Firts shots LX90. ( Moon on 24th )

[Nico13]

Hi all,

Recently back into some star gazing after a long break and a now after purchasing a second hand LX90 8" ( I was told this was a 25 year old scope ) and building a pier for it I managed to snap a couple of the moon on last Thursday evening.

Although I don't have a camera adapter for it yet I held my Pentax K20D with an ill fitting T mount to the scope for a prime focus shot and a eye piece projection just to see how the camera responded more than anything and was quite suprised with the outcome.

Hope you like them, it has inspired me to get the setup completed.

Nico.

[Quark]

Well done Ken,

You should be well pleased with your first efforts, most respectable indeed.

Regards
Trevor

[Nico13]

Thanks Trevor,

I'm looking forward to getting the rest setup fully.

Nico.

[multiweb]

That is very nice indeed. :thumbsup: I like your setup too. Very neat.

[byronpaul]

Nico,

love the depth of field shot of the scope on the pier ..:thumbsup:.. excellent !!!!

Can you clarify how you took the moon shots. Did you simplying hold the camera manually against the eyepiece projection unit? What eyepiece did you put in the eyepiece projection unit? How did you achieve prime focus (much effort)? What camera settings did you use?

I basically have the same scope and am about to try some very basic astrophotography. Although at this stage I'll be using the std Meade mount and not an EQ mount so I'll have limited exposure capabilities.

Regards,
Paul

[mswhin63]

Great shots, the kind I would like to acheive one day when i get the money.

[Nico13]

Thanks Paul,

Yes Photography is my main passion and my daughter is a professional photographer as a result of my interest.
I've just got back into astro stuff as mentioned so still setting up but I don't have a big budget for it.

The setup I used first for prime focus is as follows

Prime focus.
DSLR Pentax K20 with lens removed and a "T" mount adaptor fitted but with a smaller fitting that did not fit the 2" eye piece holder well.
Eye piece removed from the 90 deg diagonal holder.

So camera with T adaptor slid right into the eye piece holder and hand held as I couldn't fasten it due to incorrect size so a lose fit.

Focus was achieved with the main focus adjuster

Camera settings were ISO 320 @ 1/160th shutter, no f stop as no lens fitted.

Scope was being driven with the Meade Autostar so I had to hold the weight of the camera as it wasn't fastened or balanced for it. Shutter was fast enough to allow for this setup.

Eye Piece Projection.

Exactly the same setup only with the telescope eye piece still fitted.
I think I had a 20mm eye piece in but would have to check on that.

One caution is the eye piece fits up inside the adaptor tube so you must make sure that it doesn't foul the camera mirror operation.

See the picture of the 2" to T ring adaptor, this is what I have to get and it fits the T mount for your particular camera. Both items are available from the Bintel shop.

One other thing there is an adjustable base for the std Meade mount that allows you to tilt the fork mount and effectivly turning it into an EQ style of mount.

Hope this helps

Nico.

[Nico13]

Thanks Mark and you also Malcolm, comments appreciated.

Nico.

[byronpaul]

Nico,

thanks for the feedback :thanx:

Very useful information :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:.

Regards,
Paul