Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Here is the place to talk about all those equipment(Telescope, Mounts, Eyepieces, etc...) you have. Not sure which scope/eyepiece is best for you? Trash it out here!
thlightbrigade
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:15 pm

Re: Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Post by thlightbrigade »

Beautiful pictures! The second one looks a little like noisy or raw like not sharp, why is that? Just curious.

ALSO I don't know you guys but I love you guys for responding. I have read everything and tried -- with some success -- to understand what you guys mean. Of course I still have about... 10 questions. Here are some:

Why do you think it's best to start with wide field? Not that I will because I am stubborn but I would like to understand why! :D
You're saying I don't NEED a DSLR to start astrophotography... but how? I do NEED a mount and telescope tho?
The focal ratio and aperture are details are that of a telescope, right? From my simple understanding, for the camera, only the body is used and then it will be... fixed onto the telescope and the telescope works as its lens? Am I right or completely crazy wrong?

Still don't know where to START hahaha I'm so impatient, I want to start now lol. Been looking at cloudynights' classifieds... I don't even know what's a good deal. Would suck to spend and be like oh dear I was scammed D: Like for example, is "1.5 year old 60Da body with less than 500 shutter clicks." for USD1100 a good deal?
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antares2063
Posts: 687
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 3:34 pm
Favourite scope: Newtonians
Location: Bedok North Street 2, Singapore

Re: Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Post by antares2063 »

Well shooting widefield with a dslr on tripod is the easiest way to begin.

To do those that shoot through the telescope, the learning curve is steeper and u need a few more stuff:

A) a EQmount that is powered and has the ability to track the sky as it rotates. That being said, the mount isnt dummy proof, need to learn how to set it up and do alignment.
B) a Guidescope with a guide cam , i think most use ASI here
C) a main telescope whereby the camera is connected to it. This shoots the nice pics of nebulas that u see in the forum. Some use CCDs instaed of dslrs.
D) a laptop
E) time and determination to learn how to drift align the mount.
F) clear sky time to actually do the shooting of objects in space.

Maybe you can drop by the upcoming equipment festival, ake the chance to chat with some of the astrophotographers here to get a clearer understanding. Look and see the stuff on for sale.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13838

Alos if you are looking for a Unmodded dslr you might try looking here in the sg photography forum, not worth it to buy a non astro optimised gear from Cloudynights. CN ads are generally safe, half of my eyepieces come from there and some of my friends buy stuff from CN with no issues.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64


Regards
Junwei
I miss the place where stars shine bright, to gaze upwards in awe of the sight
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ivan
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:52 pm
Favourite scope: TAK-oyaki
Location: Toa Payoh

Re: Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Post by ivan »

Alright, here are are my responses to some of your questions. Hope that it is helpful :)
thlightbrigade wrote:Why do you think it's best to start with wide field? Not that I will because I am stubborn but I would like to understand why! :D
It is best to start with a wider field because it places less demands on the accuracy of the mount's tracking. The higher to focal length, the more magnified tracking errors are. You'll find that one of the most difficult and time consuming things in the data acquisition (shooting) stage of astrophotography is keeping stars pinpoint and not trailed. Shooting at a shorter focal length makes that easier. Also, because many deep sky objects have a large angular (apparent) size in the night sky, you do not need a long focal length to capture them in their entirety. In fact, having too narrow of a field may result in it being impossible to capture certain objects in a single frame.
thlightbrigade wrote:You're saying I don't NEED a DSLR to start astrophotography... but how? I do NEED a mount and telescope tho?
It really depends on what you intend to do. I'd say that a DSLR is nearly essential in beginning astrophotography, even if in theory one could shoot with a point and shoot (or even a camera phone). It arguably gives the greatest benefit per dollar spent in terms of camera choice.

After the camera, the next most important piece of equipment is a motorised german equatorial mount. Once again, you could in theory shoot without a mount, but your exposures will be severely limited. As for the telescope, it would be nice to have one, although in this case there exists a greater substitutability as telephoto lenses can also be used in lieu. The primary motivation for purchasing a telescope is often cost, because good telephotos capable of achieving the optical requirements of astroimaging often cost more than a telescope of similar specifications.
thlightbrigade wrote:The focal ratio and aperture are details are that of a telescope, right? From my simple understanding, for the camera, only the body is used and then it will be... fixed onto the telescope and the telescope works as its lens? Am I right or completely crazy wrong?
You are absolutely right. At prime focus, in which a DSLR body is coupled to a telescope tube, the telescope acts as a long focal length lens. The optical attributes (aperture, focal speed) are directly translatable from photography lingua franca.
thlightbrigade wrote:Still don't know where to START hahaha I'm so impatient, I want to start now lol. Been looking at cloudynights' classifieds... I don't even know what's a good deal. Would suck to spend and be like oh dear I was scammed D: Like for example, is "1.5 year old 60Da body with less than 500 shutter clicks." for USD1100 a good deal?
I'd say (in my humble opinion) that the Canon 60Da isn't worth the money. A modified used DSLR will outperform it and cost less. Understandably, it is often difficult in specific cases to distinguish a good deal from a bad one. Like antares2063 mentioned above, you might want to head down to EF2015 and speak directly to the astrophotographers there.

