Widefield Astrophotography - Milky Way

[Draconis]

Hi all,

Hoping for a bit of advice on widefield astrophotography. With winter on the horizon i'd love to have a go at one of those fantastic milky way shots that show detailed dust lanes.

I have a Canon 500D and have already experimented with 30sec exposures that are ok but would like to try out some longer ones.

Is there a cheapish kind of mount that will allow me to use the camera to take a longer exposure without star trailing? Im not handy so couldnt build a barndoor mount and dont want to spend hundreds and hundreds on a flash mount. I'm hoping there is an el cheapo model that someone could recommend that would do the job so that I can just muck around a bit before upgrading my gear in the future when finances permit?

Any ideas?

[dannat]

If you don't want to build a barbecue probably the only other decent cheapish option is to get an eq3 or cg3 with an RA motor drive, you can learn how to polar align it then you should be able to get 1-2 mins unguided shotsbwith a camera lens. What size lens f/ stop are u shooting at the minute?

[Draconis]

"widefield astrophotography", oh dear, again?.

Is there a problem with the question? Sorry, thought this was a beginners section where people asked for advice.

[Draconis]

Daniel, thanks for the reply, i've just got the twin lens kit that came with it so its the 18-55mm lens at the moment.

[Draconis]

Bassnut, apologies if im using the wrong terminology here, how about letting me know what i should be saying instead of being clever. If you dont want to answer questions for beginners with constructive advice I suggest you stick to the areas where the ''advanced'' people like yourself post. Cheers, Mick,

[renormalised]

You're using the right terminology. Best not to jump down Fred's throat like that:):)

Fred likes widefield piccies, but he's more your narrow field, long FL shots than big expansive shots of generalised targets.

Give him some obscure galaxy/PN that you need F20 or more to take happy snaps of and he's in his element:):)

The wide vs narrow field argument here at IIS is a long running gag:)

[renormalised]

How much money are you willing to spend on an EQ mount to take widefield piccies??

[dannat]

Another option is to ditch the kit lens, and getyourself a 50mm f1.8 - if you stop it down to 2.8 it will still gathernmore light than the kit lens ( which is prettybcrap 18-55) so if you staybat 30 secs on a trip pod your shots will conain more - you would then have to mosaic them
The 501.8 can be had for about 100

[Draconis]

Not that much to be honest, $150 tops otherwise i'll just stick to the 30secs and stack them. It'd be nice to be able to take the detailed widefield shots but its not the be all and end all for me. I've recently bought a 10'' dob so it'd be a struggle to convince she who must be obeyed to fork out more money for an expensive mount this year. I was just hoping there might be some simple cheapo mount that would do the trick. Sorry if it seemed i was jumping down throats, not intended. Its hard to judge the tone of a post without knowing someone and being new here I took the posts to be sarcastic, apologies for any offence caused.

Dannat - Thanks for the lens advice, i'll certainly look into that option. :thumbsup:

[renormalised]

No chance for $150...cheapest decent new EQ mount I can see is at Bintel (https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm), for $279.

[dugnsuz]

Hi Mick - having tread the path you're just starting out on, I hope i can add something to the dialogue.

First up - reality!
You'e not going to be able to do anything above 30-60secs without autoguiding. I started with an EQ3 type mount driven in RA only.
It was fun to learn the basics with this setup - I can recommend it.
If you can purchase a 2nd hand mount from an IIS member - all the better.

With a setup like the one you're considering - you'll have to polar align as best you can in order to get past the 30sec barrier and stop down the lens a fair bit as suggested.
Baby steps right now.
All the best, good luck
Doug

[dugnsuz]

Fred, mate - give the guy a break! We've all gotta learn!
Doug

[jjjnettie]

Now now Fred.

You can get away with using a cheapy alt azi mount. That will allow you to take up to about 1 minute exposures.
I had a modicum of success starting off that way. :)

[jones]

That's not true. At 50mm, if you're polar aligned well, you can definitely get longer times, especially if you don't shoot to far from the pole.

This picture was done with that 50mm f/1.8 lens you've been recommended, closed at f4. It's the stack of 51 pictures of 2 and half minutes each. I can probably go up to 3 or 3 and a half, but I've got pretty bad light pollution.

