Telescope photography

Rahb · Mar 6, 2006

Ok, I (my wife that is) own a Meade ETX 70 (maybe it's a 75) telescope with drive motor. When I purchased it I got the tmount to attach my Canon Rebel XS. The camera attatches fine, but I have yet to get anything in focus... (i've only tried to focus on things on earth, but it was only about 50yrds away which could be the problem).

My question is, has anyone used a telescope to mount their camera on? done shots of stars/moon? Used it to take pictures of really distant objects? (if so how did you accomplish this. I know it will more than likely result in underexposed shots but i was just curious if anyone has tried this. Thanks.

Rahb

Alpha · Mar 6, 2006

A while back I read some post on here (in the gallery if I recall) by someone who had taken some beautiful shots with their telescope. I can't remember anything about the film type they used (may have been digital), but I do remember them saying that the finished images were done by layering multiple exposures. From what i do remember, I believe they layered the finished images in photoshop, as opposed to a conventional multiple exposure on a single film frame.

Rahb · Mar 6, 2006

correction it is an ETX-80

PlasticSpanner · Mar 6, 2006

50 yds is probably too close!

You focus with the eyepeice focuser until you get a sharp image in the camera.

Stars can have almost any exposure over 5 seconds but planets like Saturn for example, will be around 1 second or less.

The Moon is a very short exposure and you'll probably need a moon filter for the telescope too. A lot is by trial and error but start with around 1/60th sec & work up from there

Are you using eyepeices with the camera or connecting it directly to the scope?

Rahb · Mar 6, 2006

i'm connecting it directly to the rear of the scope. it has a door/miror you flip down to use te camera port or the eyepiece. I haven't played with it too much, but I figure that if it is in focus using the eyepiece, when I drop the door down it should be in focus for the camera. I havent tried but would this be true? Looking through the camera about a year ago i couldn't bring anything on th horizon in focus...but i don't remember if i could with the eyepiece. thx for your help.

PlasticSpanner · Mar 6, 2006

The distance from the mirror to your eye in the eyepeice is unlikely to be exactly the same as the distance to the film (or sensor) plane in your camera as most cameras differ by a few mm.

Best bet is to try for a simple star cluster first until you get some ideas for exposure and focus. Try Pleides first. If you don't know where it is and have no astronomy software look for Stellarium on the internet. (free download)

PlasticSpanner · Mar 6, 2006

Try this thread for some starters for exposures & stuff.

Most of my pics there were taken without a telescope. Pursuer has a 10" newtonian reflector which is motor driven and he gets some really good shots with it! :thumbup:

http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31240

Torus34 · Mar 6, 2006

Often overlooked is the simple trick of strapping the camera with its own lens to the telescope so that the camera lens is aligned with the 'scope optical axis. The drive will then permit a time exposure of a wide field of stars. Orion is a good starting point. Using color film, you'll really see a color difference between Betelgeuse and Rigel. The nebula should pop up nicely also. With reasonably dark skies, you can use an f3.5 135mm and get a somewhat narrower view.