Using the 350D viewfinder under dark conditions

[5ash (Philip)]

When i set up my Lx90 on two star alignment with the 350d attached it is very difficult to centre a star in the viewfinder as the AF points are invisible. This makes high precision gotos impossible. However i found that by carefully pointing a small torch into the front of the scope i can see both AF points and star allowing precision alignment and gotos. To facilitate this i attach a magnetic torch to one of the steel members at the edge of my roof opening at the same level as the star.
philip

[iceman (Mike)]

Nice idea. I did a similar thing for my finderscope.. after staring at a laptop screen, I can't see the black crosshairs anymore, so just stuck a couple of red leds on the front which illuminates them nicely.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Some more suggestions..

If you have a green laser pointer, looking through the view finder you can use the laser to define your FOV easily (you can easily see it in the view finder and keep your other eye open to see where you're pointing in the sky).

Also if the star is bright enough, you could illuminate the AF points by selecting to switch btween them.

Roger.