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Date: 04 Aug 2007 00:29:50
From: beowulf@nowhere.net
Subject: question about getting into astronomy and astrophotography
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I want to get into astronomy and especially astrophotography-- be able
to take photos of galaxies and nebulas and such. What sort of pocket
change will I be looking at to buy a descent telescope, tripod, GPS/
etc to locate and zoom in on interesting objects like that, camera
adapater, etc? I could see budgeting up to say $5000 if needed.
Five years back or so I made the mistake of buying a cheap ass
telescope, I do not want to do that again. I want to buy whatever it
takes. Of course I will try to find a sky party, look at any scopes I
can get my hands on, but I do not live in a large city. So any
suggestions on the type of scope to get, etc. appreciated greatly. I
do own a Celestron 50x binoculars and am working on learning
constellations, but I want to get into a nice scope, photography.
I already own a Canon digital EOS 10D and it would be nice if there
was a way to attach that somehow to a telescope for taking pictures.
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Date: 04 Aug 2007 13:03:58
From: Wade A. Hilmo
Subject: Re: question about getting into astronomy and astrophotography
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Your budget is plenty to get started in astrophotography.
The thing to understand is that there is a very, very steep initial learning
curve to get to the point where you will have pretty good results. I would
strongly recommend getting started with relatively wide field images using a
light weight scope. This kind of imaging is pretty forgiving (at least as
much as astrophotography goes.) Once you start imaging smaller and fainter
objects, you'll be increasing the focal length and using heavier equipment,
and your $5000 will disappear with astonishing ease.
The things to consider, in priority order, are:
- The mount. You will want a mount that can easily carry the entire load,
including your scope, your camera, any mounting brackets, etc. The mount
needs to be able to run in equatorial mode, and you need to have some way of
guiding it.
- The camera. Your Canon 10D is a very good camera to start with. It has a
huge chip (which is a very important factor for ease of use.) With the
proper T-ring and cabling, you can connect it to a telescope at prime focus
(ie. in place of an eyepiece) and do long exposures. You will find that
it's red sensitivity makes it less than ideal for all but the brightest
emmission nebulae. At some point, you might want to consider either
modifying your camera to remove the IR filter, or purchase a second DSLR and
modify it to remove the filter. The Canon Digital Rebel XT is a very good
choice for this, and can be purchased new for under $500. There are
companies, like Hutech, that can either do the modification for you, or sell
you a modified DSLR.
- The software. You will need to do have a way to operate the camera during
long exposures, and a way to focus. There are a few packages out there that
are specifically designed to work with the Canon DSLRs and provide full
control of the camera, plus focus aid (getting critical focus is harder than
you think), and include astro-specific image processing routines.
Eventually, you will want to get Photoshop. I lived without it for many
years, but finally gave in and bought it, and it changed my astrophotography
life dramatically and for the better.
- A guider. Most mounts in your price range will track well enough to go
about 30 seconds without guiding - maybe 60 if you are lucky. To get longer
exposures, you will need to guide the telescope either manually or
automatically. Unless you like to spend hours staring into an eyepiece and
hitting directional buttons on the hand controller, I would recommend a
second scope and camera to autoguide.
If I were going to start out again, here is the list of exactly what I would
get:
1. For the mount, I would get a Celestron C6-SGT. This combination includes
the CG5-GT equatorial mount, plus a 6" F/10 SCT. The mount can easily carry
15-20 pounds for astrophotography and can be guided. Also, the 6" scope
would be very good as a guide scope, or to try some longer focal length
imaging. Cost: $1000
2. I'd use the Canon 10D that you already have. It makes a very, very good
camera for getting into astrophotography. Cost: 0
3. For the imaging scope, I would get an Orion ED-80. It has a 600mm focal
length, and a very flat field that will cover your Canon camera nicely.
Cost: $530
4. For a guide camera, I would get a Meade DSI Pro. If you act quickly,
Astronomics (and a few other places) are clearing out inventory for $130
(regularly about $500.)
5. You'll need to connect the camera to the scope, and you'll need to
connect both the ED-80 and the C6 to the mount at the same time. For this,
you'll need a Canon EOS T-ring, a 2" nosepiece, and some dovetails. I'd
budget about $250 for this.
6. To run the Canon camera, the guide camera, and the mount, I would use
MaxDSLR. MaxDSLR is a package specifically bundled to provide automation
for a DSLR and guide camera. It natively supports all of the equipment I
listed above. Cost: $250
7. For post acquisition image processing, I would get Photoshop CS3. There
are lots of image processing products out there and I tried many of them
because I didn't like Photoshop's price. But Photoshop is a virtual
standard for astro image processing and the vast majority of tutorials and
articles are written around it. Also, it can deal with 16 bit greyscale
TIFF files, which is essential for astrophotography and is a pretty rare
capability. Cost: $650 (If you can find a copy of CS2 for less money, that
would be just as good.)
8. Depending on the light pollution where you live, you may need to get a
filter to control skyglow. For imaging, I would strongly recommend an 2"
IDAS LPS filter from Hutech over some of the low cost filters designed for
visual use. The IDAS filter is designed to limit effects on color balance
as much as possible. This is not something that visual filters need to so,
since you don't see color visually in deep sky objects. Cost: $190
So that comes in just under $3000, and you'd be set up to do some nice
wideish field imaging. Note that this list reflects my personal
preferences. There are lots of other good mounts, scopes, cameras and
software.
