Jupiter/Saturn/kodak-easyshare....

[asimov]

Hi All.

Some recent shots of the gas giants.. 12.5" newt/.965"9mm unitron symmetrical EP.Kodak easyshare DSLR 3.1meg full-zoom. 1 image,no stacking.

[acropolite]

Nice shots John, judging by those results it would be worth taking several shots and stacking. :D

[h0ughy]

great stuff, just imagine what you'd do with a 99 dollar cheapy! put the rest of us to shame :2thumbs:

[asimov]

Just wait till I actually get to drive this damn scope! [one of these years]

:D

[5ash]

Great pictures , were they the best shots or the only shots ? It looks as if some simple image processing could bring out a lot of amazing detail. It would be fascinating to see what extra detail would be revealed They look full of promise.Keep up the good work.
philip

[asimov]

Thanks for all your nice comments guys. I must have at least 50 shots of Jupiter, probably 15 are close to being the same quality as the one displayed here. Saturn, well that is definately the best one. Unfortunately the kodak wont fire off enough shots before planet rotation...I'm only really passing the time with it until I get myself a CCD.

Thanks again.

[[1ponders]]

Run 'em through registax anyway John. You might get a pleasant surprise.

[ballaratdragons]

That's all I use Houghy. A $99 Cheapie and Kodak Easyshare! My new camera is the Kodak Easyshare CX7310 Pocket Camera. Can't do long exposures, nothing!!

Well done Asimov!

[asimov]

You got any pics in here taken with the kodak to do a comparison Ken?

[ballaratdragons]

Yep. I'll just go find them. Hang on.

[asimov]

Just found your moon shots.....Pretty damn good for being hand-held!!

[asimov]

Your camera have the maximum 4 sec time exposure too hey? A real Pain!

[ballaratdragons]

Yeah, was just gonna put those moon shots in. Here they are anyway
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=2178&highlight=afocal+moon

4 seconds!!!! Mine is 2 seconds MAX!

Now I will go find the joop shot I took with my daughters camera (identical to mine).

[ballaratdragons]

Here it is John,

My best Joop yet. I was only using a 2" 30mm Superview EP. Haven't had the weather to get close-up and dirty since I bought my Barlow.

What model is your camera?

[asimov]

Yeah! that extra 2 secs REALLY gives me the edge over ya! :rofl:

I may break out with my moon shots N stun you's all!:eyepop: HA!

[ballaratdragons]

Show me, Show me!!!!

[asimov]

Not a bad joop at all ken....I have the same EP but I ain't been game to fire it off in the vicinity of jupiter yet, figuring it would probably look like crap....I have the DX6340...wasn't even thinking of astrophotography when I bought it...just a family snapper. But I must say I'm impressed with the quality of the pics it takes. Macro shots are marvellous threw it.[flowers/insects etc].. Good for the planets too. DSOs are out though. Although, the orion neb. comes out ok with 4 secs. {just}...

[asimov]

here's one just to whet ur appetite! I gotta re-size the others a bit...gimmee 2 mins.

[ballaratdragons]

MACRO!!!

Unfair. The only features I have are 5X zoom (only good to 2.5X), up to 2 seconds exposure, Black&White and Sepia Mode, and a 10 second delay timer for self portraits. That's it! But I am having fun with it, that's all that matters.

[asimov]

A couple more for you...Sorry but there's no close-ups.[well there's 1 at least] Will do me some high mag. shots soon though.....

[ballaratdragons]

John,

As my son Jake would say . . . Cooly Awesome!

I love the detail especially around the terminator. Pic 1, 3 & 4 are outstanding :thumbsup:

You must have good quality EP's. Mine are 3 crappy Series 500's, one good Unmarked 9mm and my terrific 2" 30mm GS Superview.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and my 2" GS 2x Barlow.

[asimov]

Mate...your gonna laugh yer head off! Their all taken with 30 year old .965" EPs!...KELLNERS! Just bought a whole nother set off a mate of mine...& everyone thinks I'm crazy!

EDIT:oh year.. One of those shots was with a symmetrical [.965]

[ballaratdragons]

I ain't gonna laugh. I still occasionally use my 20 y.o. Kmart .965" Huygenians. I made an adaptor so they fit in the focuser. 2 are very good and 1 is crap coz the sun melted it!

I was told that F5 Dobs of large aperture (and not many other scopes) love Huygenians. Something to do with radius of curvature of f5 mirror and curvature of Huygenians being a match.

