My optical equipment

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Butterfly Maiden Great Britain
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Re: My optical equipment

#41

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


I had a disaster last night whilst trying to get a photo of the Waxing Crescent Moon.

The digiscoping setup I've got now is the Nikon Fieldscope with the eyepiece removed. I have an adaptor that screws into the scope eyepiece socket with a Nikon screw fitting on the other end. Finally I connect my Nikon D60 DSLR to the adaptor.

I was all ready to go and the camera display was blank! The basic checks revealed no obvious problems; full battery, memory card installed, lens cover removed.

I was getting a Menu display appearing in the LCD screen as normal, but no image was being displayed. Nothing through the viewfinder either :o

I tried selecting various settings on the Mode dial but nothing made a difference. I had another look at the camera in the daylight today, when not attached to the Fieldscope, but I couldn't get an image at all through the viewfinder. That sucks!

Fortunately, I also have a Canon EOS 700D DSLR camera, but the adaptor between camera and scope is no good.

I've been doing enquiries for an adaptor for the Canon camera and found a possible answer to my dilemma in the form of a Canon EOS SRB Digiscoping kit available from this website - https://www.srb-photographic.co.uk/cano ... 9543-p.asp

I emailed the company today to check that it would fit my model camera and they said it would be okay. Unfortunately, (and there always seems to be an unfortunately in there somewhere for me) they don't have the size of adaptor I require. They suggest buying the next size up from the current diameter of your eyepiece as it fits over the top of it. My eyepiece diameter is 37mm, so the next size up is 40mm. That model is currently out of stock :flame:
When will I get some good luck :Boo:

Anyway, I've put myself on their mailing list to be notified when new stocks come in, so I guess I'll just have to be patient. I suppose it may be available elsewhere, but I haven't done any searching as yet. Maybe I should :sigh:
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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buddsy
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Re: My optical equipment

#42

Post by buddsy »


Hi!

Id say go out side and find the Plough or as we cal it the sauce pan. From there its easy to find Polaris.

Set your camera on your tripod pointing at Polaris, set the Camera to bulb and play around with long exposures! 30 mins and more.

Polaris is the belly button of the sky if you didnt know so should get some nice circular star trails.

If you get the hang of that you can use a torch to illuminate for foreground if you have something of interest.

If you are a landscape photographer you can go out and do this around interesting buildings, churches or trees.

Just my thoughts to get some results without having to get into complex technical info. Helps make sense of the sky too.

buddsy
I have a Celestron CPC 925
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: My optical equipment

#43

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Butterfly Maiden wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 6:22 pm I imagine the newer models have improved optics, but I'm quite happy with the results I'm getting with my current scope for now.
I would think your telescope would compete with the newer ones quite well.
Nikon rarely makes lemons :)
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
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Butterfly Maiden Great Britain
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Re: My optical equipment

#44

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Thanks for that buddsy.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not having many friendly interactions with optical equipment at the moment, they're just not playing fair with me.

Until I get something sorted out that works for me I won't be doing much experimentation with photographic effects.

However, you mentioned some interesting effects there, but I'll have to put them on hold for now :roll:
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: My optical equipment

#45

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Lady Fraktor wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 7:02 pm
Butterfly Maiden wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 6:22 pm I imagine the newer models have improved optics, but I'm quite happy with the results I'm getting with my current scope for now.
I would think your telescope would compete with the newer ones quite well.
Nikon rarely makes lemons :)
I agree :D
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: My optical equipment

#46

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


I've been getting some great views of the Moon these past few days with my Nikon Fieldscope, as the skies have been beautifully clear, and we're now approaching the Full Moon phase.

I'm going to attempt to get some photos, but it will just be solely using my Canon EOS 700D DSLR camera.

The digiscoping kit I am waiting to get is still out of stock, so I don't know how long I'll have to wait for that. I've looked elsewhere for a similar kit but not been able to find anything suitable.

Okay, so I'm not expecting miracles, especially as I don't have any telephoto lenses for the Canon camera, but over the next few nights up to, and including, the Full Moon I am going to try to capture some 'reasonable' results.

