connecting an 5DmkII to a telescope?

[hello_hello3]

<p>I wanted to try my hand at Astrophotography. I have access to a meade telescope (not sure which model, but i believe a Maksutov Cassegrain variant) , and was wondering what I would need to connect a 5DmkII to it? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Whoa!</p>

<p>You need to find out a lot more than how to connect your camera. Start at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophotography and follow up links from there.</p>

<p>A Google™ for "astronomy +photography" and variants like "amateur astrophotography" will yield many many tutorials, discussions, and more.</p>

[hello_hello3]

<p>I was going to get into the technique after I figured out what tools I needed first =)<br>

Any recommendations of equipment? Do I need only a mount adapter?</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>Um... Figuring out your technique is what will determine what equipment you need. <br>

I've seen setups as simple as EOS body caps with a hole, and inset tube, work quite well (especially w/ cameras w/ live view), and certainly such adapters can easily be built or bought. If you need more will depend on a) output, b) subject (specifically the brightness, and therefore the required optical considerations), c) skill d) current equipment - all of those will require that you at<em> least</em> understand the basic techniques...</p>

[brad_trostad]

<p>You should need just two pieces to actually take an image through the telescope with your 5D2. The first piece is an adapter that connects where your lens would connect (it will have the same mount and red dot). This adapter has no electronics, just threads on the other end to screw into the telescope adapter. Here's an example:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Mount-Adapter-Camera-Digital/dp/B001G4QXTQ/ref=pd_sim_p_5">http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Mount-Adapter-Camera-Digital/dp/B001G4QXTQ/ref=pd_sim_p_5</a></p>

<p>The second part will depend on the type of eyepiece the telescope has. These are usually 1.25" or 2". To give an example, I think this one would be right for a Meade 1.25" telescope:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Meade-1-25-Inch-Camera-Adapter-Telescope/dp/B0001Y56RM/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340303157&sr=1-5&keywords=meade+telescope+adapter+slr">http://www.amazon.com/Meade-1-25-Inch-Camera-Adapter-Telescope/dp/B0001Y56RM/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340303157&sr=1-5&keywords=meade+telescope+adapter+slr</a></p>

<p>...the shiny end will insert into the telescope where the eyepiece (or other eyepiece assemblies go). The other end is threaded and is what the first adapter will thread to.</p>

<p>When hooked up, just use live view and magnify with the camera's magnify button to check focus. You will need to adjust the telescope's focus to knob to focus. Also note, this method basically creates a really, really long focal length prime lens with a very small aperture. Think like 1000mm f/10. </p>

<p>Keeping the camera super steady can be difficult and for longer exposure shots, the mount will need to track very precisely (=expensive).</p>

<p>Other options are to piggy back a standard lens on a telescope that is guided. Some people do this with the awesome Canon EF-135 f2 lens (and others). </p>

<p>Have fun! I tried my hand at this for about a year and discovered it wasn't for me. I was using a 1970's Celestron. It was okay, but I think a really good refracting scope on a German Equatorial Mount would be ideal for those sharp, stacked photos that the pros are doing.</p>

<p>Having a fixed focal length telescope lens is usually okay, but for closer objects (eg Moon, things here on earth, etc) you may not be able to get all off of the subject in the shot. Here's an example photo taken with the two adapters above + 40D + Celestron scope. This not cropped ... I couldn't quite capture all of the moon in one shot. Had this been on the 5D2 I think it would have work out about perfect.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazonbeach.com/PhotoVideo/AmazonBeachGallery/slides/20090602222448_40D_IMG_6724.html">http://www.amazonbeach.com/PhotoVideo/AmazonBeachGallery/slides/20090602222448_40D_IMG_6724.html</a></p>

[hello_hello3]

<p>awesome response Brad, Thanks! that is exactly what I needed to know to get started.<br />It turns out it's an Orion Maksutov 90mm (1250mm equiv). <br /><br />Looking into it further, apparently I should get a new 10mm eyepiece and I'm thinking (maybe?) I can stack that with a 2x Barlow and trying as you mentioned attach a 100mm lens (possibly) to really reach out and touch saturn ;-)<br /><br />I understand, that it isn't for everyone. I imagine, the finding, tracking and focusing of celestial objects will be the difficult (and expensive) part; that and a clear sky.<br /><br /> My appreciation for the detailed report! <br />btw, I think that shot of the moon is perfect the way it is. If I wanted to see the whole moon, I'd just look up ;-) Great shot!</p>

[brad_trostad]

Maybe I should mention this in case I mislead you regarding piggybacking the camera and lens on the telescope. What I meant (but

did a bad job of) was that some of the pros litterally place the camera with a high end camera lens on top of a telescope. The images

they are getting don't actually go through the telescope! The telescope in this scenario is used to guide the tracking of the scope.

 

There are people (many actually) that take high magnification photos through the eyepiece of spotting scopes - called "digiscoping".

However, these are often small point and shoots that are smaller and lighter and easier to keep steady out the end of the setup. I'm

not aware of how popular or practical it is to attach DSLRs to telescopes with the eyepiece in - perhaps it's quite difficult to keep it

steady? Plus you are then trying to focus on the eyepiece image so maybe a macro lens would be needed?

 

I love your enthusiasm - I just wanted to clarify a few things before you order anything (especially the eyepiece) only to find it may not

work well with the camera connected to the scope too.

 

When you get that Saturn photo I'd love to see it! It's awesome watching Jupiter and Saturn with the live view turned on. Perhaps

another trick would be to buy a small LCD monitor to use when the camera gets at funny angles (eg Lilliput 7" for under $200 that use

the 5d2 battery). Don't forget to enable the cameras long exposure custom function too for those longer exposures. Maybe I shouldn't have sold that old celestron after all :)

[hello_hello3]

<p>haha, thanks for the clarification I had visions of a precarious rube goldberg-esque contraption floating through my mind and out the end of the telescope which probably would've ended in an expensive disaster.<br /><br />I'll do some further research first before buying anything to see whats the best course, I think the T-mount and adapter will be basic enough to start out with tho.<br /><br />My appreciation again! =)</p>

[mpalmquist]

<p>depending on the telescope you will need the meade T-mount adapter and a EOS T-Mount ring. basically the T-Mount screws onto the treads that hold the eyepiece holder on the telescope then the T-Mount ring threads onto the T-Mount tube and finally the camera locks into the ring like a regular lens. <br>

As noted before the tripod/mount you use needs to be VERY steady, use live view or mirror lockup to reduce camera shake. Much more prone to shake than any canon lens simply because you will end up with probably a 1000-2000mm lens that is F10-F15. If you are thinking of taking exposures of on alt-az mount of the moon is quite doable as it is full sun exposure 'sunny F16 rule'. if you are wanting to take images on nebulea or star clusters etc... the scope needs to be polar aligned which means adding a photo wedge mount or using a equatorial 'german' mount.</p>