When you consider this, please keep in mind that the learning curve,
especially the initial learning curve, is quite steep. Even with the
equipment I listed above, it will take lots of trial, error, and patience to
get acceptable results. You'll want to find a good forum dedicated to
astrophotography and participate. You'll also want to try and go to a few
star parties to see how other imagers work. And once you get proficient
with your wide field setup, you will have a much better idea of where you
want to go next in the hobby, and how you want to get there.
I hope that this information is helpful,
-Wade
"beowulf@nowhere.net" <r.oelerich@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1186187390.938624.255870@q3g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> I want to get into astronomy and especially astrophotography-- be able
> to take photos of galaxies and nebulas and such. What sort of pocket
> change will I be looking at to buy a descent telescope, tripod, GPS/
> etc to locate and zoom in on interesting objects like that, camera
> adapater, etc? I could see budgeting up to say $5000 if needed.
>
> Five years back or so I made the mistake of buying a cheap ass
> telescope, I do not want to do that again. I want to buy whatever it
> takes. Of course I will try to find a sky party, look at any scopes I
> can get my hands on, but I do not live in a large city. So any
> suggestions on the type of scope to get, etc. appreciated greatly. I
> do own a Celestron 50x binoculars and am working on learning
> constellations, but I want to get into a nice scope, photography.
>
> I already own a Canon digital EOS 10D and it would be nice if there
> was a way to attach that somehow to a telescope for taking pictures.
>
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Date: 04 Aug 2007 14:43:48
From: Iordani
Subject: Re: question about getting into astronomy and astrophotography
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beowulf@nowhere.net wrote:
> I want to get into astronomy and especially astrophotography-- be able
> to take photos of galaxies and nebulas and such. What sort of pocket
> change will I be looking at to buy a descent telescope, tripod, GPS/
> etc to locate and zoom in on interesting objects like that, camera
> adapater, etc? I could see budgeting up to say $5000 if needed.
>
> Five years back or so I made the mistake of buying a cheap ass
> telescope, I do not want to do that again. I want to buy whatever it
> takes. Of course I will try to find a sky party, look at any scopes I
> can get my hands on, but I do not live in a large city. So any
> suggestions on the type of scope to get, etc. appreciated greatly. I
> do own a Celestron 50x binoculars and am working on learning
> constellations, but I want to get into a nice scope, photography.
>
> I already own a Canon digital EOS 10D and it would be nice if there
> was a way to attach that somehow to a telescope for taking pictures.
Good choice of hobby :)
You can easily spend the 5000 and lots more... sky's the limit.
There are a number of very good sites to be found with very good how-tos.
I got into this hobby some years ago. Got myself a german equatorial mount
of descent quality, (Vixen GP-DX) and a Russian Maksutov-Cassegrain scope
and used my Nikon D70 DSLR. All things of good quality stuff.
But, there is *so* much you will have to learn to get some descent result!
Risk is you will be disappointed.
My advice, besides googling for all the good sites out there, learning how
to polar align, stacking, editing etc. is maybe you should consider
buying a good equatorial mount, and just use that for starters. You will
be *amazed* of the things you achieve just using the lenses you already
have for you camera. (or buy some used ones, manual focusing is better
then auto).
The reason using short focal lenses to start with is a good idea, is that
it's much much easier to get good results. The longer focal lens, the
harder it becomes...
Good luck and clear skies.
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Date: 04 Aug 2007 05:37:55
From: Shelldigger
Subject: Re: question about getting into astronomy and astrophotography
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For serious photography 5k will just get you started buying a proper
mount.
I know you have the itch to take some pics...Id suggest you give
yourself some time doing
visual with a good scope first. Take some time, learn the sky, get
aquainted with the routine,
before you try jumping in with both feet.
You already have binoculars, thats great, you can learn much with
those and a sky chart.
When I got started several years ago I said the same thing...I want to
take photos...still do,
but by listening to the wisdom of others, I took my time, stopping to
smell the flowers along the way,
just doing visual work and loving it. Ive been at it for Id guess six
years now and still have a great deal
to learn. (and buy)
You are right, you dont want to get a "bad" scope to start with. Go
with at least an 8" scope. An Orion dob with DSC's (Intelliscope) or
an 8" SCT on a GEM (Celestron ASGT is a good one) The dob will get you
kickstarted to learning, the ASGT will do that and is good enough for
"beginning" photo work. The dob is simple to start with, the ASGT
takes some getting used to with polar alignments and goto setup. Once
you have mastered GEM setup and get some time in at the eyepiece, you
will be ready to move on to photography. You will learn much along the
way
They make many adapters that fit most cameras. Im sure there is one
that will fit your camera.
Just take your time...its worth it.
On Aug 3, 7:29 pm, "beow...@nowhere.net" <r.oeler...@gmail.com > wrote:
> I want to get into astronomy and especially astrophotography-- be able
> to take photos of galaxies and nebulas and such. What sort of pocket
> change will I be looking at to buy a descent telescope, tripod, GPS/
> etc to locate and zoom in on interesting objects like that, camera
> adapater, etc? I could see budgeting up to say $5000 if needed.
>
> Five years back or so I made the mistake of buying a cheap ass
> telescope, I do not want to do that again. I want to buy whatever it
> takes. Of course I will try to find a sky party, look at any scopes I
> can get my hands on, but I do not live in a large city. So any
> suggestions on the type of scope to get, etc. appreciated greatly. I
> do own a Celestron 50x binoculars and am working on learning
> constellations, but I want to get into a nice scope, photography.
>
> I already own a Canon digital EOS 10D and it would be nice if there
> was a way to attach that somehow to a telescope for taking pictures.
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