Help required on Astro set up

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Darkside1959

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Name
Roger
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Hi

A few years back I owned some very nice canon kit as I shot weddings , we then moved and to buy stuff to renovate I sold everything . A year ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 lung and bone cancer.
not doing too badly and this isn’t a request for sympath. It’s a request for help with Astro pho.
ive brought a Nikon D780 that came with a 24-120mm , I’ll more likely sell this ... but just brought a 28-300. As I’m shooting my friends wedding next year. So looking at a few more bits.
but I’m interested in Astro as a hobby as we also purchased a VW camper van (lifestyle change) due to insurance with cancer.
im looking at trackers to Mount camera or full on telescope to attach camera. I’m looking at software ,is there dedicated idiot proof software beside photoshop as it all looks
mind blowing because I’m on chemotherapy every 3 weeks and brain really does get confused quickly now, so learn step one and two and I’ve lost step one, get to step 20
ive forgotten the first 19‍♂️.
So I’m after recommending for trackers v full on scope , budget no more that £1500 I’d say. And a stand alone soft ware for edits for my haggled brain.
sorry if this is posted in the wrong place , but I’ve looked and looked and can’t find anywhere else to post on this.. if it’s wrong and some one could move it that would help.
hope it all makes sense
Cheers

Roger
 
Welcome to TP, sorry I can't help with your query but I'm sure someone will be along at some point with advice, looks like you found the best place for your question. All the best
 
Hi Sirch

Much appreciated, I’m in no real rush. I think I just enjoy Amazon sending me a parcel to be honest. Cancer does have many benefits, I can ask the wife for anythin.
but then again she’s always let me get what I fancy. said I wanted a new bike , she said you don’t need one , got cancer “why don’t you get a new bike” bearing in mind
I really didn’t need one as I had an amazing one. But knowing when I do eventually start cycling again I’ll require help on the hills I got an S-Works creo ebike. Been sat there
Since January teasing me. But feeling I’m getting more energy now , I’m hoping to train again. Im 61 and used to do 100 plus mile rides. So long way off that , so I need a hobby.
astro seems a good fill in.. sorry for off topic post , but not much else to do laying in bed ‍♂️
 
This was something I looked into but never did get around to purchasing.

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer

The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer provides an excellent route into astrophotography for those using DSLR cameras and small refractors.
www.tringastro.co.uk www.tringastro.co.uk

I see they also do a newer version with WiFi and Phone App, maybe worth checking out.
 
If you're looking at trackers vs scopes................. What sort of astrophotography do you want to do? If it's wide field Milky Way or constellation shots then a simple tracker and a suitable focal length lens (not too long) is the way to go. If it's small fuzzies then a large scope on a big heavy mount plus guiding and you're opening a whole can of worms you really don't want to open.
If you want Milky Way/constellation and the larger deep sky objects then a tracker or lightweight driven mount plus suitable lenses is fine. I use a Sigma 150-600 on a Canon crop sensor DSLR on a Skywatcher EQ3-2 mount (some images taken with this combo on my Flickr). Do look at the payload for anything you're considering. 5 kg is fine for a DSLR and long lens.
You will need to consider your physical capabilities now and going forward, because once you get above the 5kg payload class of mount they get very heavy and very cumbersome.
Regarding software, unfortunately astrophotography is 10% taking images and 90% processing. For anything other than very wide field shots you will need to take multiple short exposures and integrate (stack) them. There is freeware for this called Deep Sky Stacker. It's reasonable, not great, but the advantage is it's free and it's a doddle to use. You can then process in whatever pp package you like, however it's not as simple as 'normal' processing. Nik Szymanek did a series on post processing in various software packages in back issues of Astronomy Now. There are dedicated software packages that do everything. MaximDL is one, PixInsight is the one I use (I still do some of the post processing in PaintShop Pro because it's easier for me). They are very, very steep learning curves.
Not wishing to put a damper on anything but there are cupboards and garages full of dusty scopes and mounts where someone's thought astro - what a good idea - and found it's a lot harder than they thought it would be and have lost interest. Moral of that is start simple, and you can't get much simpler than a tracker and a camera/lenses that you can also use for other things.
Or how about astro related but different. I do solar photography. The trusty Sigma 150-600 with a home made filter (Baader film and a cereal packet in the best Blue Peter tradition) gives very good images of sun spots with minimal processing. I'm looking to supplement that setup with a Ha scope, except they're unavailable at the moment. Grrrrrrr......!
 
Hi Jannyfox

Really not sure how deep I want to get involved right now, and as you say don’t want a shed full of dusty kit. i tend to research stuff a while before I leap , took me 10 years to
decide on a tattoo ‍♂️, not sure I have 10 left but not giving up just yet
 
MarkWalker said:
This was something I looked into but never did get around to purchasing.

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer

The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer provides an excellent route into astrophotography for those using DSLR cameras and small refractors.
www.tringastro.co.uk www.tringastro.co.uk

I see they also do a newer version with WiFi and Phone App, maybe worth checking out.
Click to expand...
Cheers for the link , I’ll take a look
 
I think the Star Adventurer is the way to go for longer focal lengths, 100-400mm and those Redcat or Williams Optics type lenses for planets and nice deep sky images.

