7D + Telescope... Help!!!

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lancsoatcake

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Daniel
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Hi All,

I'm wanting to use my telescope to take some pictures of the moon, and planets if possible.

I have tried to set it up before (with my 350D) and adaptors off the net, but got nothing but black screens. I'm definitely doing something wrong, and I'm pretty sure you are the guys & gals to help me out.

Really appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks,

Dan
 
For the moon a simple T or T2 mount should suffice, but your camera must have the ability to operate the shutter when a lens is not attached as a T mount doesn't have a chip with lens ID info. You would normally remove the eyepiece and substitute the camera with the adapter. For the moon you can probably get away with a stationary mount as the shutter speed will be quite short. For planets, I doubt if a 5" reflector will yield much in the way of results, and in any case you'd need a motorised equatorial mount to track the planet and use a time exposure.
 
I couldn't see through the viewfinder. But wondered if that was just how it was...
 
lancsoatcake said:
Hi All,

I'm wanting to use my telescope to take some pictures of the moon, and planets if possible.

I have tried to set it up before (with my 350D) and adaptors off the net, but got nothing but black screens. I'm definitely doing something wrong, and I'm pretty sure you are the guys & gals to help me out.

Really appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks,

Dan
Click to expand...


Okay, to start from the beginning :) I assume you have taken the lens caps off the scope?

You have connected the camera without an eyepiece in the scope?

You have actually tried to take a shot with the camera? Can you get the moon in the viewfinder?

You said black screen :thinking: What exactly do you mean :thinking:

Are you actually getting the scope on the moon whilst the camera is attached? A camera is quite heavy and could easily move the scope, also don't forget the moon is moving pretty quickly as is the earth.

Newtonian scopes can be very difficult to get focus with a DSLR! if not impossible.

Why not just take a shot for a second or so and post it up?..... Perhaps we can help :cool:
 
Ok, I'll set up tomorrow and have another go.

Will come back with how I get on...
 
My Meade scope has a knob you have to turn to divert the image from the scope eyepiece to the rear/camera mount, perhaps yours has one also?
 
Ian - a good tip I was given - is try during the day light, you don't have to wait until the night.

Just make sure everything is clear through the eyepeice as normal, then attach your camera.

You may also get problems with focusing, I needed to use a barlow, to get focus with my 7D & reflector.

If you're still having problems - post up a pic of how you're connecting the camera.
 
What mount is the 'scope on? An alt/az, German Equatorial or dobsonian. Is it motorised?

As has been said above, you need to connect it to your eyepiece holder. Typically, you will need an extension tube to get focus with any form of camera on a newtonian. They are however quite cheap. Secondly, I'd be using live view to get the object on chip rather than looking through the viewfinder and you'll also need a remote shutter release too to enable you to take the photo without touching the 'scope. You should always use mirror lockup to ensure you get the minimum possible vibrations through the 'scope.

If the mount isn't motorised, forget any type of photography other than the moon IMHO. Planetary photos benefit from long focal lengths (I'm assuming your newtonian is an f5 or f6.3 design so somewhere 700-800mm focal length) to get anything more than a small circle on the chip. You can Barlow up the image to increase the focal length but then the stability of the mount comes into play. You could really then do with video and a tracking mount as you will have atmospheric effects that you'll need to counter and the best way of doing this is lots and lots of frames... You can literally end up throwing money at this. The best planetary astrophotographers tend to live close to the south coast (less light pollution and looking south over the sea rather than land) and have many thousands invested in the mount, let alone the money invested in the long focal length 'scopes and cameras to do the job.

If this is more than a passing "lets see if I can..." phase, IMHO the best place to go and ask for more help/information is probably http://www.stargazerslounge.com/
 
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