Digital Camera

[tamer]

Hello fellow astronomers.

I'm planning of getting a digital camera for just under 100GBP, but not sure which one to go for. I want it to be able to take exposures long enought for me to be able to take pictures of some planets, and possibly even some nebula and the andromeda galaxy. I am very strict on the budget so any decent digital camera which can be used for astronomy will be considered. Any ideas.

Thanks a lot.

Tamer

[seeker372011]

At that price point, have you considered a webcam instead of a point and shoot digital camera?

A webcam will allow you to image the planets, but will need -some fairly complex-modification if you want to image Deep Space Objects including the Andromeda Galaxy or the Great Orion Nebula.

check out the FAQ at

http://www.qcuiag.co.uk/

[tamer]

I'v considered the webcam but since I'm gonna be buying a digital camera within the next few days, I was thinking that it might aswell be something I can use with the telescope aswell. So the digi cam is a deffinate, but not sure which one in that price range. Also, which software do you use to make the images come out like I'v seen others do.

[tamer]

by the way, the link doesn't work

[gavwvin]

High-stret digital cameras usually have a maximum exposure time of 30seconds- Its going to be tough to photograph the orion nebula or andromeda with it.

[tamer]

I'v got an equatorial mount, but haven't so far been able to set it to a polar axis yet as I'v mostly used to the telescope indoors, and cannot see the northern star without sticking my head out the window. Therefore, any exposure that I make longer than 30 seconds will probably mess the picture up anyway. I was thinking doing what seeker does, take pictures and 'put them on top of each other' to bring out the brightness. If it works for him, hopefully it will work for me. Which software can I use to be able to do that?

[imported_iceman]

For 100 pounds, which is about $300 aussie dollars, you won't get a digital camera that can do more than 15 second exposures, if you're lucky.. that's really the low-end of the market..

You'll most likely get something in the 3megapixel range with little in the way of manual controls (ISO, exposure etc) which you NEED to be able to take good astroshots.

I expect you'll need to spend more if you want true potential for astrophotography.
Some of the settings you'll want/need:
- ISO (up to 400 is good)
- exposure
- burst mode/video mode (640x480 ideally)
- variable shutter times (1/60sec up to 15 seconds or more)
- focal settings (infinity)
- self-timer mode

How are you planning to attach it to the telescope? Your options are:
- Handheld
- On a fixed camera tripod
- attached to the telescope eyepiece, using adapters from http://www.scopetronix.com or get an orion steadypix adapter (google search it).

Handheld is no good, you'll get camera shake and most of your images will be blurry and/or out of focus.
On a fixed camera tripod will work, that's how I've been taking my afocal images. It's a fair bit of work though, as the object moves out of the FOV.
Attached to the telescope is the best method, I'm planning to buy an adapter very soon if I can't get a webcam.

Even with a tracking EQ mount and a camera attached to the eyepiece, your deepspace efforts will be very limited because the exposure time just won't be long enough.. You could probably get the brighter globulars and nebulas, but you might be limited to the moon and planets, as I am now.

My camera has up to 30 second exposures, but I use a dob, so I don't have tracking, and I use a camera on a tripod pointed into the EP.

Check out my images @ my website: IceInSpace (http://www.iceinspace.com).

Good luck and let us know how you go!

Oh and for stacking images, you need registax.

[afterburn]

Think about going used. you can still find some bargains on ebay

[seeker372011]

Originally posted by tamer@Oct 17 2004, 12:43 PM
by the way, the link doesn't work
I tried just then and it seems to work fine so I am not quite sure why you are experiencing a problem?maybe a momentary glitch.

http://www.qcuiag.co.uk

[kashi]

Definitely buy it on ebay. Ebay is the ONLY place to buy digital cameras. By sure to tick "worldwide" as most of the cheap cameras come from the US.

[damienpaul]

what prices can one expect on ebay, for example? (I am now looking to buy some digital equipment)

[Gneiss]

I have yet to see a standard digital camera that would be suitable for anything other than the Moon and a few of the brighter planets. The other problem is that most do not have detachable lenses - there are ways round this but it is always a serious compromise.

I too would suggest the WebCam option as your best bet, you can now buy eyepiece adaptors for these (which screw into the WebCam in place of their lens) which allow them to be used in place of an eyepiece. It is possible (with digital processing) to produce extremely good images and some of the best amateur images I have seen of the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn were taken in this way.

I would recommend the logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 for this, but there are several others that are also suitable. As was mentioned earlier, they would require some modification for use on fainter objects.

[tamer]

I ordered the digital camera on monday and recieved it on tuestday. It is a Samsung Digimax 301 (what my girlfriend wanted). Seems like a decent one. Can set the exposure but only to a maximum of around 15 secs. Got it for around 85GBP. Do a simple search if you want to check out the reviews. Didn't have time to buy it on ebay as we were going for a wedding ceremony, so would have been useful. I don't think you can add anything to the front of the lens, as it is at the same level of the rest of the camera. But I think it's not that bad for that price.
Will still be considering a webcam, but probably not right now as I'm changing jobs in the very near future, so cant really afford to spend any money right now.

Anyway, considering that I don't have an automatic tracker, I am just limited to fast snaps rather than long exposures (my guess is that it will be hard to keep track of the stars, nebula, etc, with just manual adjustments, partly because I cant polar align it cos I use the telescope indoors.

Most, if not all, of the pictures will be taken by holding the camera to the eye piece, hope it works. Will post pics as soon as I have them.

Downloaded regitax but haven't had time to properly experiment with it, should do once I have some pics. By the way, when your stacking pictures, do you use the same picture again and again, or do you take multiple pictures and stack them???

Anyway, thanks for all the advice. Been very helpful once again.

Tamer.

[imported_iceman]

You have to take multiple pictures and stack them - stacking the same pic won't bring out any more detail.
Use the camera's burst mode (or movie mode) to get multiple images.

Check out my website for the pictures i've taken using a digicam held up to the eyepiece. IceInSpace (http://www.iceinspace.com)

I sit the camera on a tripod now and use the 10s self-timer, as it eliminates the camera shake. It's just frustrating watching the object drift out of the FOV and having to realign it all the time.

ideally you should get a camera adapter (www.scopetronix.com) or the steadypix adapter.. i will be getting one myself if I don't get a webcam, but i plan to get the webcam next.

[Gneiss]

Re. Processing

Either Registax, astrostax or Astra Image can do all the processing for you...

and the best news is they can all be downloaded free. However the Free version of Astra Image will not let you save the result :rolleyes: but there is a fairly obvious way round that ;)