Astophotography , lens and camera use not telescope. need advice.

Nikon Rumors Forum » Nikon DSLR

Astophotography , lens and camera use not telescope. need advice.

(13 posts) (7 voices)

Tags:

astrophotography

Anonymous

Unregistered

Posts: 10
offline

looking to possibly get a motorized astrophotography mount system for my current set up. I am going to use a D7000 with a 70-200 2.8 VR2 and a TC-20EIII. effectively that will be 600mm F/5.6, pretty good for doing this kind of stuff. I need some help figuring out the needed system for my setup but without breaking the bank. I would spend about $300 for a new item. would consider a older but better system used if anyone has any brands or models they recommend. I currently am looking at one by orion. cost about $200. pretty basic model, and only is rated to 7 LBS which is about all I need. any opinions?

*LINK REMOVED*

Posted 1 year ago #
TaoTeJared

preferred member
Joined: Apr '10
Posts: 2,422
offline

The link will probably be removed - future readers search (Orion Adventures in Astrophotography Bundle)

I have never seen a motorized system for under $1000 so for $180, I would say that looks good. I may just have to read up on that one. I am amazed how cheap Telescope equipment has become.

If you are looking to do some the time lapse type photography like "Dakotalapse.com" that is a completely different set-up for what any of those guys do. Their blogs have the equipment on them that they use.

Posted 1 year ago #
Anonymous

Unregistered

Posts: 10
offline

I'll have to do more research on the matter. most people are trying to get a wide view of the sky. I need to get a very specific point singled out without having star trails. thanks for the link Tao, very neat stuff.

Posted 1 year ago #
mcammer

senior member
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 98
offline

I'm going to throw this out there without having direct experience myself, but I am trying to do similar things (maybe this summer):

Some homebrew timelapsers are keen on the Meade LS2000 series mounts as a good controllable mount for cameras. You would be using it closer to its original purpose, so that's good, but I don't know if that motor can handle 7 lbs.

I'm trying to piggyback my camera on an ETX-90 for a variety of purposes.

Posted 1 year ago #
Anonymous

Unregistered

Posts: 10
offline

@ mcammer
the orion I mentioned above will hold 7 lbs at max. and it does the full tracking with the built in motor. and it turns out they do have larger motors with greater weight tolerances, however price goes up. I do have a mead 70? I think? fully tracking telescope now but I don't want to damage the telescope. so with what I am doing I need to decide if my gear may be stressing this small unit to its max. will have to make a decision within the next 2-3 months. just trying to get a good idea now.

Posted 1 year ago #
msmoto

big gun cougar
Joined: Mar '10
Posts: 2,736
offline

Thought I might relight this thread as I now have a 1000X ND (10 f/stops) and specifically bought this to drop into the back of the 400mm f/2.8 with the TC-20EIII and mount on the D4, I am thinking...maybe I need to see how this is done. I believe one stops down to f/16, begins exposures with ISO set at 100 and shutter at 1/4000th sec. Then from there one lengthens the shutter speed, monitoring what is going on. And, the proper technique is to place a dark cloth over the front of the lens, except when exposing so as to protect the internals from the heat of the sun. I thought I would manually focus using first a calibration of infinity with some dusk sky object like a moon or star or whatever, then set the focus at that point. And tape it like I often do.

It will be an interesting process, and will hold my attention at least for awhile so I do not get caught up in complaining about the lack of a D400..:-)

Incidentally, I just received a new INDURO CT213 Carbon Tripod, which looks great initially. (MANFROTTO 468MGRC2 Head) The leg tensioners seem more user friendly than the BENRO Carbon I have the gimbal mount on. So, I will see how this works with all the stuff or if the gimbal is better for the astro stuff.

Well, as a total neophyte in astro work, I am open to ideas, suggestions.

Posted 9 months ago #
Eric

senior member
Joined: Jun '12
Posts: 363
offline

Isn't it also possible to use a welding glass or a 77mm ND over a hole in a cardboard lens cover? By putting the ND first you cut down on heat to the lens. Might this also cut down on flare and ghosting by eliminating super bright reflections within the lens body? I had a friend who used to do this with his telescope all the time. I don't know for sure but it seems like it would work, and there wouldn't be any risk to the lens. I'll have to give it a try.

