There's an attachment you can get which will allow you to take afocal shots without ever having to steady the camera with your hands. All you have to do is set up the camera and set the timer to go off when you want it to. It's from Orion....called the SteadyPix Camera Mount. Costs about $60 from Bintel...
https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm
I'm going to get one soon.