[Swapnil]

Great Pictures guys!
I am so glad to see pictures like this. I am just waiting for a clear night sky on weekend. Dont know if I would be able to take pictures like this in Seattle

Keep shooting

[Vincenc]

Hi All.

As luck would have it, it's only been cloudy nights since I received my K-mount adapter. Regardless, I did manage to get a clear shot of the moon yesterday. So here it is. My first astro photo, though there are not really any "astros" in it.

Taken with a 750/150 Newton on a horribly wobbly EQ3 with Pentax K-r ISO 200, 1/125s, single image RAW

I am not too happy with the result, but seeing how my telescope doesn't have a 1:10 reduction focuser, I can't expect too much.

Kind regards,

Vince

[Andrei87]

Near the Black Sea:








I know this is wrong, but I have a crappy tripod...

[ubuntu83]

Here's a test shot of Milky Way with Pentax K-r :



25 sec. exposure with 18-55mm @ 18mm, f/3.5 and ISO 800.

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Last edited by ubuntu83; 07-26-2011 at 04:00 AM.

[ubuntu83]

I've tried a few times with decent results with my k-x. The galaxy was piggy backed on a meade lx-200 with a 100-300mm ebay cheap lens and then tracked with a illuminated reticle eyepiece for 10min, and the milky way shot was done with the stock k-x lens and a 30sec exposure at 1600iso.

The second shot, is it a RAW converted to JPEG or its a stock JPEG image? If it's a RAW image then can you send me that image. I think I can enhance it further.

[Lex Madera]

I'm interested in venturing into this. I'm looking at a Meade telescope. As I understand it, I need an adapter for the eyepiece and a t-mount adapter for my camera body. Am I missing anything else?

Assistance and comments much appreciated!

[DeadJohn]

I'm interested in venturing into this. I'm looking at a Meade telescope. As I understand it, I need an adapter for the eyepiece and a t-mount adapter for my camera body. Am I missing anything else?

Assistance and comments much appreciated!

(Note that astrophotography through a telescope is much trickier than visual astronomy. A tiny amount of vibration or drift won't bother your eye, but the same conditions can completely ruin a photo. I suggest joining a local astronomy club, if possible, before buying a telescope.)

Are you looking at a specific Meade telescope? We can provide more detailed comments if we know that. In general, though, you're correct that you need 2 adapters, one on the DSLR side and another on the telescope side.

The DSLR adapter is easy; a t-mount. The "eyepiece adapter" is more complex because there are several different ways to do it for prime focus or eyepiece projection.

Prime focus photography: The telescope becomes a large lens. No eyepiece is used. This works well for widefield star images and the moon. Some scopes already include t-threads where you can just screw the camera t-mount onto the scope; if that's not already there, there are adapters that can be installed on the back of the telescope.

Eyepiece projection photography: This can give much more magnification and works for Saturn, Jupiter, and closeups of the moon. You can buy an "eyepiece projection adapter" to do this. Some eyepieces have t-threads where you can screw on the camera, too, such as Celestron 8-24mm zoom eyepiece.

[Lex Madera]

Thanks for your reply. I'm looking at the Meade ETX-80. It's a modest telescope. If I find I enjoy this, then I'll look to invest in something more robust in the future.

I appreciate your attention and suggestions.

[pdxfive]

Here are my first couple of attempts, both just single exposures

[Andrei87]

International Space Station (ISS):

[piledon]

Thanks for your reply. I'm looking at the Meade ETX-80. It's a modest telescope. If I find I enjoy this, then I'll look to invest in something more robust in the future.

I appreciate your attention and suggestions.

I have a Meade ETX-90 telescope. The T-adapter doesn't go on the eyepiece; it goes on the back. Looking at the manual for the ETX-80 it appears to be the same construction.

Somewhere Else on this site there's a shot I took through it. For some reason I can't insert it here. Here's the link to it on Flickr.

By the way, to all above, thank you for the information about how to do some of these things - very helpful! Maybe if I ever get my telescope and my sorry ass out of the City I can try some of those techniques out!

[ScreamingIdiot]

I took this during the Lunar Eclipse of November, 2010 at totality using my Pentax K2000, on a 90mm Refractor Telescope. My results wern't perfect, because the K2000 is actually not sensetive enough for such work, plus the light grasp of the telescope I was using. Had I used my reflector I would have gotten better results. But the K2000's noted lack of sensetivity is a reason I want to upgrade to the K5. The quality of the photo is somewhat low because of significant moisture in the air, as well as variable cloud cover.

[BillM]

Accessories for Astrophotography with K-r?

As much clear weather as you can afford very helpful Lex.
If tube isnt equiped with a sight,something to help acquire target.Lot of folks
use red dot target sights mounted in various ways.(meade probably equiped)
For close focusing,extension tubes in addition to T-mount adapter really
opens up some terrestrial shots,let your imagination be your guide there.
50mm to 75mm of extension be good to start off with,find whats best for you.
Keep in mind,no apeture coupling on T-mount...easy work around with green button
on pentax DSLR's and opens up possibility's on extension tubes.
As mentioned,very steady tripod.
Perhaps a small stool or something to make yourself comfortable with,
tube angled up, and one bent and 'scrunched' over working on a shot
can be a pain in the...(a number of "places")
Looking at great shots here in your thread, can see how much fun it is.

edit: interesting old review of pentax refracting APO scope
Astromart Reviews - Pentax 105SDP Apochromatic Refractor

[ofer4]

Hi, folks -

Are you guys running off of battery or the add-on AC adapter? I had planned to do some long exposure & time lapse, but I didn't realize that a direct plug-in wasn't possible (it is on my p&s). Do I need to drop the additional $75?

Thanks!
Ryan

[jimr-pdx]

Just for humor and as a crash-test scenario I'd like to try a 20-second shot at iso1600 -- with basic HDR enabled. I need a darker site to play in though - if anyone feels like reporting on that sort of shot it would be fun to see the result (esp. compared to a straight 20s image) - thanks!