how to start astrophotography?

[montewilson (Monte)]

Originally Posted by AlexN

I thought that upon first use also... Since then, my opinion of the mount has only got better... with it now holding upwards of 20kgs of gear, and 4 counterweights, and still maintaining tracking accuracy.. Value for money, the EQ6 CAN NOT be beat..

Value for money agreed! I wish they were available 20 years ago.

There is one caveat with the EQ6. Some are great and some should have been strangled at birth. It's a bit of a lotto. They don't have the QC of high end brands. See if you can get a good understanding with your vendor about what you want as a minimum of performance from the mount so you can swap it if it is a bit of a dog.

[lesbehrens (Les)]

OK eq 6 mount. should i just use my 10"or buy a smaller scope to star out? cand the camera. should i go dslr or webcam?
les

[deadsimple (Ash)]

Originally Posted by lesbehrens

OK eq 6 mount. should i just use my 10"or buy a smaller scope to star out? cand the camera. should i go dslr or webcam?
les

What's your budget?

[AlexN]

if budget can allow, a DSLR will get better images, larger field of view (this is important because your scope has a 1250mm focal length to start with)

You could look at a shorter focal length to start out, My advise would be to go for something like an ED80, you can image through that unguided for a while (provided you spend a good amount of time and accurately drift align) then as you get confident, get a side by side mounting set up, and guide with the ED80, imaging through the 10"..

Seems like a nice progression to me..

Alex.

[lesbehrens (Les)]

is it worht wile getting a ed 80 or just use the 10"?

[AlexN]

Well.. For a starting point, the ED80 will be much easier to use.. a 600~mm focal length is a lot more forgiving than a 1250mm. It will be easier to balance, easier to setup etc... and come 6 months time when you decide you want to step up to a guided setup, you already have the guide scope, and can start imaging through the 10" which will give you bigger image scale..

It will just be much easier for you to start out with the ED80 than the 10"... Thats not to say it can not be done, hell, my first decent deep sky image came out of my C11 @ 1750mm focal length, however that was guided, I doubt it could be done unguided.

I would recommend going for an ED80 if your budget allows, and starting out like that....

[lesbehrens (Les)]

what is an ed 80 worth? i have seen differnt prices of differnt brands. could i use a normal refractor to start? it will be cheeper?

[lesbehrens (Les)]

Originally Posted by AlexN

Well.. For a starting point, the ED80 will be much easier to use.. a 600~mm focal length is a lot more forgiving than a 1250mm. It will be easier to balance, easier to setup etc... and come 6 months time when you decide you want to step up to a guided setup, you already have the guide scope, and can start imaging through the 10" which will give you bigger image scale..

It will just be much easier for you to start out with the ED80 than the 10"... Thats not to say it can not be done, hell, my first decent deep sky image came out of my C11 @ 1750mm focal length, however that was guided, I doubt it could be done unguided.

I would recommend going for an ED80 if your budget allows, and starting out like that....

ok . y is the focal length a concern?

[AlexN]

you could use an achromatic refractor, however the quality of the images produced generally wont be as good...

An ED80 will cost anywhere between 600 - 900 depending on brand, where you buy it from etc.

They are however among the most used scopes for astro imaging.

Focal length is a concern, because, unless you're guiding, the longer the focal length, the more quickly drift and periodic error will ruin images.. Even with a 100% perfect polar alignment, I've not seen a mount that will take unguided exposures of say 5 ~ 6 minutes without showing some signs of drift with a 1250mm focal length... After tweaking my alignment for a few hours, I managed 4 minutes unguided with a 700mm focal length.. but at 1250mm, even the slightest drift off course will show up..

Im sure someone else can explain this better than I am at the moment... Im rather pre-occupied sitting at my mount at the moment trying to snap off a M20 image before it disappears below the tree line..

[bloodhound31]

Maybe I can help,

I was in your shoes not so long ago, but I have written about every experience along the way that others might benefit from the journey. Try these pages mate and pick my brains whenever you like.

http://www.asignobservatory.com/astr...phy_guide.aspx
http://www.asignobservatory.com/webc...otography.aspx
http://www.asignobservatory.com/book_review.aspx
http://www.asignobservatory.com/optical_trains.aspx
http://www.asignobservatory.com/drift_alignment.aspx

Cheers,

Baz.

[lesbehrens (Les)]

ok cool. thanks for your help.looks like i will get a ed 80, eq6, dslr.
going to cost a lot . but i think it will be worth it all!!!!
what do i look for in a dslr? i have nevenr used on befor
les

[AlexN]

for a starter in deep sky imaging, I would buy either a 2nd hand modified 350D (if you can find one) or a 450D.. The 450D has live view, which will make focusing SO much easier.

