Telescope camera mod

Craft & Design Photography & Video Science
Telescope camera mod
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Craig Smith sent us these pics and note:

My telescope is low end in the scope-world, a 60mm refractor. But I discovered the eyepiece is the same size as my digital camera telephoto lens. My digital camera is low end in the camera world, too, a 3.2MP. But put them together with a custom PVC sleeve aligning lens-to-eyepiece, and I’m getting awesome moon shots. Here is the moon on 11/5/09. I added a camera support arm also, a quick adjustment of the tripod leg’s wing nut, and I’m all aligned to photograph the skies.

6 thoughts on “Telescope camera mod

  1. Michael Covington says:

    Nice setup! Now a couple of suggestions:

    (1) Minimize vibration. Try different shutter speeds. You might even add a dark filter so that you can open the main shutter for perhaps 1 second, and in the middle of that, use a piece of cardboard handheld in front of the telescope which you move away for only 1/4 second or so.

    (2) Use RegiStax software (free at registax.astronomy.net) to sharpen the image.

    Michael Covington
    Author, Digital SLR Astrophotography and other books

  2. Craig says:

    Thanks for the tips. I do plan to get a nicer scope, something like a 5″ reflector. Perhaps our 10MP will work with that. Also I have no moon filter or city light filter. Funny thing is with my cheaper camera, the one plus second delay between pressing the button and the picture being taken always cheesed me, but with the telescope mod, that delay lets the vibration/movement cease between pressing the button and picture taken.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Nasty chromatic aberration!

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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