Attaching Camera (dSLR or Regular Digi) to Telescope

[evoo73]

Hi
I was wondering if anybody could help me to attach my camera to a telescope (for little or no price)

I have a:
Pentax k10d dSLR
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3
Orion Skyquest xt6.0 Dobsonian

I know there are adapters or like certain rings used to attach them to the telescope but is there some way I can make my own? With like a film canister or something?
Also if I were to buy one where can I find them/Cost?

Cheers
E

[erick]

Best if you explain a bit more about what you want to photograph?

Have you read this article? http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-201-0-0-1-0.html

[Terry B]

At the very least you need some sort of bayonet to mount the SLR camera on. Most people us a T mount that is relatively cheap. You then have to connect the 42mm threat on the back of the T mount to the focusser of the scope. You can make adaptors but unless you are good with such things then buying an adaptor that connects your focusser to the T mount is an easy solution.

[erick]

I asked, because if you want snaps of the moon or Venus, you can point your lens at the eyepiece, focus and click away - afocal will be free.

[Barrykgerdes]

If you want to be successful at taking photos through the telescope the camera needs to be stably attached to the telescope so that it can be accurately focused etc. This really requires a properly made adaptor called a "T" ring. You could of course make your own if you have a good workshop like I have but I would not even try as I can purchase a "T" ring for around $35 that is exactly what you need for your specific camera.

I bought one yesterday from The B & T shop in Glebe.

Barry

[trance12007]

Barry,

When you mention T ring is that one that has a aperture mechanism built it?

Also with the aperture option, does anyone have any experience with them? As in are they worth it?

[mswhin63]

First thing to get is the adaptor like this one - https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=5558 you will need to confirm connectivity to your camera, Canon and Nikon are the 2 most popular so there is something for nearly all models, Pentax not sure.

Second you will need - https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=7403 and join this to the adaptor.

You are then ready for prime focus photgraphy which is the clearest way to image.

One thing to be careful of is your scope as this method make back focus quite long and it may not be possible to acheive focus. In my case my DOB can a screw 1.25" adaptor that allow the adptor the first item to conenct directly to the 1.25" adaptor. My back focus is acheivable but only have a few mm left of travel.

Using both items you will need a barlow, not a powermate as a Barlow will acheive focus better. A powermate from what I read does not alter the back focus (In Theory).

My next purchace is a powermate and will prove is disprove this theory.

Finally you will more than likely not acheive the best image taking snapshots of Venus because it is close to rising heat from the sun rising and will cause massive atmospheric turblence in the image. High Frame rate (10FPS and higher) would acheive better images after processing.

The above setup will allow you to attempt deepsky as long as you have a stable mount for long exposures.

Seeing you have the camera, have a good time, it is adictive.

Good luck

[niko]

E,

I read here that you have a dob so long exposures would be out unless you mount thetelescope to a tracking mount.

Some of the best pictures of the moon I have taken were done holding a simple point and click digi camera up to the eyepiece on a dob and moving it in and out till I got focus and then clicking away - as mentioned this is afocal photography and was free.

You can get a mount to hold your digicamera up to the eyepiece - between $40 and $70 fro memory but in my experience they were pretty fiddly - the brackets attach to the scope around the eyepiece and then you mount the camera to the platform on them and can slide it in and out for focus.

If you're after moon shots try afocal first. In my humble opinion too, walk before you run. Astrophotography is great fun but can be terribly frustrating and expensive. We are often suckered into believeing we can take great shots because we see so many amazing shots here and elsewhere on the web - it is of course possible but takes lots of patience, the right gear and plenty of practice.

I guess you could try prime focus - explained in other posts here - that requires the T adaptor etc of something like Orion - I have seen some pretty reasonable 4 sec exposures at 3200 ISO recently.

cheers and good luck - post a shot when you nab one!

niko

[mswhin63]

I just started a site for myself with all my photos, I do have a mount; a prototype EQ Platform, needs a lot of work but have manage one longer exposure work. Best suited at the moment for bright objects. Am getting some to take on some aspects of the new prototype which I hope will provide more accuracy.

All of the images are done using my DOB, Platform, 450D and Webcam - http://www.waelect.com.au/mswhin63/Malcolm%20Whinfield%20Astro%20Photo graphy/

Enjoy