A 2nd hand modded 350 will set you back around $500~$600 (unmodified 2nd hand 350's go for around $300~$400 online.

A 450D brand new, with no lenses will cost about $900.

[Tandum (Robin)]

I think you should get an eq mount, eq6 is ok for that 10", mount the dob on it and get used to the mount, and then plug in a web cam and image planets. At this point you will find you need laptops, extension tubes, barlows etc etc.

Then look at guide scopes, dslr's etc, 2nd hand and go from there.

[AlexN]

^^ Thats what I did... ^^

[lesbehrens (Les)]

Originally Posted by AlexN

for a starter in deep sky imaging, I would buy either a 2nd hand modified 350D (if you can find one) or a 450D.. The 450D has live view, which will make focusing SO much easier.

A 2nd hand modded 350 will set you back around $500~$600 (unmodified 2nd hand 350's go for around $300~$400 online.

A 450D brand new, with no lenses will cost about $900.

what is a modded dslr?
sohuld i learn to ues the eq first? like tandum suggested then step up.

[AlexN]

Planetary imaging really gives you a chance to be lazy, and not learn things like drift alignment, the importance of polar alignment and so on..

I got my EQ6 initially so I could take better planetary images, however because of this, I had no real need or want to learn much about my mount at all... It worked, but it was never polar aligned well or anything like that, And i put off drift aligning because i didnt really need to do it... Now that im into deep sky imaging, polar alignment is critical, and it took me quite a while to know how to do get it there...

Yes you could go that way, but its not likely to teach you to use your mount to its potential...

A modded DSLR is a camera thats had the standard IR filter removed, and had either a clear glass replacement, or a Ba'ader/hutech IR filter added...

From the factory, DSLR's are not very sensitive to Ha light.. Ha light is very important to imaging nebulae, so astronomers find ways around this lack of sensitivity. buy removing the standard IR filter, which block everything from IR right the way through the Ha spectrum, and replacing it with a specialized astronomy filter, The Ha (red) spectrum comes out a lot stronger in images, and provides much more pleasing results.

Alex.

[lesbehrens (Les)]

i am not to woried about planet but dso. i have just orderd the eq6 i an going to use the 10"on it but i wont have the eq6 for a few months(apprentice wages)just a dslr to go. but i then have to learn how to image. i hope its fun. more q to come.
les

Originally Posted by AlexN

Planetary imaging really gives you a chance to be lazy, and not learn things like drift alignment, the importance of polar alignment and so on..

I got my EQ6 initially so I could take better planetary images, however because of this, I had no real need or want to learn much about my mount at all... It worked, but it was never polar aligned well or anything like that, And i put off drift aligning because i didnt really need to do it... Now that im into deep sky imaging, polar alignment is critical, and it took me quite a while to know how to do get it there...

Yes you could go that way, but its not likely to teach you to use your mount to its potential...

A modded DSLR is a camera thats had the standard IR filter removed, and had either a clear glass replacement, or a Ba'ader/hutech IR filter added...

From the factory, DSLR's are not very sensitive to Ha light.. Ha light is very important to imaging nebulae, so astronomers find ways around this lack of sensitivity. buy removing the standard IR filter, which block everything from IR right the way through the Ha spectrum, and replacing it with a specialized astronomy filter, The Ha (red) spectrum comes out a lot stronger in images, and provides much more pleasing results.

Alex.

[AlexN]

Mate.. fun doesnt even begin to describe it....

As we all do, expect to have a period of teething problems, where things dont all go to plan.. Its all part of the natural learning curve..

Believe me, the first time you finish a 4 ~ 5 minute exposure and see the result on the cameras LCD... All the hardship that it took to get to that point simply erase themselves from your memory... I can still remember the smile on my face the day I took my first deep sky image... Its amazing..

Best of luck with it, and remember, Asking questions is the key to learning... it doesnt matter if the question seems dumb, ask it...

You're not far from me, and quite a few other very capable astro imagers, If at any stage you need a hand, myself and others around you will gladly help out (especially if a night under your dark skies is on offer )

Cheers.
Alex.

[stephenb (Stephen)]

Well done Les. It looks like you are on your way! I look forward to hearing about your successes and failures. It is all a big learning curve but there are plenty of resources and people to assist.

While I whole heartedly agree with the concept of modding the DSLR, I have not done this on mine, mainly because it is my only camera and it is still under warranty. No need to jump into modding a new one, unless of course you can pick up a modded camera.

clear skies

[bobson (Bob)]

This might be dumb question but I have to ask

Canon 350D, is it some special camera for astrophotography or normal DSLR but modified so it can fit into focuser? If not, where do you buy those, or where I could see a picture of them?

thanks