So, not so crazy!!

[ballaratdragons]

Here they are on the right in this pic! A couple of bucks each at Kmart!

[asimov]

Here's my collection....The set of .965s I just bought are not in the shot though...

[asimov]

I get a LOT of coma if I try to use a .965" Huygenian...& mines F5 as well....hmmm. Interesting.

edit..If it's smack in the centre of the FOV they would be ok for photography....The less lens in a EP the better..

[ballaratdragons]

Well John,

I think we should be an inspiration to newbies (even some oldbies).

We have proven that you don't need a lot of money to start out in Astrophotography!

Just a basic cheapie pocket digital camera and almost any kind of EP's and click, click hand-held and away you go! I didn't expect the results I have gotten so far. They are nowhere near the big guns but at least I can take Space piccies with what I have got.

Go for it newbies or anyone without a camera.:2thumbs:

[asimov]

If you mount the camera onto your scope, you'll get even better results! Yes, I tried to tell some of the boys in CN about 'shoe-string' budget astrophotography....to no avail..gotta have the best etc etc.

[asimov]

Hey! I know what I'm gonna do! get the box brownie out man!

[ballaratdragons]

Hehe!

I started making a mount that Phil showed me but I keep making changes to it. None of the original is left and it is nothing like the original. I keep simplifying the way it mounts onto the EP. I will finish it soon.

Total cost of parts, Zero.

[asimov]

THAT'S what I like to see!...total cost: ZILCH! I have a few posts kicking about on here to show people how to do some things on the cheap....most agree, some dont..read my cheshire collimation post if you want a laugh!

[ballaratdragons]

I will.

Here are pics of our cameras so people know what models we are talking about.

My little Kodak CX7310 is on the left and Johns Kodak DX6340 on the right.

[asimov]

Yep! That's them. Now if they just had decent time exposures on them.....my one & only DSO!! [& another 'big-joop'].....965" EPs naturally!

[ballaratdragons]

Read collimation post. LOL! I've got a Cheshire.

Luckily it was only $29 from Andrews. I been using the film cannister method and it always seemed spot-on but Cheshire proved me wrong. I wasn't too far out though.

I also stuck a 'cheap or free' idea in here. About a Zero Mag Quickfinder-scope. Don't know if anyone has tried to make one yet but mine works OK. Cheap is good!

Here it is for those that forgot about making one.

[asimov]

Yeah. Must admit I would like to get a cheshire, just to confirm some suspisions...Yep, read your post about the finder! Nice one. I'm about to get booted..[10 hr max. care of bigpond]...I certainly have enjoyed our little chat Ken! I'll see-ya around! :thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

John, Those pics are brilliant.

Pay attention everyone . . . Cheapies can even do DSO's! :eyepop:

[h0ughy]

just saw both of your posts, come on guys nearly 2 am! I have never seen such a case of mine is worse than yours ;) for quite some time! to actually admidt that you have the 0.96ers is a tragedy! :rofl:

[ballaratdragons]

Houghy,

Remember the saying that gets mentioned in here a lot! The best stuff is the stuff that gets used!!

Wanna buy some Kmart EP's, only $20 each. :D

[h0ughy]

funny you say that i may know of a bloke who may want some :rofl: :thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

The price just went up! :D

[ving]

LMAO!!!
you guys crack me up!

hey ken, can you show me a pic of your .96 adapter? I have some old EPs that I wouldnt mind chucking in the dob :)

[ballaratdragons]

Yes David.

It is a plastic paint roller attachment. It is an 'OATES' brand.

It starts out twice as long as shown with half of it threaded to screw into a paint roller handle. The half you use to put the EP in is normally for a broom handle etc. to go into. It has a small hole in the side normally to screw or nail it to the broom stick.

Cut the threaded section off, place a small screw into the hole and BINGO! It is now ready to use.

The screw holds the EP nice and tight and stops the whole thing dissappearing down inside the focuser.

See pics below. The EP is a 20 y.o. Kmart 20mm Huygenian.

[ving]

thanks ol' buddy! :D
simple... the EP doesnt get clapmed in?

[ving]

oops... disregard that post :P

[ballaratdragons]

It is an adaptor. The EP slides comfortably inside the holder and the screw is to stop it falling out (like any other EP holder) and the holder fits perfectly inside a 1.25" focuser just like an EP.

[ving]

yup, yup.. got it. just having a slow moment :P

[ballaratdragons]

David,

Have you made your .96" adaptor yet?