Cheers,
Ivan
Just a casual stargazer
thlightbrigade
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:15 pm

Re: Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Post by thlightbrigade »

Hello all! You guys are speedy in your responses, amazing. Thank you both for your very very extremely helpful points and answers.

I have already signed up for the event before Junwei mentioned it actually ;) but eh a bit shy, I don't know what to ask and I feel like I might just be asking so many things all at once then so troublesome for everyone hahahaha. But I'll be there and see the legit stuff you guys use irl, truly looking forward. I hope to get something there so I can begin :) Are you guys going??

Ivan,
OKAY I have decided to get a modified DSLR, what I'm concerned about it that I understand there are many ways to modify... anything. So a camera for astrophotography, I'm sure there are so many things you can modify, how do I know what I'm buying is modified in the way I want it to be? And that it is modified and of the standard I need it to be? Are these things very technical?
Interesting idea of telephotos, I will probably get a telescope after reading up a little on astropix.com hehe -- more cost effective and also I don't need it for day use, I don't see why I need the portability too...? I hope I don't regret this hohoho.

Thanks junwei for the tips. After much thought, even with the steeper learning curve, I think I would like to go straight into deep space photography. With help from all of you of course! :D
You mentioned an EQmount, I do want to get this too. Any things to look out for when I look at the specs of an EQmount?

PERSONAL QUESTIONS IF U WANNA ANSWER:
- How much did you spend on your first whole proper setup when you started this hobby?
- How long have you been doing this for?
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ivan
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:52 pm
Favourite scope: TAK-oyaki
Location: Toa Payoh

Re: Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Post by ivan »

Yes I'll be there for the event. Feel free to approach us! No worries about asking lots of questions. We're happy when people are enthusiastic :D

Oh yes, I forgot to mention. The modification that I am referring to is an IR mod. Basically, it involves replacing the IR filter of the DSLR with a piece of clear glass. The primary purpose of this is to capture the deeper red portion of the spectrum that most nebulae emit in.

As for the mount, I guess the easiest is to get a fully computerised one (goto). One important thing to check is whether or not the mount latitude range accommodates our 1 degree latitude (many do not). If it does not, you could either custom make a wedge or a half-pier. Alternatively, just look for one that does go to zero degrees.

For the personal questions...I honestly don't know what defines a first proper setup. I guess it was really incremental. The first "real" telescope (a 5-inch newt) I bought cost me about $500 from the science centre. I have been in the hobby for roughly 7 years, although it was only recently (last 2 years) that I became more active and joined singastro (thereby getting to know the local astro community) :)
Just a casual stargazer
mymoon
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:47 pm
Location: kuala lumpur

Re: Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Post by mymoon »

Hi

I would recommend this video for you

http://youtu.be/cUQLzLrbTgA

The presenters discuss 4 type of astrophotography includin planetary photography.

I went camping deep in the jungle. I woke up to pee early morning. I thought the sky is crashing; so many stars.

So I set up my Canon 20d on the tripod and auto ISO and Av(aperture priority letting the camera set the length of the exposure) and a 50mm at widest setting in my case 1.4 and shoot a few shots. The reason I use auto ISO is that I don't know what ISO to use and similarly the Av mode I just don't how long to expose. It was my first time so I let the camera decide for me and auto focus on what I thought was a star. I learn later that it was jupiter. I frame it in landscape mode. I have always shoot in RAW.

But then my knowledge of Photoshop was above average from shooting wild birds and models. So I processed my first shot of part of the (all learned later) Milky Way with Jupiter at the bottom LHS of the frame.

A online bird photographer help me identify the objects in the MW including jupiter. I was hooked.

I still shoot using camera lens , except for the guide scope and finder scope. The mount is the most important ; buy the most expensive you can afford and the heaviest that you can carry.

Anyway watch the video and many more such videos. Now with so many info available on line it will be a shame to deny them. Take care there are a lot of urban legends floating around too. Most will not admit the wrong route taken in their astrophoto journey.

Do join Remus in Mersing. But before that get his agreement to give some time for him to show you the ropes.



Cheers and best of luck.
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antares2063
Posts: 687
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 3:34 pm
Favourite scope: Newtonians
Location: Bedok North Street 2, Singapore

Re: Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Post by antares2063 »

Do drop by with your husband too, the imaging people are very friendly and willing to share their expertise and poison , cya.

Regards,
junwei
I miss the place where stars shine bright, to gaze upwards in awe of the sight
heyjojos
Posts: 93
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 11:23 pm

Re: Telescope and Mount Suggestions

Post by heyjojos »

@cloud_cover

May I know what setting did u use for the second photo? Was it on a mod DSLR?
They looked so nice! I just got a Star Adventurer recently and I'm looking forward to image something similar!! Hope I can get a picture similar to yours! : )
HJ
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