Newbie help on budget astrophotography setup

[jonathandael]

Hi guys,

I have lots of questions and I hope you could pass me down some of your knowledge and expertise. :D

I'm a serious amateur photographer who has already tried almost all photographic fields except for some serious astrophotography. I've already taken a few pictures of some comets, eclipses, and planets with my dslr setup but want to take it a step further with automated tracking for more exposure time.

Some of my astro work can be seen here --> http://jonathandael.multiply.com/

The system I'm using currently is Nikon with a few good normal and tele primes (600 f/4) and a few teleconverters. I have a medium sized carbon fiber tripod (Feisol) good enough to handle the weight of the 600mm, which i plan to still use for my astro shots.

As I will be on a tight budget, I was hoping for some suggestions on the best bang-for-the-buck motorised mount, guider, and other important accessories which i can connect to a computer to automate my shots. Looks like i may need a new plate also for my 600mm lens to match a particular mount. Any member here using a similar setup before?

Oh, I may also need some tips on shooting and processing the images. I've read that you need to shoot a couple of dark frames (subs?) to lessen noise. What's the best software that does that? Maybe you could
list some cool software which I can use to improve my images. :)

Thanks in advance! I'm from Sydney and live in Dee Why.. Any member here who live nearby who's willing to mentor a newb?;)
I want to take images of nebulae and other interesting deep sky objects..

Cheers!
Jon

[higginsdj]

Do I take it the you will just have your camera and lens (plus guider) mountef on the motorised mount?

What kind of automation are you after? What level of automation? At one end you have ACP + MaxIm DLCCD to script your targets, point ,image, calibrate etc - the level of automation is up to you with software costs ranging from around $1000 up. (this offers up to full automation)

There are cheaper options but they will incur more user intervention.

Cheers

[bmitchell82]

Looks like you have pretty much everything your going to need already.

It depends on if you just want to use your cameras with their lens's but as you have a 600 f/4 you have very nice little lense to do some good widish field shots.

Your running on a budget and want to use your camera so, go with a HEQ5. Get yourself a 9 x 50 Finder scope, Qhy5 ccd for a guide camera, and a side by side plate to mount the camera and the finder scope to guide.

1000 for the mount
300 for the guider
another 100 - 200 to get the side by side + adaptor machined up.

That would be the best situation. there are short cuts and things you can change.

[DavidTrap]

You're asking an extremely complex question that really can't be answered quickly! Not trying to discourage you, but you need to realise that you'll be disappointed with your results if you don't put some research into this before committing dollars.

My best advice would be to find a local astronomy club - see if they have weekends away and go to one of these to see what people are using for astrophotography. Better to see such a setup in the flesh rather than try to work it out from an internet post.

I agree with Brendan's suggestions of equipment. Please don't think you will be able to assemble the necessary gear to take GUIDED exposures for <$1000. The majority of astrophotography setup being used on IIS would be $2-5K. Some of the high-end setups would break $20K

There are some limitations on shooting with a Nikon (I have tried) - eg max 30sec exposures when controlled via a computer. You may find it easier to buy a timer remote (ebay for $30) and use that to control your exposures for as long as you want, as well as taking a series of images. There are also many free software options (eg. DeepSkyStacker) rather than Maxim DL if you just want to dabble.

Cheers
DT

[jonathandael]

Thanks, David. Yeah, i want to start out with what i have at the moment.. and just add a few essentials to get those sharp longer exposures. I don't necessarily need something that advanced as scripting targets. :)

[jonathandael]

Thanks, Brendan for giving me a workable shortlist.. I'll definitely check them out. :)

[jonathandael]

Hi David, thanks for your inisght. I understand this needs a lot of research and I'm trying my best to gather and decipher all this new technical astro jargon, shortcuts and product codes which look 'alien' to me and so overwhelming. That's why i decided to ask for some tips which i hope could be simple enough to get me started. :D So far, the responses (including yours) look feasible and i hope i receive more responses and options.

I'll definitely take note of your suggestion to find a local club and see first hand what they're using. And since you pointed it out, I may just end up
using a remote than using Nikon's camera control software.

[higginsdj]

I should ppint out that hardware is all well and good but you need software to drive it. MaxIm DLCCD is pretty much the standard as an all in one package (and you can add to it to expand you imaging capabilities. Get the software first as a guider won't help you unless there is something to control it.

Cheers

[bmitchell82]

There is more software out there that you can poke a stick at and a lot of free. For a start don't worry about the software as we can get you rolling once you have made some decisions.

I will support what David suggested that getting into astro photography will require some outlay to do it correctly, but in saying that if you do it correctly your life will be easy.

Keep the questions flowing as there is a wealth of knowledge out there.!

[DavidTrap]

Maxim is good (I use it), but introductory DSLR imaging can be performed without it, eg: camera control with a timer remote; image capture to the flash card; guiding with PHD (donationware); stacking in DeepSkyStacker(donationware); and processing in Photoshop (which I'm guessing a serious amateur photographer has).

Cheers
DT

[jonathandael]

Thanks for all the encouraging responses and putting me on the right track, guys! I'm super excited! :thumbsup: