Digital cameras and Astronomy

Felixxi · May 20, 2001

Hello,
I am, like many others, deciding what camera is the best for my needs.

I am wondering if there is someone who is thinking of using their cameras to take pictures in a night sky.

I do not know if digital cameras are ready for using in astronomy and long exposures pictures ??
I do not know if there are accesories for attaching a camera to my telescope ??

What is the best camera for night pictures ??
...of course I would like to use the camera for other generic purposes.

Thanks
--F. Martin

Dave B · May 20, 2001

Fmartin,

All of the 2-3 MegaPixel cameras with manual controls, 3X zoom, and THREADED lens do a good job. I have used a Nikon 950 with excellant results. Depending on what you want to do and what equipment you currently have will be a starting point. The real challenge is connecting the camera to the telescope or scope. The connection is called "afocal" and you actually hold/attach the camera lens up to the scope/telescope lens at full zoom.
http://www.oeonline.com/~chiron/afocal.html

If you are only interested in moon shots then a 12X scope with work fine (12X scope times 3X Zoom) = 36X for the moon. One company makes a threaded lens for digital cameras and scopes.
http://www.ckcpower.com/scopes.htm
Sample shots with a 36X scope and Nikon 959
http://www.lonestardigital.com/coolpix950.htm

If you are looking for a larger telescope the problem is still adapters. Most have been homemade adapters. If you get a telescope make sure it has the standard 1.5" eyepiece. Some adapters are beginning to show up to fit the 1.5".
Homemade adapters
http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/astro_950_10_99.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ARTS/ASTRO/ASTRO.HTM
http://home.att.net/~dhergert/astro950.html

You can find a reconditioned Nikon 950 for around $410 (search the messages) http://www.ubid.com/cat/1227.asp will have some and I think Ritz Camearas also have some. Do a message search for more informations on Scopes & Telescopes.

Good luck with your hobby.

Fmartin said:
Hello,
I am, like many others, deciding what camera is the best for my needs.

I am wondering if there is someone who is thinking of using their
cameras to take pictures in a night sky.

I do not know if digital cameras are ready for using in astronomy
and long exposures pictures ??
I do not know if there are accesories for attaching a camera to my
telescope ??

What is the best camera for night pictures ??
...of course I would like to use the camera for other generic
purposes.

Thanks

--
F. Martin

KenEis · May 21, 2001

Check out my friends web site. He tried a D1 and a 990 and was dissatisfied with them as astro cameras because of the noise. What you want is a cooled CCD focal plain.
http://c572053-a.ftclns1.co.home.com/astronomy/equipment.htm

Fmartin said:
Hello,
I am, like many others, deciding what camera is the best for my needs.

I am wondering if there is someone who is thinking of using their
cameras to take pictures in a night sky.

I do not know if digital cameras are ready for using in astronomy
and long exposures pictures ??
I do not know if there are accesories for attaching a camera to my
telescope ??

What is the best camera for night pictures ??
...of course I would like to use the camera for other generic
purposes.

Thanks

--
F. Martin

Dave B · May 21, 2001

Correction, the standard telescope lens/eyepiece is 1.25"

Dave B said:
All of the 2-3 MegaPixel cameras with manual controls, 3X zoom, and
THREADED lens do a good job. I have used a Nikon 950 with
excellant results. Depending on what you want to do and what
equipment you currently have will be a starting point. The real
challenge is connecting the camera to the telescope or scope. The
connection is called "afocal" and you actually hold/attach the
camera lens up to the scope/telescope lens at full zoom.
http://www.oeonline.com/~chiron/afocal.html
If you are only interested in moon shots then a 12X scope with work
fine (12X scope times 3X Zoom) = 36X for the moon. One company
makes a threaded lens for digital cameras and scopes.
http://www.ckcpower.com/scopes.htm
Sample shots with a 36X scope and Nikon 959
http://www.lonestardigital.com/coolpix950.htm

If you are looking for a larger telescope the problem is still
adapters. Most have been homemade adapters. If you get a
telescope make sure it has the standard 1.5" eyepiece. Some
adapters are beginning to show up to fit the 1.5".
Homemade adapters
http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/astro_950_10_99.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ARTS/ASTRO/ASTRO.HTM
http://home.att.net/~dhergert/astro950.html

You can find a reconditioned Nikon 950 for around $410 (search the
messages) http://www.ubid.com/cat/1227.asp will have some and I
think Ritz Camearas also have some. Do a message search for more
informations on Scopes & Telescopes.

Good luck with your hobby.

Fmartin said:

Hello,
I am, like many others, deciding what camera is the best for my needs.

I am wondering if there is someone who is thinking of using their
cameras to take pictures in a night sky.

I do not know if digital cameras are ready for using in astronomy
and long exposures pictures ??
I do not know if there are accesories for attaching a camera to my
telescope ??

What is the best camera for night pictures ??
...of course I would like to use the camera for other generic
purposes.

Thanks

--
F. Martin

Click to expand...

bob d · May 23, 2001

Fmartin said:
I am wondering if there is someone who is thinking of using their
cameras to take pictures in a night sky.

I think that astronomical photography will be a niche for traditional film for a LONG time to come.

The essential charateristics for this type of photography are (1) very long exposures, and (2) high resolution needed to capture minute detail.

Digicams don't do well with long exposures. They don't work the same way as film.

Film still has much higher resolution. In many cases the resolution is theoretical or not needed, but the type of setup needed for astro-photography, an SLR and the camera is mounted, indicates that you will indeed be taking advantage of the superior resolution of the film.

Gerard M Foley · May 26, 2001

KenEis said:
Check out my friends web site. He tried a D1 and a 990 and was
dissatisfied with them as astro cameras because of the noise. What
you want is a cooled CCD focal plain.
http://c572053-a.ftclns1.co.home.com/astronomy/equipment.htm

This is correct for "deep sky" pictures of nebulas, galazies and so on. Digital cameras are useful for bright solar system objects, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Moon:

http://www.geocities.com/gerryf.geo/questar.html

KenEis said:
Fmartin said:

Hello,
I am, like many others, deciding what camera is the best for my needs.

I am wondering if there is someone who is thinking of using their
cameras to take pictures in a night sky.

I do not know if digital cameras are ready for using in astronomy
and long exposures pictures ??
I do not know if there are accesories for attaching a camera to my
telescope ??

What is the best camera for night pictures ??

Click to expand...

Hard to say. Cameras vary from sample to sample, but most > 2Mp cameras can do some good at night:

http://members.nbci.com/gerryf.1/night.html

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