best digital or slr for amateur astro piccys?

Hi all

ive been playing around with my 2 cameras trying to get some astro photos. i
have a ricoh rdc7 digital camera and have had only blured results of
pictures off the moon.
Its been impossible to focus , i have also tried with my slr but it has no
cable release so its blured pictures again .
can anyone please reccomend a digital camera that will work with my scope ,
i want to use it against the eyepiece on a bracket .. and ideally not to
expensive
many thanks

peter

Hi Pete,

Do you currently use a bracket at the moment ? If not then it could just be
camera shake while you hold it. If manually held then use as fast a shutter
as you can. The moon is bright enough to use a wide apperture (low F number)
and a quick shutter.

Does your camera have a timer delay ? This really helps because the wobbles
on the scope disappear before the shutter opens.

If you wear glasses then keep 'em on while focusing the scope. Been there,
seen it (sorta), done it.

Is the camera autofocus only ? Maybe it's hunting for focus when you press
the shutter. Manual focus is good as you just set it to "infinity", or
beyond if it's supported.

Maybe the scope dewed up ? This takes the edge off the detail, but not
really to the extent you seem to be having.

You say your SLR has no cable release - does it have a small screw hole in
the shutter button ? You normally screw cable releases in here (although my
Canon has a different - proprietory - socket). You can buy a "cable release"
gizzmo from most camera shops that is a strap that you wrap over the shutter
button and it's actuated by an air bulb. Squeeze the bulb and it forces air
down the tube and expands a thing sitting atop the shutter button. It's for
those cameras that don't have an actual cable release connection. May even
fit your Ricoh.

Regards,
Ed.

"pete" wrote in message
...
Hi all

ive been playing around with my 2 cameras trying to get some astro photos.
i
have a ricoh rdc7 digital camera and have had only blured results of
pictures off the moon.
Its been impossible to focus , i have also tried with my slr but it has no
cable release so its blured pictures again .
can anyone please reccomend a digital camera that will work with my scope
,
i want to use it against the eyepiece on a bracket .. and ideally not to
expensive
many thanks

peter

"pete" wrote in message ...
Hi all

ive been playing around with my 2 cameras trying to get some astro photos. i
have a ricoh rdc7 digital camera and have had only blured results of
pictures off the moon.
Its been impossible to focus , i have also tried with my slr but it has no
cable release so its blured pictures again .
can anyone please reccomend a digital camera that will work with my scope ,
i want to use it against the eyepiece on a bracket .. and ideally not to
expensive
many thanks

peter

I've just had a look at some reviews of your camera and can't see
anything that would make life particularly difficult. On the Moon
(with my similar Sony P71) I just blast away taking dozens of shots on
auto and discard only a couple of shots due to blurring. Except when I
try high powers. You could try infinity focus setting and faster
shutter speeds on manual to see what happens.
The telescope and particularly the mounting should be looked at for
potential problems. Don't use high powers with a handheld camera. I
get best results with a 20mm or 26mm Plossl with my 1200mm focal
length refractor. When I use a 10mm I get hardly any pictures worth
keeping!
Is the mounting steady? It's not camera shake you should worry about
but telescope shake. Putting a telescope in front of the camera is
the equivelant of a super-telephoto lens.
If you snuggle the camera lens nose into the rubber eyecap that will
help you centre the image. But it doesn't guarantee the camera isn't
tilted. Moving the camera about in tilt will show oval images in the
camera viewfinder screen.
A telescope motor drive helps you to relax, point and shoot. I have
no obvious problems with shake thanks to a massive pier and solid old
mounting. But at the (high) price of near total immovability.
A universal camera bracket will remove at least one factor in blurred
shots. But use a lanyard or safety line to protect your camera if it
falls off the 'scope.

Chris.B

http://mysite.freeserve.com/fullersc...k4/index.jhtml

"Cassini" spacecraft@saturn wrote in message ...

I guess you missed the October 2001 (p30) article in Astronomy Now
where Lilian details the use of networked PCs and electric focussing.

Sadly I did miss it. I can't afford the minimum £30 every month (£7-8
is the charge for most English language magazines in the station
newsagent 20 miles away) Astronomy Now + S&T + Astronomy + all my
other interests with magazine support. I don't doubt Lilian is
extremely accomplished. I just don't have even a small fraction of her
budget.

Indeed, the new Centrino laptops can comfortably outpace desktop P4s.
But you should also budget for an external CRT monitor, as LCDs are
not suitable for color matching or image calibration.

It gets worse! Not only a Centrino laptop but an external CRT
monitor? I presume a domed observatory is mandatory to protect this
bit of kit from the dew?

I fear we are going to end up watching (PinP) "TV astronomy" (with
one eye) over the Blockbuster DVD on the (essential) 42" plazma screen
in the lounge via fully automated goto telescopes with onboard real
time 30th mag imaging & constant DVD quality backup with real time
stacking for the monthly "Magazine Quality" cover shot competition. If
that's your idea of amateur astronomy then you're welcome. Personally
I hate TV! I'd rather be out under the stars taking blurry (handheld)
images of the Moon & planets as my last breath drifts slowly away
across the silent, frozen lawn.

I might feel "pressured" into making a camera support eventually if
only to keep up with advancing technology. I might even make a
drop-down magnifying glass for that dinky little LCD screen. No, that
would probably need a Kendrick heater. (Better not push my luck)

New recruits to the hobby must be ever more confused. Surely it can't
be necessary to invest in a £10K 6" APO on a £10K mounting under a
£10K dome with a £10k CCD camera? Just to get a toe-hold in the hobby?
Life was so much simpler when one couldn't afford a real eyepiece and
pinched one out of a pair of cheapo Dixons binoculars to put into the
(well rinsed) PVC drainage pipe refractor of one's own making. ;-)

Chris Grinch *;^{#