I know what you're thinking - what a dufus, trying to photograph the night sky with a basic camera :oops: But, I am still learning and trying to do the best I can with the equipment I've got. Okay guys, you say 'a bad workman always blames his tools', but I can't use that analogy as I'm not a guy, so I'll just say I am a helpless female instead :lol:

Keep your fingers crossed for me, and if I get anything I'm happy to share with you I will post it here - no pressure. Maybe I'll also post any disasters so you can tell me where I went wrong :shhh:
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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JayTee United States of America
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Re: My optical equipment

#47

Post by JayTee »


Many, many, many of us started by holding a point and shoot camera to the eyepiece, myself included. You are on the right track.

Cheers,
JT
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

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Re: My optical equipment

#48

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Well, once again I seem to have upset the sky Gods and Goddesses.

No sooner had I got a plan in place to try and get some Moon shots, the weather changes. We've had rain all day here and it's cloudy :cry:

Actually, last night could have been a good opportunity for a Moon shot as I had clear skies. I got my Canon camera out of its bag, only to find the battery was completely flat - oops :oops: I'm always so careful to make sure my batteries are always fully charged and ready to go. I'm very annoyed with myself for doing that.

I discovered this at 9.30pm, and as it turned out later the battery wasn't fully charged until the early hours of the morning. Too late to do anything about it then though.

I'll keep an eye on the weather forecast for the next couple of days and hope things improve.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: My optical equipment

#49

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


JayTee wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:52 pm Many, many, many of us started by holding a point and shoot camera to the eyepiece, myself included. You are on the right track.

Cheers,
JT
I should have tried that trick last night JT. I've just posted my dilemma of discovering a flat camera battery last night when attempting to get a Moon shot.

I also have a Canon compact camera that I could have maybe tried against the eyepiece. I have to say, I've never tried that method before, so I should probably experiment a little bit :think:

Thank you for pointing out that little gem.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: My optical equipment

#50

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Just got some good news. The Digiscoping kit I've been waiting to come back into stock is now available.

I've ordered the kit, so I'm hoping it will work for me and get some decent shots of the sky.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: My optical equipment

#51

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


The digiscoping kit arrived this morning.

I've tested the setup on a landscape scene and all works great.

As there is no lens fitted to the camera on this setup there is no way to control the aperture. Therefore, my first few attempts were allowing too much light through and the image was being washed out.

With the camera set on Manual mode I played around with the shutter speed. I found that anything from 1/250s upwards works much better and the image is correctly exposed.

I'll use this as a starting setting when I next get a chance to photograph the Moon. I can then adjust accordingly using the Image Playback mode, to get the right exposure.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: My optical equipment

#52

Post by Graeme1858 »


Sounds about right.

Have fun.

Regards

Graeme
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Celestron 9.25 f10 SCT, f6.3FR, CGX mount.
ASI1600MM Pro, ASI294MC Pro, ASI224MC
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APM 11x70 ED APO Binoculars.

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Re: My optical equipment

#53

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Lady Fraktor wrote: Thu May 28, 2020 10:05 pm The Nikon should be capable of some very nice views.
I could not find what size the eyepiece barrel is though.
If it is the standard 1.25" you may be able to get an adapter that will fit the stock bayonet mounting and let you use a regular astronomical eyepiece.
Check with Nikon if it is possible and there should be a few places to purchase the adapter.
I've just had a reply from Nikon as follows:

"Thank you for your email and the attached picture.

Thank you so much also for your patience till we have been investigating in the case.

Based on your image the fieldscope model is the discontinued Nikon Fieldscope ED82 (straight type).

Unfortunately we do not have a specific adaptor for this fiedscope to connect other eyepieces. The adaptors that are compatible with this fieldscope are FSA-L1 camera attachment for digiscoping with certain DSRL cameras, or FSB-U1 for digiscoping with certain Coolpix models.

I am really sorry that our answer in this case is not a positive one, and that we do not have an adaptor to connect an astronomical eyepiece to this fiendscope.
"

Well, that sucks :roll:
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: My optical equipment

#54

Post by Greenman »


Hi Vanessa,

You may be able to get one secondhand:
https://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot
Or
On Facebook Search buy-and-sell groups - Secondhand Astronomy Equipment UK (need to join).
Cheers,

Tony.

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Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

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