Newbie taking photos with a telescope

[Timcyn7]

Hi all

Just came across this site and had to join.
I enjoy taking photos of the night sky with my Nikon d5100. A few weeks ago i found a person taking photos with his camera attached to a telescope of some sort and wondered if someone could point me in the right direction?
Im guessing an adapter of some sort to mount to the scope? And also can i or is there a special kind of telescope for this?

[niko]

You've asked a huge question there

Depends on what you want to photograph.

Some hold a point and click camera up to the eyepiece of a dob (that's how I started) and get great photos of the moon. Others spend 10 of thousands of dollars and use cooled cameras on guided mounts to go deep into space.

What's your budget like? For a couple of grand you could get an EQ5 mount and an ED80 and be happy for years (or until aperture fever takes hold)!

Give us a little more of an idea of your interests and budget so we can help a bit more.

niko

[Shiraz (Ray)]

welcome to the forums
a really good place to find the info you need is here: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/projects.html

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Tim,
Welcome to IIS.
I'd suggest finding your nearest Astro Society and joining them on an open night. You'll see first hand what is involved in Astro Imaging.
As Niko said, most of us started on this slippery slope by butting our camera lenses up to the eyepiece and snapping some shots of the Moon. If that whets your appetite for more, well, I hope you love a challenge because the learning curve is steep and the gear can be quite expensive. Personally I love it. For all the nights of frustration and tearing your hair out trying to get hardware and software working harmoniously together, that first night when everything just works and you end up with a gorgeous image that is YOURS, that you took, it's so worth it.

[Timcyn7]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I will have read in the diy/articles section.
I don't really want to look at distant galaxies etc, just whatever i can see through the telescope and capture it. Maybe i don't realize how complicated this can be???
I have never been into astronomy at all untill i got my dslr. I then started to know how to work it and capture the sky and im fascinated

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Tim,
The Moon and widefield longish exposures are about the limit of 'easy' astrophotography. Not to say there can't be some awesome pix taken with just those objectives in mind. Planets and other objects require a lot more gear and expertise.
I'd suggest investigating and trying out those first, especially the widefield as no scope is needed, just normal camera lenses. You will see plenty of good examples on here of this field of photgraphy.
That will give you some insight into the fun & games of the more advanced skills required. And the money .. it's not called the slippery slope of the money pit for nothing.