Attaching an SLR to the SkyWatcher SW500 - Impossible or Plausible?

nemesis (Joel) · #1 18-04-2010, 04:14 PM

Hi All,

I'm looking at purchasing a cheapish 6-8" scope for beginner astrophotography purposes. I've had a look at quite a few scopes and the SkyWatcher SW500 6" with an RA motor drive for tracking appears to be a suitable and well priced beginners kit.

My question for the more experienced involves the mounting of a Nikon D3000 DSLR to the SW500. The camera body itself weighs around 500gm and I'm concerned that it may be too heavy for the RA motor drive to track correctly.

Has anyone attempted this before and does anyone have a better recommendation for a good starter tracking scope that a DSLR can be mounted to?

Cheers guys!

dannat (Daniel) · #2 18-04-2010, 04:37 PM

i am guessing the RA motor drive is attached to an eq3..you don't have to worry about the camera on the drive (as the scope probably weighs 5 kg) but on the focuser, most stock focusers can't handle the weight of a camera very well, and they move around slightly causing pic problems.

nemesis (Joel) · #3 18-04-2010, 05:18 PM

Cheers for the advice dannat. You're correct in assuming that it's sitting on an EQ3-2 mount.

It's good to know that the mount should handle the addition of the camera's weight. I certainly feel more confident in buying the kit now.

Im guessing that any potential focuser problems can be easily sorted with an after-market unit, so it shouldnt be too difficult to resolve.

Cheers again for the heads up!

StellariuS (Jayden) · #4 11-05-2010, 03:04 AM

I have the SW500, awesome scope! still need to get a T-ring to mount my Nikon D40. Just a note for the focuser.. its got a locking screw on the bottom, so once you've got your camera on and found the focus, you will be able to lock the focus and this might hold it steady. Im still waiting to give it a go but good luck to you

[1ponders] (Paul) · #5 11-05-2010, 07:05 AM

sorry to disappoint you Joel, but I have the same mount and it is not stable enough for astrophotography with that size scope. Maybe webcam imaging of the moon and planets but that is about it. Mine is flat out getting a half decent image with a 70mm scope and small guidescope. It can be done with it but it is a challenge to say the least. If you are wanting to start in AP then the absolute minimum I would suggest, and this is the absolute minimum for shooting through a telescope, and that would be an EQ5. HEQ5 would be better. Especially if you are considering a scope of that size.

The issues with this EQ3 mount is lack of stability in the legs, the periodic error in the RA can be considerable, the little RA motors (I have one as well) do not always track at a constant rate (depends on a number of things) to start with the big issues. Also you would really need a motor on the Dec as well, but with patience you could get away with the standard slow motion controls.

As a visual mount its an ok performer once its been tuned up a bit. When I got mine, it was a bit sticky, but a regrease and a bit of an adjustment to the RA and DEC worms was all that was needed. I have seen some truly horrible mounts that others have bought. The QA in the workshop seems a bit hit and miss.

My suggestion is to save your money and if you want to get into AP consider an EQ5 with at least tracking in both RA (automatic) and dec (manual at the push of a button) a small scope as a guide scope and a DSLR with a good quality lens or another small good quality imaging scope. A long 6" scope will only cause you frustration initially.

JMO

[1ponders] (Paul) · #6 11-05-2010, 07:06 AM

Also the focuser is only 1 1/4" so you will get vignetting on a DSLR assuming the focuser is strong enough to take the weight, and does not have significant slop in it (most have when it comes to photography)

bmitchell82 (Brendan) · #7 13-05-2010, 10:35 AM

Im with you on that one Paul, anything below a heq5 really isn't any good for astrophotography. I saw a EQ5 the other day and i am extremely serprized on the size of it... TINY.

adman (Adam) · #8 13-05-2010, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmitchell82

Im with you on that one Paul, anything below a heq5 really isn't any good for astrophotography. I saw a EQ5 the other day and i am extremely serprized on the size of it... TINY.

Its not the size - its what you do with it.....

My EQ5 struggles with my 8" newt, but I can manage to get some images out of it if the astro gods smile on me and the galactic alignment is good - but with an 80mm widefield imaging setup it would be fine. Mind you I have tinkered with the innards of it and tuned it to within an inch of its life!

Adam

bmitchell82 (Brendan) · #9 14-05-2010, 10:25 AM

hehehe, soon enough adam youll understand

you like me didn't see all these little things till i fixed something else. just like i got the new cats eye collimation tools. which showed the focuser, spider, and primary where very substandard for the level of precision i was going for

a EQ6 should be the bare minimum if you actually want to do some serious AP.