Posted 9 months ago #
msmoto

big gun cougar
Joined: Mar '10
Posts: 2,736
offline

Just for an interesting video... here is a highly technical production showing cosmic dust clouds being sucked into a "Black Hole" in the middle of our Galaxy..

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120702.html

And, I have sent a contact to one of the astrophysicists who edit the NASA website, and asked about taking photos of the sun. So I hope to get some info and get back here with the latest.

Posted 9 months ago #
andyp

member
Joined: Jun '12
Posts: 32
offline

Thanks for that link msmoto, I spent half the morning browsing the archive of that link showing past daily photos, some of those being interesting videos and occasional time-lapse. This thread has me inspired, my d800 with 14-24 now pointed up through the trees in my backyard to look at the stars move as a beginning. As a youth I had my heart set on being an astronomer and studied physics my first year of university work (carl sagan was the rage!), I forgot how inspiring and interesting the night sky can be.

Posted 9 months ago #
msmoto

big gun cougar
Joined: Mar '10
Posts: 2,736
offline

Here is a message I received back from my inquiry regarding the posting of photos on this link above.

You are welcome (indeed, enthusiastically encouraged!) to post images on Starship Asterisk, the discussion forum for APOD; instructions for doing so are here: http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=22034

Posted 9 months ago #
msmoto

big gun cougar
Joined: Mar '10
Posts: 2,736
offline

Well, I have done a little research and have found that the 1000x ND filter inside the 400mm f/2.8 near the camera end is good if one is extremely careful. But, for the sun, the recommended way is to use a filter over the front of the lens, which cuts out about 99.99% of the light, yet is sharp enough for nice photos. And is less than $150. And, this allows one to visually look through the lens and adjust position, focus, etc. These filters are what one uses for safe viewing of a solar eclipse.

Either way, the process is one which requires a lot of careful preparation. I will use an alignment tool, so as to line up the lens with the sun via a shadow like a gun sight, mounted on the top of the lens and the camera. SImply moving the lens around on the tripod until the shadow lines up, locking the tripod, and then beginning the viewing process. I think I will have the bracket set up in camera as well so I can shoot several shots, then turn the lens away from the sun and view the results. This may be my excuse to purchase an iPad so as to tether the camera and not have to move anything to see the viewer, just cover the front of the lens and look at the iPad image.

Now that I have been talking to myself on this thread, maybe some are reading it.... If anyone has taken photos of the sun, seen the edges in resolution adequate to see the solar flares, let them post here on this thread.

Posted 9 months ago #
Wataru

preferred member
Joined: Feb '12
Posts: 248
offline

Clock drives, like the Orion system, are a good example of too little money buying too little satisfaction. The anonymous OP would do better with the Losmandy Star Lapse system, or an equivalent. The 7lb capacity if the Orion system would not work for the hardware the OP describes.

I'm hoping to get a chance to try a large clock drive this weekend or next.

Posted 9 months ago #
msmoto

big gun cougar
Joined: Mar '10
Posts: 2,736
offline

A tripod I do not need. I have five at present, one with a studio pan head which may be useful as it will hold a view camera, The head has been converted to accept the foot on the 400mm, however. I will most likely weight the tripod with sand bags. And I have my filter, a Thousand Oaks Optical Type 2+ White Light Glass Solar Filter, coming from the optical folks so I can get the direct shots and view through the lens. The filter cuts 99.999% of the light and will give the sun an orange color.

If I decide to do some star photos, I suppose one must then purchase one of the motorized units which will compensate for the earth's rotation, but this is a big leap forward and another couple of thousand dollars for a tracking head and tripod. One I was looking at was the Orion Atlas EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount. But I learned these tripod and heads can easily go to over $10,000.

Posted 9 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.

The new Nikon Rumors Forum is now live at http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussions. This forum is now in "read only" mode until I figure a proper way to import all data over to the new platform. Please register over at the new forum.

Astophotography , lens and camera use not telescope. need advice.

Reply