Astrophotography

[XKjimmy]

Hi all,

I've recently purchased a D300s, I captured a moon photo, as its something I've always been interested in, this got me thinking about getting clearer shots and Astrophotography using a telescope.
with the telescope, adapter fir the camera, how much money would a set up cost?

Thanks

James.

[nellyleelephant]

XKjimmy said:

Hi all,

I've recently purchased a D300s, I captured a moon photo, as its something I've always been interested in, this got me thinking about getting clearer shots and Astrophotography using a telescope.
with the telescope, adapter fir the camera, how much money would a set up cost?

Thanks

James.

Really depends how far you want to go. To do any long exposure work you're looking at a tracking mount (about 1k for a suitable one) for starters. As far as scopes go, you don't need anything too big, smallish refractor would be suitable, Skywatcher ED 80 seems popular, probably around a grand too!

You could just look out for a secondhand Skywatcher mount, eq5 with goto would be ok, and then mount your camera on that. Once properly aligned you would be able to do widefield long exposures of the milky way. With the right lens (200mm 2.8L canon is popular....Nikon must to something similar) you can get stunning pictures of the larger galaxies.

[XKjimmy]

Many thanks for the reply, hmm, starting to look expensive! really interests me though. That does sound fantastic though, doing wide field exposures of the milky way, and where I live doesn't have a lot of light pollution too. Lens wise, I have a 55-300 so could well be done with that.

[Nuclearsquash]

Go here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/

there's some very good astrophotographers on there.

It really depends on what you want to take pictures of that determines what kit you need. Anyway ask on there, you will get good advice, all i know is it will be expensive

[XKjimmy]

Thanks for the link, I'll have a look now.
I have found this that looks a good price, don't know weather its any good though.. a lot out there ..

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Skywatcher_...

[Nuclearsquash]

One thing i do see recommended constantly is this book

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every...

apparently it should be read before investing any money in scopes/equipment.

[nellyleelephant]

XKjimmy said:

Many thanks for the reply, hmm, starting to look expensive! really interests me though. That does sound fantastic though, doing wide field exposures of the milky way, and where I live doesn't have a lot of light pollution too. Lens wise, I have a 55-300 so could well be done with that.

You really want a fast prime over a zoom, less glass is better.