Taking pictures through a telescope without adapters?

[howie_wu]

<p>Hi, Just curious --<br>

If you have a telescope/binocular without a camera adapter, what is the best way to take a picture? What focal length would be suitable?</p>

<p>Thanks,<br>

Howard</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>The best way to take a picture is w/ a p&s which you can mash up against the viewfinder, and will cover the lens completely (ambient light reflecting off the element significantly detracts from the image). A cell phone is likely to work as well (depending on the camera position on the unit) - it's worked for me. Vignetting is likely to be a big problem.</p>

<p>The focal length you need is dependent upon what you are trying to capture.</p>

 

[howie_wu]

<p>Can I use a macro lens on a SLR?</p>

[SCL]

<p>Howie - you can use almost any lens, but the results will be somewhere between disappointing and just ok. As mentioned above, vignetting is an issue, as is holding everything steady enough to capture a blur free picture. As a kid, when I could afford very little, I used this technique using a 45mm fixed lens rangefinder camera with both telescopes and microscopes. Once I gained access to the proper gear the results were so much more predictable and better. On the steadiness side, you want to make sure the telescope is rock steady, not wobbly. Best if you can affix a cardboard tube around both your lens and the ocular of the telescope to hold them securely together. You want to use infinity focus on the camera, and also a cable release on the shutter. Good luck in your endeavor.</p>

[howie_wu]

<p>Hi, thanks for the replies.<br>

The reason I am asking is that I will be getting a <strong>Celestron SkyMaster 25x70 Binoculars</strong> as a gift. While it is no good for serious astrophotography or anything like that, by binocular standards it is quite powerful. It also comes with a tripod adapter.<br>

I am thinking: maybe I can mount the binocular on a tripod, then mount a DSLR with a lens on another tripod behind it. I know this is not an attempt at serious astrophotography, but maybe for the moon and bridge planets, etc., it is at least fun to play with.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Howard</p>

[GerrySiegel]

<p>In your research you might want to look into articles on digiscoping and see what the on line sellers recommend for "digiscoping." I have great binoculars but I think other optical instruments are better for the purpose than a 25X binocular. Haven't tried it, so I can't say. Look into the bino and telescope forums. Good luck. </p>

 

[charles_wood]

<p>If you have a long lens, zoom or tele, in the 300mm range and an SLR with an APS sensor, you'll likely get far better results by simply shooting the moon or sky and cropping the frame as desired. I've shot the moon with a 1200mm equivalent spotting telescope and an adapter. Even then, the optics of the telescope left something to be desired and the results were just 'ok' at best.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>Not having tried it myself but from other 'additions' in front of my cameras, telephoto adaptors and other lenses, I suggest you will get serious vignetting unless the camera has a narrow angle of view lens, telephoto, and the 'thing up front' has a larger rear element than the camera's lens to reduce loss of light. There is a contradiction here that a large aperture telephoto has probably and unfortunately for this use a large front element which is likely to be considerably larger than the rear of the bino.<br>

I have read other comments similar to Charles Wood's ... basically you need a very high quality telescope to make any exercise worthwhile.<br>

The other approach is to project the image out the back of the bino and photograph that image with the camera ... either the image on something or an aerial image. The first is probably the safest way to photograph the sun.<br>

From using 7x50 and 10x50 binos I think the tripod will not be a 'maybe' but an essential aspect :-) You should as part of the experiment consider a mounting for both bino and camera the way 'big' lenses are added to cameras with the tripod organised under the point of balance. The trouble here is that the rear eyepiece of the bino designed for the eye will be rather small and even a super-zoom bridge camera's lens will be much bigger.<br>

A thought just crossed my mind ... since you are photographing round objects then vignetting may not be a serious problem :-)</p>

[frode]

<p>As far as I have experienced: You will need a lens with a short distance between the front glass and the entrance pupil. You place the lens so that the entrance pupil is approximately at the distance of the eye relief. Then you zoom in until you have a smaller angle of view than the virtual angle of view of the telescope system (the angle of view as seen by the eye through the ocular) or until you have acceptable vignetting. Basically this means a small sensor camera with its small focal lengths (talking about real focal lengths here), aka point and shoot compact cameras.<br>

You will need a telescope with high quality optics. The camera will detect optical errors the eye hardly sees. I have a Swarovski ATS-80 HD (High Definition) which gives acceptable (but far from excellent) technical quality images together with a Ricoh Caplio GX200.<br>

Search for "digiscoping" ( http://lmgtfy.com/?q=digiscoping ) and you will find lots of information, especially on bird related sites.<br>

Best,<br>

Frode</p>