Well i got a new toy. i used this to take this and there was some PP done in lightroom (most crop and some exposure)
That's awesome! Looks to be the same brand of telescope that my dad has and recently I've fancied hooking the slr up to it and seeing what I could get out of it. How did you attach it?
I would guess the 'scope is this one or the slightly bigger one at 200mm D & 1000mm F. Fearsome bit of kit.
It's a Sky-Watcher 150mm 6" f/5 on an eq3 mount. Cost me around $579 CDN (after taxes) I used a T-ring attached to the eyepiece slot. They usually cost around $20. You are correct. And it's not that bad but quite heavy to move once it's all setup (around 30kg's). also since my camera is a 1.6 crop body the efective focal distance is around 1200mm Thanks for the positive results everyone. I hope to get out and do some more photography. for those interested in astrophotography it is critical you get either an equatorial mount or a alt/az mount with a wedge if you want to do any long exposures otherwise the stars will be streaks.
Very nice, lcdguy. Christmas is coming up, and I've been going back and forth between a flash and a new lens. Now I'm thinking of a third option. Hmmmm.
well considering reflector telescopes are very cheap (in comparison) something in the 4-6" range would be a good starter. But make sure you get an equatorial mount if you want to do photography. But if you like to spend money take a look at the apochromatic refracter scopes. Very nice but also quite pricey. Thanks for the comments everyone. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been cooperating lately so i haven't had a chance to go out again.
If you wanted, could you do streaky star trails? Either by time or stacked exposures? or does the equatorial mount remove that all together? Nice choice, btw, much better then a standard lens setup.
An equatorial mount aligns your telescope so that as you track a stars movement across the sky it's is a smooth arc since it is then aligned with the poles. It is necessary ifn you want to do any long exposure shots for things like nebulae and galaxies. I really didn't notice it that much. But then again i wasn't looking for it. Since in my setup there are no lenses just mirrors.
I understand what it is, I was asking if it was an "always on" thing or if you could allow the stars to streak by not letting it track?
ahh sorry yes if your looking at making a streaking star shot you simply wouldn't pan the telescope once you started the exposure. however considering telescopes have a fairly narrow field of view i would much rather use my camera on a tripod with a wide angle lens for that type of shot.