Help/Advice With Telescope & Camera Setup

Soldato
Joined
23 Sep 2007
Posts
4,095
Location
Essex
Morning,

My setup consists of - Celestron Astromaster 130eq & Lumix G80

I've bought an adapter so I can connect my camera to the scope via a 3x Barlow lens. The G80 slides into the Barlow which in turn slides into the scope.

I've taken a picture of a tree about 2-3 miles away, but no matter what I do the picture isnt clear.

Has anyone tried this combination and got great/clear results? I'm not sure the scope mirrors need calibrating or I'm doing something wrong with the camera settings.

I was hoping I would get clear pictures. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Here's the pic I took.............

S4a8us0.jpg

Thanks :)
 
Thanks for all the comments/help.

You might be expecting too much from this combination of scope and camera - especially with a 3x barlow in the mix pushing the magnification up even more. Terrestrial scenes also suffer from atmospheric aberrations more so not a good way of assessing performance. What were you hoping to achieve with this setup?

I want to be able to take good photos of the Moon, and whatever else is up there.

As I work nights its always cloudy when Im off. And I thought that if I can take a picture of a tree (i know its basic, but the one above is about 2-3 miles away) and it comes out clear then the Moon should be a piece of cake.

But as I cant get any sort of focus Im going to struggle with the moon.

Using the 3x Barlow was the only way I can get an image. I was hoping that I could just drop the camera in the focus tube and get an image that way.

I still need to mess about with settings etc, as there's no proper lens connected I didnt use the correct focal length when I turned the camera on.

Vader, Ian, Sonic and Chris - thanks for the input/links/help. There's so much to learn from this.
 
edit: this is what happens when it gets out of hand :)

:eek::eek: That looks awesome, and so expensive lol. The pictures from it would be stunning

I think unless you're willing to spend big money on a telescope setup, for near objects like the moon you're better off with decent telephoto lens and a good tripod. You can get pretty decent results with a tracking mount like this for widefield and larger DSO's like andromeda, Orion nebula etc: http://skywatcher.com/product/star-adventurer/

Yeah, Ive been looking at something like this for moon and nebula's, but the cost for a decent lens is quite high. Although I have bought a Nikon lens (cheap 70-300mm) with adapter for my camera. With the storms we've had I've not tried it yet.

The scope I got was a basic one, and if things worked out for me with pics, then I was going to look into getting a better one. I have a few bookmarked so I will see what they can do that the one I have can't.

Again, thanks for the input and help. I have a lot to look into and read.

Cheers guys :)
 
Thanks, I'll have a look when I get home.

*edit*

Ive had a look at a few scopes, and getting more confused lol

Have a few bookmarked and will have a good read over the next few days.

Im almost certain to come back here and ask more questions :)
 
Last edited:
Sorry for the late reply.

At the moment, Im looking at the William Optics Zenithstar 61. The price seems ok but then you have the added accessories which will bump the cost up a little bit more.

The size is nice and portable, and the reviews are good. I just have to look into it a little bit more and then pull the trigger on buying it.


Thanks again for all the input.
 
xmeNj6F.jpg

I've bookmarked a few scopes from suggestions above and from smr, thanks again.

I got a cheap 800mm chinese lens and tried the moon. The above is what I ended up with, made up of 2 images stacked.
 
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