lenses.

JMO

[matt]

Paul's on the money, if you're happy to buy 2 cameras.

My advice was based on the belief you were looking for just the one relatively inexpensive camera to get you 'in the game'.:)

As I said, the ToUcam is more a planetary cam than DSO (in terms of results), but you can still get a feel for DSO with it.

[gbeal]

The two wise monkeys here have really covered it all.
ToUcam for lunar/planetary, and 300/350D for DSO, simple.

[maksutover]

Thanks for your input guys. Im certainly a pure beginner and only wishing to "get in the game" as put by matty. So i think the toUcam is the more wise choice here, Also i wont have the money to afford a digital SLR :P.

So i take it that no one thinks the commertially made eyepiece cameras like the LPI are a good idea??? And also is it better to buy the camera and the adaptor from ebay or get one from telescope-astronomy ?

Cheerios.

[matt]

Yes. You can get yourself a ToUcam off ebay (often cheaper) or from a vendor such as Telescopes-Astronomy.

You can also keep an eye out for them 2nd hand on astromart.com

[DJVege]

Hi,

I got my TouCam Pro II from sino_3axis (http://myworld.ebay.com.au/sino_3axis) off ebay for $90 including shipping (not modded). Telescopes-astronomy sell it for $145. The long exposure modification is $140. It's a great cam. Never had a cam before where you could adjust the framerate under 1fps.

Cheers.