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Old 26-10-2010, 12:05 PM
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Bodie (Stan)
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Lunar photography - ideal camera?

Hi all,

What is the preferred solution today for imaging the moon? I remember, a few years ago the craze seems to have been the toucam. What is the best now?

Thanks all
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Old 26-10-2010, 12:26 PM
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mswhin63 (Malcolm)
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I personally think any cameras that can record at the highest frame rate possible for the cost. It is possible to use anything from a webcam to a high end astronimical camera but as long as you can record at the highest frame rate. Lower frames are possible but may not get the best resolution.

The main reason for moon and planetary is that the atmospherics reek havoc on the frames captured. The atmosphere is a bit like another lens that changes with wind especially jetstream and causes frames to go out of focus, these frames are no good for the final image.

My vid of jupiter gives you an idea of atmospherics - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1I8GR88y5g, I hope to make one up of the moon as well.
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Old 26-10-2010, 12:28 PM
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Oh BTW, USB or Firewaire connections are the easiest to connect as well.
Security cameras require extra wiring power and USB capture hardware and can get a bit messy.
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Old 26-10-2010, 01:36 PM
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Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)
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Don't discount the humble entyy-level DSLR Whilst not great for remote planetary (you really need to stack video in this case), they're really excellent for high-resolution lunar. My pref? My Nikon, as it seems to produce more accurate colour than my Canons, but any will do. Low ISO settings mean almost no noise.

Here are a couple of single-frame images I took a while back with my Nikon D40:
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Old 26-10-2010, 01:46 PM
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That's an awesome image Chris !
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Old 26-10-2010, 01:48 PM
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Thanks David It's degraded somewhat, trying to fit it into 200kb, but OK on the web still.
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Old 26-10-2010, 02:38 PM
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Sorry,For widefield moon imaging yes the DSLR is really great too. CCD can be used but being narrow field you would need to mosaic multiple images together.
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Old 26-10-2010, 03:37 PM
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Bodie (Stan)
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Thanks for the helpful comments gents!

Chris, what telescope were those taken through? Very impressive!
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Old 26-10-2010, 03:44 PM
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Thanks Bodie

The half moon was taken with a Nikon D40 through a Takahashi MT-160 newtonian reflector.

Vallis Alpes was taken with the same camera through a Takahashi FS-102 refractor with a Televue 5x Powermate coupled to a 2x 2" barlow.

Thanks for the comments
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Old 26-10-2010, 05:07 PM
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Most captures are taken in "Prime Focus" The camera requires an adaptor so the telescope becomes the lens , the same goesfor webcams and the like. This is the meost popular method of capturing. There are plenty of examples on this site.
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