Astrophotography - new scope and new camera?
 

Hi,

I want to get into astrophotography and I am building the courage to invest some wedge into some decent kit.

I have an LX90 but I'm considering a 12" or 14" Meade LX200 GPS. I don't want a CCD camera like a Starlight Express model or similar as if I spend a lot on a new digital camera I'd like to use it for other "normal" photography too.

Can anyone please recommend:

1...A good normal type digital camera that will be good enough
2...Whether LX200's really will pull the pants of my current scope down and be worth the cash


Cheers

lx90 optics
 

i recently bought a lxd 55 sc 8 inch. i thought the lx90 and lx200 had the same diffraction limited optics. i to have thought about astrophotography on my lxd but to date have found the cost to be too prohibitive to do properly (read i am spending too much money on my car). the 12 and 14 inch lx200 are real light buckets and need to be permanently mounted coz they are major pieces if machinery.

i am glad that someone else on here shares my hobby :D and i would interested to hear how you get on.

cheers

big sinky

Big LX's
 

Hi,

The cost is worrying me as is the size of the big LX's. My LX90 is a job and a half to move in and out of the house.

I'm going to buy one from the US to save cash. Their prices are ridiculously cheap compared to ours plus the USD/GBP rate is very much in my favour. I reckon I can get a scope costing 5 grand here for about 2 grand from the US!

I don't really fancy spending loads more on an observatory though either.

you will get hit with VAT and and import duty so add 20% to any price quoted mate. the size of the lx200 is something to behold. picture don't really do the justice especially if yoy get a nice wedge mount one. counter weights and other thing make these scope a bit of a monster to handle in one piece. having said that they are not as big as the 36inch obsession dobs that are on the market :D

Really mate if you are thinking of a 12 or 14 inch lx200 then permanaent mount is the best. you will get much more pleasure out of the scope that way. remember this is going to be a sizable investment for you and to lug this scope in and out every clear night is a major PIA. you would probably get more work done with a smaller scope, also to get the best from the larger scopes you need a realy dark site, coz they just gather sooo much light, that at times the resolving power is just as good as an 8 inch.

Having said that my 10" dobsonian is still used albeit to a lesser extent, while i find that for quick observing session my little 75mm refractor is great.

you pays your money - you live with the choice.

cheers

big sinky

Another astronomy anorak here too :D

This months (Feb) edition of Astronomy Now mag has an article about astrophotography and CCD cameras which might have some useful comparisons between CCD's and normal digital, I haven't read it properly yet though so can't really comment :rolleyes: :D

Me too, I'd love one of these babies. I only got into amateur astronomy last year and am currently using a Celestron 4.5 inch Newtonian but I'm really starting to realise it's limitations as I get more and more into it.

I've also got my eye on one of these :D

Maybe we should have a scoob & telescope meet one dark night ;)

Where's TonyG? Normally a whiff of an astronomy thread and he's here :D

Sal

Sal,

you aint gonna stick a 4.5" newt in that are you? :eek:

Lol, no, gonna upgrade to a Meade first then think about the observatory. I'm currently working on a plan involving a shed with a roof on rails type of thing as it kills me lugging my telescope in and out of the garden, it may only be a small one but it's massive :D

Shed with roof on rails...
 

My thoughts exactly. Two grand for a dome!!!!

I reckon I can sort my shed roof out for a couple of hundred quid. A 14" LX200 would probably fall through the floor though so I might need to sort that out too.

Have you seen the astrophotography info on Sky & Telescope's site?

There's a handy guide here for turning a 7x5ft shed into a home astronomical observatory *wanders outside to look at 7x5ft garden shed currently used for storing tools* ;) :D

Late arrival or what!
 

Too late to join in? Been having problems getting on to SN from work today.
Six inch Newtonian is what I'm using, and that's also a bit of a hefty thing to hump in and out of the house.

When I was reading about buying scopes, one chap said he'd got his mounted on a thick sheet of blockboard on casters, and just rolled it in and out of the garage when necessary...

6" reflector here too.

I haven't used it for a while, but should get out and enjoy some of these low humidity winter nights.

Looking at this from a digital camera approach..

I've seen great results from Canon users on the 'net using cameras like the Canon G2 attached to the eyepiece of a big scope. Results are unreal really which has me interested.

But if you want the best of both worlds, you want a good quality digital camera with a CCD or CMOS with low noise over long exposures. Canon 10D DSLR is one such beast, but may be overkill for what you are after (unless you are a photo mad as well).

Anywa, see some of the results form an 8 inch scope and a cCanon G2 here: http://www.geocities.com/keithnk_m42/

Cheers

Ian

Great pictures Ian

Canon A70
 

I have got a Canon A70 at the minute which is pretty good. I think I might stick with that for now and get some decent pictures (I hope) using stacking software whilst I try to find a cheap 14" LX200.


Thanks

Good luck with the 14" lx200. there should be more of them about now, seeing as the gps version is now the one to buy.

cheers

sinky