FAO 406tm

[GetCarter]

Oi!

Have you posted any pics taken through your posh telescope yet?

Steve

[406tm]

Hello mate

No, not yet. since I haver had it, there has not been a clear night. What I may do, considering it has a 1748 mm or there abouts focal length is take it to Nene Park and get some distance shots. I really should do this anyway to set up the LNA
- Meade recon a target about a mile away is needed, not much use doing in my back garden

As soon as I have some I will post them here. Are you thinking of getting one then?

Dave

406TM

[GetCarter]

I'm always considering everything that I really shouldn't spend money on. If it has an engine, some speakers or a lens, I'm much more likely to spend.

I guess what I rteally want therefore is an Aston with a Linn hi fi and in-built Hasselblad.

[_dobbo_]

GetCarter said:

I'm always considering everything that I really shouldn't spend money on. If it has an engine, some speakers or a lens, I'm much more likely to spend. I guess what I rteally want therefore is an Aston with a Linn hi fi and in-built Hasselblad.

Can't you spec Linn gear for your aston anway? then you just need to solve the hasselbald conundrum...

[V6GTO]

GetCarter said:

I guess what I really want therefore is an Noble M14 with a Maclaren hi fi and in-built Canon 1D Mark2s

Couldn't agree more, Steve

[pete_w]

Aye, looking forward to blurred images of bright sky objects....... when the cloud finally breaks....

[UKBob]

pete_w said:

Aye, looking forward to blurred images of bright sky objects....... when the cloud finally breaks....

Same!

What telescope and camera combination are you using?

[406tm]

UKBob said:

What telescope and camera combination are you using?

Bob

Using the Meade ETX 105 Premier Edition as on this page - www.greenwich-observatory.co.uk/acatalog/Meade_ETX_Range.html and the Nikon D70

I may go after one of theses if the D70 proves unsuitable - MEADE
Lunar and Planetary Imager

Details here - www.greenwich-observatory.co.uk/acatalog/Other_CCD_Cameras.html

Dave

406TM

[UKBob]

406tm said:

UKBob said: What telescope and camera combination are you using? Bob Using the Meade ETX 105 Premier Edition as on this page - www.greenwich-observatory.co.uk/acatalog/Meade_ETX_Range.html and the Nikon D70 I may go after one of theses if the D70 proves unsuitable - MEADE Lunar and Planetary Imager Details here - www.greenwich-observatory.co.uk/acatalog/Other_CCD_Cameras.html Dave 406TM

Cool

Ive got a G5(4x) and 8x CrystalVue LX lens, which gives me 32x optical zoom (about 1600mm) but the CrystalVue lens is very poor quality (only $200 though! from www.ckcpower.com who specialise in cheap zoom lenses and digiscoping) and suffers from slight vinetting(sp), and makes the G5's chromatic abberation even worse... it wont compare to your shots. Have you got any pics? Are there any other astro photographers here? I'd love to get a proper lens - my setup is cheap/fun but the quality isnt great.

(took quite a few tries to get that shot, the moon moves pretty fast!) I got mars once, but no one believed it was actually mars, it looked more like an red blob created in photoshop.

I hope to 'one day maybe' get a Sigma 300-800. At $5000 its not cheap, but for the power there isnt anything else that is available 'over the counter' (that I am aware of). Just about the only other alternative is canon's 1200mm which is made to order and costs $80'000

With a 2x converter on the Sigma 300-800mm you have 1600mm, and the 1.6 crop factor leaves you with with the equivalent of 2500mm
Here are some shots:
www.pbase.com/liquidstone/image/48681168
www.pbase.com/liquidstone/image/54587922/original

More pics:
www.pbase.com/liquidstone/philippine_wild_birds

The camera:
www.pbase.com/liquidstone/rmo

Its very expensive, but it literally opens up a whole new world and the quality is leagues ahead of my setup!

If only it wasnt so expensive

[406tm]

A few quickies I snapped today. I did not spend any time setting up etc too cold. Just remember, this is a telescope I have used here so the pics will not be as good as they would be with a lens of a similar focal length - 1748mm f5 I think - and not designed for landscape pics.

View with 50 mm lens - I forgot to set the auto focus Doh!



Chimney of house in the distance



Far shoreline



The ETX 105PE

[UKBob]

Thats a nice piece of kit dave, have fun - and post some more pics when you've taken some. I found the fun of having a zoom lens outweighed the reduction in quality

There are plenty of 8x converters which fit camcorders - can you imagine 25x8x optical zoom - thats 200x optical zoom, or the equivalent of 10'000mm

I saw a video on the net a few years ago of a +-100x zoom camcorder setup, someone zoomed into a window of a block of flats several hundred meters away