Manual glass question, non x mount

Ontario Gone

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Hello Fujonians (Fujinians?), i am a potential adopter and was curious about a few things. I have used a sony SLT, and a couple traditional SLRs but never a full mirror less ILC, so i am a bit ignorant to the technical info of Fuji. I am planning my next purchase, likely to be done by the end of January, and i am currently eyeballing a few different cameras. One of the things i have always wanted to do more of is astrophotography. I have tried but had little success, mainly due to a lack of quality long glass.

Not long ago i started researching quite a bit on telescopes and learning the basics there. Come to find out, if you are somebody who doesn't mind manual focus, which i actually enjoy, it is fairly easy to attach a scope to most digital cameras and have a go. One of the current cameras that i am leaning towards is the new X-E2. I like how Fuji has the sharpness potential with no low pass filter, and the noise performance of their sensors is downright amazing. I honestly don't care what a camera looks like, so the retro thing is neither good or bad, but everything else is great with the new model.

This leads me to my question. Is there anything in the Fuji system model, or in the X-E line specifically, that would hinder my shooting with a telescope? I understand there will be no electronic connections with a scope, but it seems as Fuji is designed for manual aperture glass, such as legacy lenses, and these seem that they would operate similarly to a telescope. My main concern is if the camera will meter properly without lens info? Is there anything that could potentially make this style of shooting a pita?

I really like what i have read about the X-E2 manual aids, peaking and split image to be specific. I have used peaking before and would love to try this camera out using MF. One of the reasons i am looking at the X-E2 is the performance per dollar of it is amazing. I just won't spend 5 thousand dollars on a camera and lenses in a short period, it's only a hobby and for family shots. So i tend to be a bargain shopper that looks for hidden value. Thus, this camera being such a good match with legacy glass, which there is so much of in the world, it's a perfect choice for me.(sorry for the long post).

Lastly, i really want THIS to use with the camera. For anybody experienced in telescopes, a triplet scope is the cat's meow, similar to the $pendy canon glass. Very controlled CA, very high quality elements. For an F/6 390mm manual "lens", $349 is better than any real lens i have seen. Barska also offers an F/7 560mm for $399, but I'm trying to keep overall cost low. I already have 4 lenses of more traditional focal lengths that i can get adapters for, so my question here is mainly about telescopes and lenses without connectors. Also, do all the adapters for different mounts have connectors or will there be no lens info? If there isn't, is that an issue with this camera?

Thx in advance for anybody who can help, plz feel free to add anything you like.
 
This is not a great picture, but I rarely point my camera straight up to the sky. I did this with my X-E1 and 14mm lens while camping in Banff. The picture was shot using the self timer and in aperture priority

Sky over Banff
Sky over Banff

So it's ok with twilight photos.

The only limitations to the Fuji I can think of is a lack of an internal intervalometer, but an external unit can be purchased. Here's a link to a thread that discusses compatible units:


Manual glass is no problem. I regularly use my Nikkor 105mm micro on my X-E1 in full manual mode. I have a cheap adaptor that does the job.
 
Ok great news, ty. I have spent the last half day just reading and watching youtube on the X-E2 and i still haven't seen anything that pushes me away. Unless the X-pro2 comes and snatches my money within a couple months, i think it's a done deal.
 
Sorry I don't have any astro experience, but I'd guess that about half my shooting with my X-E1 is with legacy lenses, ranging from 24mm to 300mm, usually hand held.

You can see some examples in this thread:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52536522
 
astrophotographer 10 is a member on this forum. You may care to send him a private message about your questions, as a question about manual glass may not have been noticed by him.

Cheers Eric
 
I do some astrophotography (or should I say night sky, nightscapes?) with my XE1 and 14mm lens. These are of the single shot of milky Way type, or stacking for startrails. In your case, one of the issues I can foresee is the fact that for extreme applications, with telescopes and deep sky objects, you would be probably be best served with a full frame sensor camera.

Have a look here, there are many more resources available on the web. If this is basic stuff for you, I apologize.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/night_sky___astrophotography.shtml
 
That telescope will be difficult to use with any camera. It has what looks like a built in diagonal, so you will have vignetting and I am almost certain it is not a flat field so you will have field curvature without a flattener with an APS C sensor or larger. it may not have CA but it is definitely not a flat field. I use a refractor that has a flat field and you can expect to pay in the $3k+ range for one that has low CA and a flat field across the frame.

For night sky images the live view will be difficult to focus unless you can find a very bright star and then you will need a tracking mount and guiding to get reasonable length exposiures. A very complicated task. I have been doing astrophotography for a long time.

The Fuji will excel at wide field images with the great Fuji lenses and with some legacy lenses. Use a small tracking mount like a Polarie from Vixen.

Alan
 

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