[Chaos-l] Astrophotography start up?

[Mark Montazer]

>  I want to do things without telescope or clock drive for now until I
learn more.

Without a motor drive/tracking mount, your maximum exposure with no star
trails will be severely limited. There's a web based calculator that'll
help you estimate exposures: http://www.sceneplanner.com/tool3.php

> So, I am considering

The equipment looks good.

> Does it make sense to use a Telrad or something similar to aim the camera
to interesting objects?

You can, but I find that at the shorter focal lengths it's not necessary.
At focal lengths above 400mm a finder becomes very useful.

> What lenses are useful?

Depends on what your goal is. I have no experience with Canon lenses, but
be keep in mind (for future reference) that all camera lenses and almost
all refractors, even APO's, fail to focus infrared light properly. This
will result in star 'bloat' on the more IR intense objects.

> If I decide to add a telescope later, is this camera useful for that?

Most definitely. You'll need a t-ring specific to your camera and possibly
a t-adapter depending on the focuser of the scope you end up getting.

> What about external connections to a laptop or iPad etc?

I'm not familiar with Canon PC connections but you should check out
Backyard EOS which is a Canon specific astronomy software. There's a big
community surrounding it and at least one fellow at the recent star party
was using it.

So the bigger question is what are you hoping to image?

Mark



On Sat, Mar 16, 2013 at 10:20 PM, Steve Christensen <steve at smc.vnet.net>wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I hope it is OK to ask this here.  I am really enjoying starting some
> astrophotography and want to move up a little.  I want to do things without
> telescope or clock drive for now until I learn more.   So, I am considering
>
> Canon 60Da  (I have some Canon lenses already)
> Canon TC803N Remote Timer
> A new Tripod - suggestions?
> Maybe an IR filter for non astro things
>
> Use the Deep Sky Stacker software and Photoshop which I have already. Does
> it make sense to use a Telrad or something similar to aim the camera to
> interesting objects?  What lenses are useful?  If I decide to add a
> telescope later, is this camera useful for that?
>
> What do you folks suggest about this or other options?  I have learned
> that a number of you are extreme experts at this, so I hope you will be
> patient with a real newbie.  What about external connections to a laptop or
> iPad etc?
>
> Right now, I am getting what little I know from YouTube videos and Google
> searches.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve C.
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