Beginner needs equipment help!

[rollmebackagain]

To start with, I'll briefly explain where I am with astrophotography: Definitely a beginner. I've got an SLR that I've played with a number of times, making star trails mostly. I've been wanting to branch out for a while and spring for something that can let me take longer exposures to capture the milky way or nebulas, etc. Clearly I'm going to need to get a good tracking mount, but I've never actually seen one before, so I'm unsure of what I'm doing and don't want to make the investment and realize I don't have the right stuff. I've got a number of questions that I need some help with, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

1) Someone mentioned getting an "astro cam" - is that different than a normal camera? Do most people attach an SLR body to a telescope?

2) What's the different between these:
- An SLR with a 300mm lens and a 2x extender (so 600 mm focal length) and the aperture setting is f/2.8 (though the extender steps that down one stop), with a 77mm lens diameter
- An ED80 telescope, which will have a 600mm focal length, f/7.5, and an 80mm lens diameter
Is there any real reason to invest in that telescope then? Does the wider aperture on the SLR with the same focal length and basically same lens diameter make it better?

3) Can you mount an SLR directly onto a mount (thinking I'll start with an EQ6) to take wide angle shots?

4) What equipment do you need to mount an SLR onto a telescope?

5) How long does it typically take to set up an equatorial mount for an evening of shooting? How do you make sure the camera/telescope is axially aligned with the mount?

6) Any advice on the best canon lenses for wide-angle shooting? Should I be looking for one that has a really wide aperture - recommendations for the minimum aperture I should go with?

If there's something here that you think I just don't know to ask about, any advice is welcome! Thanks!

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=82049

Sometimes a brief run back though some of the recent topics will set you on the path of enlightenment

I think that thread will nail down exactly what you want to do apart from your question

The difference between the lense and the ED80.

Without knowing specifics of the lense most of the time is the difference in the objective lense ED Extra Dispersion what this ultimately means is that it has really good colour correction which will give you great images.

Setting up a german equitorial mount is hard for somebody who hasn't done it before but with experience to set up for wide field like yourself it shouldn't take much longer than about 10- 15 min to be in the ball park if your setting it up for larger focal lengths 300mm and up then you will be wanting to spend a little bit more time. There are programs that can help you nail down your alignment but seems though you have a dirty bright star pretty much telling you where your north celestial pole is you have it easy unlike us with our hidden south celestial pole!

Good luck mate and welcome to our forum

[rollmebackagain]

Thanks for the reply - I'll check it out. I definitely get the impression that AP takes a lot of experience to start getting impressive shots. I guess you've got to start sometime...

I'm sure you wouldn't trade your invisible celestial pole for the comparitively boring skies of the northern hemisphere

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

Possibly not to get impressive shots. hummm its all about the user a little about the equipment and alot about the processing!

Good luck

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by rollmebackagain

1) Someone mentioned getting an "astro cam" - is that different than a normal camera? Do most people attach an SLR body to a telescope?

An Astro Camera is designed for astrophotgraphy, is usually lighter, and doesn't have the IR filter built in that your DSLR has, making the Astro camera better at capturing Ha light, the red bits in the nebula. They also often have cooling and other enhancements to reduce image noise and be better at long exposures.

Originally Posted by rollmebackagain

2) What's the different between these:
- An SLR with a 300mm lens and a 2x extender (so 600 mm focal length) and the aperture setting is f/2.8 (though the extender steps that down one stop), with a 77mm lens diameter
- An ED80 telescope, which will have a 600mm focal length, f/7.5, and an 80mm lens diameter
Is there any real reason to invest in that telescope then? Does the wider aperture on the SLR with the same focal length and basically same lens diameter make it better?

See the other post Brendan referred you to.

Originally Posted by rollmebackagain

3) Can you mount an SLR directly onto a mount (thinking I'll start with an EQ6) to take wide angle shots?

Yes you can, you can buy an adapter at bintel.com.au and other suppliers.

Originally Posted by rollmebackagain

4) What equipment do you need to mount an SLR onto a telescope?

Talk to bintel, they can sort you out with a piggyback mount.

Originally Posted by rollmebackagain

5) How long does it typically take to set up an equatorial mount for an evening of shooting? How do you make sure the camera/telescope is axially aligned with the mount?

Depends how good you are, what takes me an hour takes Mr Mitchell 15 minutes, so it varies with experience.

Originally Posted by rollmebackagain

6) Any advice on the best canon lenses for wide-angle shooting? Should I be looking for one that has a really wide aperture - recommendations for the minimum aperture I should go with?

Originally Posted by rollmebackagain

If there's something here that you think I just don't know to ask about, any advice is welcome! Thanks!

If you are only going to mount a camera, then an EQ6 is overkill, an EQ5 or an astrotrac would be a way lighter, more portable solution:
http://www.astrotrac.com/Default.aspx?p=how-it-works

There are lots of threads in the beginners section that answer most of your questions, and plenty of guides in the projects and articles section. Welcome to the money pit!

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

Peter just a word of advice normally astro CCD's are heavier some are lighter but most are not my qhy9 mono + its associated filter wheel and filters is about 800g some are up in the KG range

[Poita (Peter)]

True, especially if going mono and the associated paraphenalia, but at the beginner end of the budget many one shot colour CCDs are lighter and less deep than a DSLR, especially planetary cameras.

[rollmebackagain]

Thank you both very much for all the advice. Definitely helping me figure out what's best for what I'd like to do.