how do i buy telescopes with attachments to mount DSLRs?

opteron · Post by **opteron** » Fri May 04, 2007 8:56 pm

i am interested in taking astrophotos, ever since picking up my nikon DSLR so what are the telescopes that i can buy that directly mount nikon dslrs ?

something cheap and good as i am just a NSF.

thanks

Meng Lee · Post by **Meng Lee** » Fri May 04, 2007 10:25 pm

Mount DSLR on top of the scope or mount into the telescope?

opteron · Post by **opteron** » Fri May 04, 2007 10:37 pm

mount them into telescopes...

Meng Lee · Post by **Meng Lee** » Fri May 04, 2007 10:49 pm

Essentially there are many ways:

If your scope end is:

1) 1.25", then get a T-ring and a T-1.25" adapter

2)2", then get a T-ring and a T-2" adapter such as: #5269

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/produ ... oductID=47

Note that T-ring is specific to brand (sometimes specific to model) so make sure get the right T-ring.

opteron · Post by **opteron** » Fri May 04, 2007 10:54 pm

how do i know whether which telescopes are suitable for mounting t rings ?

Meng Lee · Post by **Meng Lee** » Fri May 04, 2007 11:00 pm

Erm, I am not sure if I answered your questions correctly. If you want a very good beginner telescope for photography that you can attach your DSLR onto it, then I would recommend either

1) Orion 80ED
2) William optics 66SD Apo

for scope 1), it has 2" at the end, so need to get the T-ring and T-2"adapter
for scope 2), it has SCT/1.25" at the end, so you need to get the T-ring and SCT-T adapter.

All above equipment can be obtained from Astrobargains.

But to do really proper astrophotgraphy, you need a mount with tracking and autoguider function to counter Earth rotation and mechanical defects.

Meng Lee · Post by **Meng Lee** » Fri May 04, 2007 11:10 pm

If you want to know more, we can meet up for a discussion to give you the full details.

Post by **Airconvent** » Fri May 04, 2007 11:21 pm

www.scopetronix.com sells lots of such accessories but they are not cheap.
One simple ring adapter to connect the eyepiece to the camera cost me $200!
Eventually I sold it to a young lady from NTU very cheaply because no one would believe I paid that much for it.

Also check out local vendor www.astrobargains.com as they are back online and do have some accessories...

vhuang168 · Post by **vhuang168** » Sat May 05, 2007 12:11 am

There is going to be a substantial investment if you want to take really good pictures.

Telescope choice depends on what you want to take pictures of. Small dim fuzzies or bright and large nebulae? Galaxies? Everything?

You will also have to either get a guide scope or an off axis guider and either a guide CCD or guide by hand with a cross hair ep.

Then you have to pick a mount that will handle what you decided to use for a scope + camera + guide stuff.

Lots of choices... lots of decisions.

Vincent

Post by **zong** » Sat May 05, 2007 2:00 am

how about some wide field astrophotography for a start?

all you need might just be a good tripod and mount. you can already start doing star trails, some stacking, and nice photos of whole constellations. Sometimes if you're lucky you might even capture some deep sky objects in the photo!

Meanwhile, you could also follow people at star parties and enjoy views of deep sky objects through other people's scopes before deciding on a scope you'd like to use for your astrophotography.