How to connect a DSLR to a reflector telescope.
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- This video shows which type of connectors are great for connecting a Nikon DSLR to a reflector or refractor telescope. The connectors allow you to achieve prime focus without the need to use an eyepiece, as in eyepiece projection. A thin T ring piece is needed that is no more than 9 to 11 mm thick, so as to get the lense of the camera as close as possible to the secondary mirror of a reflector or Dobsonion telescope. A 16.5 or 21 mm two inch wide threaded spacer is then screwed on to the T piece, to attach the camera to the telescopes focuser. Focus is usually achieved very close to the secondary mirror.For those who try this method and still can't achieve focus, then a 2 inch Barlow can be directly attached to the dslr via the spacer. Barlows come in one and a quarter and two inch sizes, so a 2 inch model would be required and would be superior at gathering light anyhow. The model of the T ring is shown on the video. They can be found for purchase by Google searching the name and numbers on the unit shown.The spacers can also be purchased from Orion, but its best to buy a set in case you need to extend your camera further out. I would recommend two 21 mm, one 16.5 and a 5mm. I purchase mine from the Zwo imaging online store.Please note that all of the images shown were taken on prime focus,but some of them were cropped to give a closer look at the lunar surface.
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WOW, that's brilliant.
Congratulations and thanks for the advice and lovely pics! Just one question. I want to start astrophotography soon and I wonder what magnification does the dslr get, as prime focus. Eg some ccd's are equivalent to 10 mm which for a 500 focal length of telescope gives 50x . What is the corresponding dslr focal length? Thank you on advance!
With a standard 25 mm eyepiece the magnification with the 1200 mm long reflector scope is 48 times. The DSLR on prime focus brings it just a little bit closer. So it probably gives about 52 times magnification. The close ups you see of the moon in the video were just cropped sections of the images taken at prime. You can also add a Barlow lense to bring it all closer. But the DSLR is no good for planets. You need a planetary zwo camera for them which have much smaller sensors.
Thanks for your immediate and helpful reply! Well I actually plan to use the dslr with barlow as adaptor/extender, so no eyepiece. In that case what is the sensor equivalent to? Note that it is a standard 4/3 sensor
If you used a two times Barlow it should give you at least 96 times magnification. A 3 times Barlow would likely be 144 times. I wouldn't recommend anything stronger than a 2.5 times Barlow. Also once you add a Barlow the view is much dimmer, and you have to jack the iso up a lot,which introduces noise. Also a Barlow is hopeless for stars and nebulas. You are best to go with prime focus and start with the moon. A Barlow will disappoint.
Thanks again @ Screedy!
Hi, When i try to use eyepiece projection with my Canon T5i the image is always completely dark, EXCEPT for the moon. Everything else is complete darkness. Any idea on what is wrong? thank you
I have no idea of what your level of knowledge is, or what telescope you are using, so will give you the basic tips. First of all you must set the camera to Manuel mode. Practice getting focus during the daytime on a distant object. You will get best focus by using zoom on the camera and fine tuning the telescopes knob. Take some images after getting best focus. If the resulting images are too dark or too bright, you have to adjust the exposure and iso settings till it's right. The F setting is not relevent when connected to a telescope,so no need to adjust that. Then at night practice on the moon. Because it is so bright you only need an iso of 100 and an exposure of one 320th of a second. But that's too dark for the stars, so you need to increase the iso for them up to 1600 and use longer exposures of at least 1 tenth of a second. If you use a 1 second exposure you can reduce the iso to 400 which will reduce noise. Longer exposures will result in star trails though.Good luck
If you remove the lens from the camera and the eyepiece from the telescope how do you get magnification ?? I'm confused.
The telescope effectively becomes the lense for the camera sir. The eyepiece focuses on the mirror inside the telescope. Just the same the camera focuses on the same mirror. But the focus for the camera has to be adjusted by the focus adjustment fitted to the telescope.
@@screedy1050 Thanks very much, I've got a similar camera and the same telescope, just bought the t ring and spacer , can't wait now to try it all out , sorry I just thought the telescope eyepiece gave you the magnification. 👍👍
@@Kemagic once you connect the camera to the telescope, you have to switch the mode on your camera to Manuel. You will not get a view through the scope on any other camera setting. Practise with it on a distant object during the day first. Getting the iso and exposure setting will be completely different between day and night though. For the moon you need an iso of 100 only. And an exposure of one 320th of a second. The f ratio does not come into it.
@@screedy1050 Brilliant, thank you again, I can't wait to try it all out, your images are fantastic the best I've seen. 👌👌
@@Kemagic I recommend you join the Dobsonion astrophotography Facebook group. People there can answer your questions and you can share your photos there.