Note: my polar alignment could be improved!

Here's the pic: http://i.imgur.com/gxdtS.jpg

PS: my mount is a HEQ5.

[Octane]

Fred,

If his goal is to dip his toe and take a couple of shots to gauge his interest, and, perhaps share with the family, then what harm is there?

Your disparaging remarks are not what this site is about, and, it's not becoming of you.

Not everyone has the patience or the megabucks to throw without conscience at this hobby. Not everyone sees this hobby as a competition to win awards.

Now that I'm off my soapbox, did you add a 2x Powermate to your imaging train? Goodness knows you could use it. :poke: :poke: :poke: :P

H

[pmrid]

Mick,

send me an email or PM. I've got a couple of mounts here that will probably be enough to get you going. If we can confirm they are running, you can have it/them.

One is an EQ3 for which I have drives somewhere. Just a matter of digging them out and making sure they work. If you want it, you'll have to drive out here to collect (we're about 75 mins from the CBD).
Peter

[Draconis]

Peter,

Thats a very generous offer and I would be a fool not to take you up on it. I have to go to work today and will not have access to this site there but will be back on here tonight at some point and details can be worked out.

I can certainly come out and collect, we can work out when suits.

Thanks again for a very generous offer.

Regards,
Mick


Mick,

send me an email or PM. I've got a couple of mounts here that will probably be enough to get you going. If we can confirm they are running, you can have it/them.

One is an EQ3 for which I have drives somewhere. Just a matter of digging them out and making sure they work. If you want it, you'll have to drive out here to collect (we're about 75 mins from the CBD).
Peter

[luigi]

If you own or plan to own a telescope a good mount is a no brainer. If you don't then you can think about something as an Astrotrac mount, I have one and I like it because it's very portable and simple to setup.

[niko]

Luigi,

Interested to know more about your Astrotrac experience. What did you pay for it? What's the length of exposures you can get? Would you recommend it? They seem expensive for what they are.

cheers

niko

[desler]

Mick, Take Peter up on his offer.

We all start somewhere, and yes those widefield shots are just amazing. Don't be afraid to ask?

I've had more help in this hobby than I've ever had at work. The assisatnce I have recieved is second to none!

Keep at it, keep having fun and you'll be surpised how fast you pick up the terms and the skills to have some pretty pictures on the wall.

Darren

[jjjnettie]

Yes, an EQ mount is the better option.
Welcoming you to the dark side.........

[pmrid]

Mick, I have sent you a Personal Message.
Peter

[h0ughy]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=65218&highlight=astrotrak some ideas in this thread

[dugnsuz]

I stand corrected!
nice shot
:thumbsup:

[luigi]

I paid around U$S 500 something, can't recall the exact number. Shipped by DHL international arrived quickly and safe to Argentina.

With very very rough alignment using just a compass and setting the declination I could get around 30 seconds at 200mm or around 2 minutes at 14mm. I'm positive you can expose for up to 5 minutes with proper alignment without any trails.

Some days my alignment is better than others. The Gods of astronomy gave us the Milky way, Eta and the Magellan Clouds but no polar star. Ok Ok...

With my 14mm I used to use 15'' or 20'' exposures before the stars near the celestial equator showed trails, now with the AT I can go up to 1 minute and stars are perfectly round.

I'd highly recommend it to a photographer because of what you get and portability.

This is an example I did with the Astrotrac, not sure if it's similar or not to what you plan to do.
http://www.luisargerich.com/night/haf83126#haf83126

[Draconis]

Thanks Peter, PM sent in return. Mick

[Draconis]

Thanks Peter, JJJ and Darren and everyone else who has replied to my querey, íts been a fantastic response and very helpful. The ''pretty pictures on the wall'' is the ultimate aim, I dont have delusions of grandeur and getting to the levels of some of the brilliant imagers on this site but i just want to achieve some sort of result for my own self satisfaction. Hopefully i'll get some decent results in time. As Humayun mentioned earlier in the thread i just want to 'dip my toe in' and see where it leads. :)

Cheers, Mick

[that_guy]

I started out in "real" AP with widefield with my 30D on tripod at 30sec ISO1600, the first image was okay, but the real magic happens in the processing. :)