EQ mount for canon 10D

[dchillis]

what would be a really good stable EQ mount for my canon 10D, and what do I need to mount the camera on it. thanks dan

[Lomitus]

Hey Dan,
What exactly are you looking to do with it? I'm assuming that your looking for an EQ mount as apposed to a standard tripod so that you can do astrophoto work(?). Since it's just the camera your looking to mount and not a scope with the camera, you could probably go with something like the Orion "Min-EQ" mount...basic table top eq mount for cameras. Another option is if you are using a scope, piggyback mount the camera on the scope. As far as what to use to mount the camera on it, the Orion Min-EQ has a basic 1/4-20 camera mount so all you need to do is simply screw the camera onto the mount...nothing fancy about it at all :). It threads on the same way a regular camera tripod would. If I'm not mistaken, you can also get the motor kit , EQ-1M to use as an RA drive for tracking what your shooting. I'm sure there are certainly other brands as well that have a similar setup, I'm just a big fan of Orion...good products and great service! You can check out the Orion Min-EQ to see if thats what you had in mind at;

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/...&iProductID=296 (http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=296&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=6&iSubCat=24&iProductID=296)


As far as piggyback mounting the camera to a scope, there are a number of ways to do this. The easiest (for me at least) is if your scope mount has a piggyback adapter...I have an Orion 127mm Mak and I'm using a pretty heavy duty EQ mount (I -think- it's a Meade mount, but not really sure) and I got a set of Orion mounting rings to attach to the mount to make putting the scope on easier. These mounting rings have a built in screw for piggyback mounting. The nice thing here is the screw also unthreads and comes off so I can also mount a guide scope on top of the rings when I'm doing prime focus stuff. I've also seen other ways of piggyback mounting cameras on scope as well...in a recent issue of Astronomy magazine (sorry...I forget which month) there was some astropics that a lady had taken and the way she had mounted her camera on her scope was to simply use a bunch of hair bungees! Basically she just strapped the sucker on! LOL! The main thing with any of these meathods really is to simply remember to balance everything once the camera is mounted (the camera adds a couple of pounds of extra weight and with an EQ mount, balance is very important!).

BTW, that Canon D10 is a really great camera (I'm quite envious!)...I've been looking at them for a while now. All of my 35mm equipment is Canon so a D10 would be ideal for me, but unfortunatly, their just -way- out of my price range. Nonetheless, their very versitile digitals to say the least. If you have a decent scope, you should even be able to pick up a standard Canon T-adapter and ring for some prime focus stuff with a scope. You can go really far with that camera :D.

Anyways, if thats not what you were looking for, maybe give us a little more info on what your tryin to do.

Good Luck!
Bright Blessings & Gentle Breezes,
Jim

[Lomitus]

Hey Dan,
I just saw your other post on the Astroview 120ST. If you decide to get that scope, then you won't need the Min-EQ mount! The add says that scope comes with the Astroview EQ mount with tripod and if you look at the pics closely you'll see there is a camera adapter built into the top of the front ring. This would work for doing the piggyback mounting I was talking about in the last post. Also, if you decide to go with that scope, when you order, ask them if the focuser is threaded as a T-adapter...my Apex/StarMax is and the Astroview may be as well. If it is, then all you need is a T-ring for the Canon (their about $20) to do prime focus astropics. Either way, the Astroview 120ST and that Canon D10 would be a -dynamite- setup for a begginer looking to get into astrophotography! :D

Good Luck!
Jim