First try with smartphone

[Greg6498]

Hello all! I had my first go at photographing the moon last night, using an iPhone XR with my Celestron 180mm Maksutov on an Advanced VX mount. I am fairly pleased but it was much more difficult than I had anticipated![image]BAA6214B-80D0-4E4B-8FAF-7F423345E7F8 by Greg Hemmings, on Flickr[/image][image]5063F865-3BFD-40E3-933E-71819E48EBE5 by Greg Hemmings, on Flickr[/image]

[bladekeeper]

Sweet! Nice snaps, Greg! Rupes Recta is showing nicely in the lower image.

Man, you be careful with this afocal stuff. That's how it gets you. Next thing you know you are buying a dang CMOS camera, running off video, stacking frames, guiding, cursing, yanking hair, and contemplating your life choices.

Great shots!

[Don Quixote]

They are very satisfying cell phone camera images Greg.
Nice work.
Thank you for posting.

[Thefatkitty]

Nicely done Greg; you got some good detail on those! ::

All the best,

[Greg6498]

Sweet! Nice snaps, Greg! Rupes Recta is showing nicely in the lower image.

Man, you be careful with this afocal stuff. That's how it gets you. Next thing you know you are buying a dang CMOS camera, running off video, stacking frames, guiding, cursing, yanking hair, and contemplating your life choices.

Great shots!

Thanks for the kind words! I have been researching entry level cameras but have no idea where to start. Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated!

[Greg6498]

Nicely done Greg; you got some good detail on those! ::

All the best,

Thanks for the kind words! I have been researching entry level cameras but have no idea where to start. Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated!

Greg

[bladekeeper]

Sweet! Nice snaps, Greg! Rupes Recta is showing nicely in the lower image.

Man, you be careful with this afocal stuff. That's how it gets you. Next thing you know you are buying a dang CMOS camera, running off video, stacking frames, guiding, cursing, yanking hair, and contemplating your life choices.

Great shots!

Thanks for the kind words! I have been researching entry level cameras but have no idea where to start. Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated!

Hi Greg!

Your best bet, at least to get a look at the proper path to set foot on, is to go to this website: https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/

Using the imaging mode, plug in the focal length and aperture of your scope, and choose a target (let's say the Moon) and then look at the varying camera choices in the drop down menu and add those to the view.

With the long focal length of your Mak, in order to get the full lunar disk in the frame, you are probably looking at something with a large sensor such as a DSLR.

For planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, something like the ZWO ASI120MC-S would be amazing with that scope.

I would not engage in much deep sky imaging with that scope. The long focal length would be a booger to track and guide, and as slow as a Mak is, your exposure times would be nuts.

[Thefatkitty]

Hi Greg I agree with Bryan for sure. If you already have a DSLR, the associated parts to hook it to your scope would involve the appropriate T-Ring for your camera brand and the Camera T-Adapter for that to your scope. Whole deal might cost $40, and with some free software, you can get some really good pictures.

All the best,