But don't underestimate the price, size, weight, ease of use and portability of the Move Shoot Move if you are shooting wide Milky Way, constellations or reasonably sized (up to 135mm) prime lenses - I have seen nebula and Andromeda images using the MSM.

Editing for Milky Way and constellations I just use my normal Lightroom and stack using Sequator and blend using Photoshop layers/ masking.
 
Last edited:
LeeRatters said:
I think the Star Adventurer is the way to go for longer focal lengths, 100-400mm and those Redcat or Williams Optics type lenses for planets and nice deep sky images.

But don't underestimate the price, size, weight, ease of use and portability of the Move Shoot Move if you are shooting wide Milky Way, constellations or reasonably sized (up to 135mm) prime lenses - I have seen nebula and Andromeda images using the MSM.

Editing for Milky Way and constellations I just use my normal Lightroom and stack using Sequator and blend using Photoshop layers/ masking.
Click to expand...
Cheers Lee

Been looking at the star adventure, seems a reasonable price. Lot of searching to be done I think. Might head for used kit not sure yet
 
Darkside1959 said:
Cheers Lee

Been looking at the star adventure, seems a reasonable price. Lot of searching to be done I think. Might head for used kit not sure yet
Click to expand...

YouTube will be a good help to you I think.

Alyn Wallace, Peter Z- something, Chasing Luminance.... There are quite a few in all honesty. Search the name of the tracker or 'nebula photography' etc
 
If you haven't tried any astro yet, then you could start to get a feel for the subject by taking some test exposures from your back garden.
A starting point would be exposures of about 6 seconds, fairly high ISO (depending on noise levels) (say 1600), and as wide an aperture as possible.

Cygnus, which is fairly high at the moment, can be incredibly spectacular when imaged from a location with low light pollution. However, for most of us, the sky background is brighter than the sea of stars that are there. Longer exposures won't help with this. There are lots of filters that claim to cut down on light pollution, but it is very easy to waste lots of money on these.

Skywatcher products are generally excellent value, and they tend to perform well.

Many cameras have an IR filter over the sensor. Sadly these filters also cut out Ha (Hydrogen Alpha) emissions. ( I believe that Nikon cameras are not too bad in this respect.)

Cartes du Ciel is an excellent free planetarium application for Windows and Linux. In particular, it overlays your camera frame onto a sky chart, which is very useful.

Deepsky Stacker is a free astro image stacking package that lots of people use.

Good luck!
 
Hi Don

Many thanks for that info ,ill take a butchers at filters. Any recommendations , we are not too bad for pollution I don’t think. These I know are only the moon
Not a star cluster or anything like , so maybe not a good example, but hand held in back garden. we get some nice dark nights here , with what I’d say very good clear sky.
but I guess until I start trying I’m only guessing. But because of our clear sky’s I keep thinking on such nights , what a waste of a night sky ‍♂️i know many will look at these
pics and say wtf , give up now

Rog F133A858-A1B7-4E79-BBF9-66F64B9C0DFA.jpeg
7BB6B6F1-ACEF-4CEC-A292-526E4A84F489.png
 
I have the Star Watcher star adventurer and find it works well. I mount a 5D mkiv with 24-70, 70-200 and even tried the 120-400mm. I think the longer you go the more absolutely spot on you have to get everything, polar alignment, focus etc. At 200mm FF I was really pleased with my andromeda image, shared on here. If you want to get those emission nebula you’ll need to go for an Astro modified camera I think. There is a limit to what an unmodified dslr will pick up. Although there are quite a few nice targets without missing.

if you have some good glass, this is another option,

https://www.altairastro.com/altair-hypercam-canon-eos-dslr-lens-adaptor-62-p.asp

which will allow you to connect a dedicated Astro camera to the dslr lens on a tracker. I’m mulling this as a stepping stone in my Astro journey. You have to couple this with another box of tricks which then runs the camera, controlled via an iPad or laptop, and actually takes the images.
 
Darkside1959 said:
Hi Don

Many thanks for that info ,ill take a butchers at filters. Any recommendations , we are not too bad for pollution I don’t think. These I know are only the moon
Not a star cluster or anything like , so maybe not a good example, but hand held in back garden. we get some nice dark nights here , with what I’d say very good clear sky.
but I guess until I start trying I’m only guessing. But because of our clear sky’s I keep thinking on such nights , what a waste of a night sky ‍♂️i know many will look at these
pics and say wtf , give up now

Rog View attachment 334263
View attachment 334260
Click to expand...
Nothing at all wrong with those lunar shots. The eclipse is very nice. To get better shots needs expensive specialist equipment. The "seeing" also varies from night to night and by the hour - so there are times when you think that you haven't focussed properly, but in fact you have.

My comment about filters was meant to deter you from thinking about them yet. It is very easy to be impressed by Youtube videos and reviews and waste lots of money! I've spent money on filters that hardly ever got used.

The best thing is a bit (lots) of practice.
Open clusters can make very pretty images. Globular clusters are much more difficult without a telescope and expensive mount. They are also quite small.
 
Cheers for the info so far , it’s looking like an absolute minefield. Obviously everyone has a different way to start out, I’m not going to rush and might buy a mix of used
and new. But I’ll tread slowly
 
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