Minolta Dimage s414

I have a mak-cas 130mm scope and the Minolta Dimage s414 digital camera. I
bought the digi-t adapter so the camera can do eyepiece projection
photography of the planets. Jupiter is very accessible for me right now.

For some reason I can't get this camera to produce anything more than a
roundish blob. I have tried both the manual picture and video modes.

Does anyone have experience with this camera, or could someone help me
figure this out? I know this scope is great for planetary viewing and have
seen pictures other people have made with it.

--
Tom
"Do, or do not. There is no try" (Yoda, 1980).

Tom wrote:
I have a mak-cas 130mm scope and the Minolta Dimage s414 digital camera. I
bought the digi-t adapter so the camera can do eyepiece projection
photography of the planets. Jupiter is very accessible for me right now.

For some reason I can't get this camera to produce anything more than a
roundish blob. I have tried both the manual picture and video modes.

Does anyone have experience with this camera, or could someone help me
figure this out? I know this scope is great for planetary viewing and have
seen pictures other people have made with it.

--
Tom
"Do, or do not. There is no try" (Yoda, 1980).


Tom,

I've played with my wife's CP4300 and a Synta 5" Mak. Here's what I came
up with:

- use manual mode and set the aperture wide open on the camera, start
with a 1/15 second shutter speed. if there's no manual mode, try to tell
the camera to set the exposure using a measurement in the center of the
frame. And tell it to focus at the center of the frame.
- use the scopetronix eyepiece to center and focus the planet
- connect the eyepiece to the camera using the scope tronix adapter and
put it back in the eyepiece holder
- use the motors on the mount to center the planet in the camera's
viewfinder
- zoom all the way in with the camera and let it do whatever autofocus
it has
- make very small adjustments in the telescope's focuser and let the
camera autofocus
- when you're ready, take a picture. I use the self timer so the
telescope isn't wobbling from me pressing the shutter-release.

I'm using the 40mm eyepiece so magnification is low... I get maybe 20
pixels across jupiter. Just enough to tell that it's Jupiter. Or I can
get just enough to tell that it's Saturn. If you're using the 18mm
eyepiece, you might have better luck due to higher magnification - more
pixels across the planet. Stack a few images and see what happens.

For deep sky, I do all of the above, to get things focused. Then I zoom
all the way out to get a wide field.and take the image with the longest
exposure time you have. Again, stack a few images together.

Hope this helps.

Eric.

In stacking the images, are you able to get the desired level of detail? I
have messed around with imaging in other applications, but a lot of the
time, increasing the image size in a software program reduces the quality
and detail of the image.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a few things. My camera does have manual,
and I use a wireless remote to snap the shutter.

--
Tom
"Do, or do not. There is no try" (Yoda, 1980).

"Eric" wrote in message
news:MD5He.165928$9A2.87889@edtnps89...
Tom wrote:
I have a mak-cas 130mm scope and the Minolta Dimage s414 digital camera.
I
bought the digi-t adapter so the camera can do eyepiece projection
photography of the planets. Jupiter is very accessible for me right now.

For some reason I can't get this camera to produce anything more than a
roundish blob. I have tried both the manual picture and video modes.

Does anyone have experience with this camera, or could someone help me
figure this out? I know this scope is great for planetary viewing and
have
seen pictures other people have made with it.

--
Tom
"Do, or do not. There is no try" (Yoda, 1980).


Tom,

I've played with my wife's CP4300 and a Synta 5" Mak. Here's what I came
up with:

- use manual mode and set the aperture wide open on the camera, start
with a 1/15 second shutter speed. if there's no manual mode, try to tell
the camera to set the exposure using a measurement in the center of the
frame. And tell it to focus at the center of the frame.
- use the scopetronix eyepiece to center and focus the planet
- connect the eyepiece to the camera using the scope tronix adapter and
put it back in the eyepiece holder
- use the motors on the mount to center the planet in the camera's
viewfinder
- zoom all the way in with the camera and let it do whatever autofocus
it has
- make very small adjustments in the telescope's focuser and let the
camera autofocus
- when you're ready, take a picture. I use the self timer so the
telescope isn't wobbling from me pressing the shutter-release.

I'm using the 40mm eyepiece so magnification is low... I get maybe 20
pixels across jupiter. Just enough to tell that it's Jupiter. Or I can
get just enough to tell that it's Saturn. If you're using the 18mm
eyepiece, you might have better luck due to higher magnification - more
pixels across the planet. Stack a few images and see what happens.

For deep sky, I do all of the above, to get things focused. Then I zoom
all the way out to get a wide field.and take the image with the longest
exposure time you have. Again, stack a few images together.

Hope this helps.

Eric.

Tom wrote:
In stacking the images, are you able to get the desired level of detail? I
If the images are focsed, stacking the images can improve resolution if
you do a drizzle type routine (see below). Stacking will also increase
the S/N, which helps too.

have messed around with imaging in other applications, but a lot of the
time, increasing the image size in a software program reduces the quality
and detail of the image.
Whenever possible, use optical zoom instead of software. Registax will
stack the images, and you can choose the detail of the stacking. For
example, multiply the image by two in both directions, and then align
and stack to sub-pixel movements. Similar to drizzle.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a few things. My camera does have manual,
and I use a wireless remote to snap the shutter.
Good idea.

Eric.

When using your equipment, how big would you say you can get Jupiter on the
little LCD screen? Can you zoom until it covers the screen? I've been using
the 40mm as well. I tried a 15mm, but it was too dim and very hard to keep
the image on screen.

--
Tom
"Do, or do not. There is no try" (Yoda, 1980).

"Eric" wrote in message
news:T19He.200682$on1.191446@clgrps13...
Tom wrote:
In stacking the images, are you able to get the desired level of detail?
I
If the images are focsed, stacking the images can improve resolution if
you do a drizzle type routine (see below). Stacking will also increase
the S/N, which helps too.

have messed around with imaging in other applications, but a lot of the
time, increasing the image size in a software program reduces the
quality
and detail of the image.
Whenever possible, use optical zoom instead of software. Registax will
stack the images, and you can choose the detail of the stacking. For
example, multiply the image by two in both directions, and then align
and stack to sub-pixel movements. Similar to drizzle.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a few things. My camera does have
manual,
and I use a wireless remote to snap the shutter.
Good idea.

Eric.

Tom wrote:
When using your equipment, how big would you say you can get Jupiter on the
little LCD screen? Can you zoom until it covers the screen? I've been using
the 40mm as well. I tried a 15mm, but it was too dim and very hard to keep
the image on screen.
From what I remember, Jupiter was about 10% to 15% of the width of the
display when fully zoomed in.

Try moving to a higher ASA rating - maybe 800 or 1600.

Eric.