Astrophotography or Tommys next hobby

[tommyt654]

My next hobby I'm testing the waters in, got a nice tele during the BF sales and a new digital camera as well as an early xmas present to myself(Only way to get what I really want ) or as my wife says,just somethin else to shoot

[chopnhack]

Pretty sweet Tommy! I only fear that if you have your head up in the clouds more we may not know about all those sweet deals you uncover...

[tommyt654]

I rarely shop at night

[chopnhack]

I rarely shop at night

phew, we're safe

What is your photo setup? The mrs. is looking for a new camera and she wants something larger than a simple point and shoot... a nikon or canon eos type camera. Any words of wisdom?

[tommyt654]

There are some pretty sweet PNS cameras available out there now,Thats what took these photos a Fuji Finepix S4250 I grabbed on sale for $100. Has all the bells an whistles of a SLR styled camera and has pretty much all the same adjustments available(I'm still learning how to use it). I have an older Minolta 35mm that would prolly be better suited but its not digital,so downloading pics to the computers not an option.I could not justify $5-700 for another camera,this has a great zoom and tons of adjustments. I would just wait till after x-mas or maybe today or tomorrow and see whats available and on sale. We p/u 2 Poloroid Digitals at Kohls for less than $100 after rebates for our 2 girls yesterday that are very similiar to mine this model, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RFA3BQ/...Q&linkCode=asn , if they still have one at your local Kohl's and you have a Kohl's CC.You get 30% off the $129 its on sale for plus the $30 rebate as well as $10 in Kohl's cash to use after x-mas. Otherwise just look around these PNS digitals are very user friendly vs my older Minolta and less expensive to operate IMHO

[tommyt654]

Oh yea, I had to come up with a mount to use with the telescope,necessity is the mutha of invention as well as the plumbing dept at Lowes ,

[LCHIEN]

THat's a lot of camera for $100.

Fujinon 4.3 - 103.2mm zoom lens with 24x optical
Equivalent to a 24-576mm lens on an analog camera

Not really sure if you are serious about the astrophoto aspect or just kidding because it has a much longer lens than usual.

The moon's a huge target compared to other planetary and stellar objects. Only the sun will be about the same relative visual size.
Second its lit with the intensity of the noontime sun on a cloudless day in the summer.

for most other planetary or stellar objects you will need much more specialized gear... large aperature telescope with camera mount, and a very stable, tracking (planetary drive) tripod base for time exposures.

Still. all is not lost. You can get a good picture on a clear day at the nude beach! Happy shooting!

P.S. just saw your nearly concurrent post showing the telescope adapter you made for your telescope... OK, you're partway there.

[tommyt654]

Ya ,Its not a bad little camera for the money. I have always had an interest in the stars and moon(prolly from growing up in Fla ,(Canaveral being only a 2 1/2 hr drive). This is just another hobby to keep me from being bored (Gemini), But I have always liked photography and my Minolta x700 while it was a great camera in its heyday 15 yrs ago its outdated and even this camera has as many capabilitys as it.

[chopnhack]

LOL - good use of a Fernco :-)

That Fuji is a really great deal for $100!! The current best I found with a quick scan was the Walfolk at $149 plus tax. Sadly, the mrs. wanted a replacement some months ago that would fit in her purse to replace an aging elph SD850 IS so we picked out a SX260HS - a compromise between compactness and supposedly better picture taking ability... she now complains that the SX is slow and not capturing quick action well enough. She is PNS so setting manual options is something I doubt I could convince her to do.. plus with spur of the moment shot taking with kids, indoors and outdoors, PNS is a great convenience

[RAFlorida]

That's a great camera for that price!

Your 'scope; is that a Meade? It looks a lot like my two 4.5 inch reflector telescopes made by Meade. Do you have the electronic drive setup with computer control on it? Those pics of the moon came out looking good. When Saturn gets up, try some pics of it, or the Orion nebs (Orion will start to be visable in the late evening hours in about a month and half from now).
Overall, great setup you have.

[tommyt654]

No RAF its a Celestron I also p/u at Kohls during BF that I paid $59 for after discounts and some Kohls cash I had laying around , its model Powerseeker 114AZ a 4.5 inch reflector with a barlow 3x and up to 675 magnification which they only sold at Kohls is my understanding.Sadly no lectronic drive so I'll prolly spring for a better unit later on after we rebuild the deck this summer (going bigger). For now it suits the need till I can afford to go larger and get used to stargazing a little more, lately its been really cold on the deck(need to move the fire pit up there) and its really chilly at 2-3 a.m. in the morning as the road along side the house has a certain amount of traffic up till about 10-11 at night. I really enjoyed the Geminid showers a week ago and saw well over 30 shooting stars tho that was mainly without the tele. Just another neat hobby I have the time now to enjoy and share with the grandkids as they really enjoy it as well and are in awe of the moon. As soon as I figure out where the other planets are I will start trying photo's of them as well. I do wish now that maybe I should have opted for another unit,but for starters its a fine beginners unit and will easily go down to the grandsquids in the future for their usage. As for the camera its a nice PNS for the money and I highly recommend it for the money if you just want a PNS styled camera,but it won't fit in anyones purse

[cabinetman]

An interesting concept. I've got a telescope I don't use. Gives me an idea of trying out something like this.

.

[LCHIEN]

there's various astrophysical sky observer programs that will detail what you can see from your earth position at any given time and animate the movement of the skys in speeded up time. I think generally you can click on any object for info and pointing info (azimuth and elevation) and filter them by brightness. Not sure what's current but these have been available for years. Very useful for a stargazer.

[RAFlorida]

Tommy, you have plenty of time to setup

for at least one comet that's coming this next year.

"Comet ISON will be closest to the sun, less than 750,000 miles above the sun's "surface," near the end of November 2013, and will be closest to Earth (40 million miles) a month later. Potentially, it could be bright enough to be visible in broad daylight around the time it is nearest the sun."
(credit to
http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_216...ts-coming-2013)

ISON is forecasted to be very bright, and your scope will give you a wonderful view of it. So plan for some really great astrophotography.
I should meantion also; Many people who purchase telescopies soon find that the views of the heavens ain't what they see in the magazines, and pictures. Because our eyes can not see the color shifts, we don't see the awesome colors. Those are captured on film and layered (for lack of the actual word used).



Don't give up if things aren't what you thought they should be. Given time and actual use of your scopy will evenually be very rewarding!
enough of my rambling; if you need some pointers, there's tons of it on Google.


edit:
Loring brought up a great point also; programs.
Below is one of my favorites that I use:

http://www.stoff.pl/

His online program will help you locate the ISS and many other objects too. Plus it's FREE!

[Tom Slick]

Looks like fun. I didn't know it just takes a little bit of plumbing supplies to connect a camera to a telescope.

It could use a little fill flash in the lower right corner lol