Astrophotography with a DSLR

smr

smr

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Joel
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Hi all,

Thought I'd make a video featuring the Deep Sky Astrophotography images I've taken thus far, hopefully it might provide some inspiration as 95 percent of these images were all taken with an unmodified DSLR, so in other words, an off the shelf DSLR which many people on here would have or have similar too I should think.

One of the best ways into deep sky astrophotography is by investing in a relatively inexpensive star tracking mount, which is how I started, and using your existing DSLR and telephoto lenses.

So I hope you enjoy the images.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZGH0HmhKBI

Rosette by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

California Nebula by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

The Witches Broom Nebula by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

The Heart Nebula by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

Messier 42 - The Great Orion Nebula by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

Bodes & Cigar Galaxies by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

Messier 31 by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

The Triangulum Galaxy, Messier 33 by Joel Spencer, on Flickr
 
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Excellent, many thanks for sharing (y)
 
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JasonPC said:
Great work, Joel. My credit card is now hiding behind the sofa. :) This has been on my ‘to do’ list for ages, especially as I’m lucky enough to have a dark sky location only ten minutes drive from me.
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Thanks Jason, yes same here, been hovering over the button for a dedicated astro camera recently.
 
Really fabulous images Joel.
I've recently picked up an HEQ5 mount for use with my DSLR initially so will hopefully have an opportunity to test it out this week.
I'm about to pull the trigger on a used Canon 600D astro converted camera which I intend to use with my Nikon FX lenses via an adapter.
Do you use H-Alpha filters (and/or others) with your modded camera & do you use external guidance for improved tracking accuracy ?
 
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NeilA1975 said:
Really fabulous images Joel.
I've recently picked up an HEQ5 mount for use with my DSLR initially so will hopefully have an opportunity to test it out this week.
I'm about to pull the trigger on a used Canon 600D astro converted camera which I intend to use with my Nikon FX lenses via an adapter.
Do you use H-Alpha filters (and/or others) with your modded camera & do you use external guidance for improved tracking accuracy ?
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Thanks Neil.


The HEQ5 is great mount. Filter wise I have an Optolong L-eNhance Dual Narrowband Filter which works really well for emission nebulae, but isn't really required for reflection nebulae or galaxies.


Yes I have autoguiding, I think it's necessary in Astrophotography and eventually you will want to implement it.


This is my rig, the guiding scope is the smaller scope on top of the imaging scope, with a guide camera affixed. When taking 2-5 minute, or even longer exposures, you'll need to autoguide which basically works by using software and a guide star, if the star moves commands are sent to the mount to adjust.

20210211_205117.jpg
 
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absolutely fantastic, would love to be able to do this, but would just settle for a clear night sky so I can see something
 
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Bobsyeruncle said:
Great thread, and awesome images.
Which relatively inexpensive tracking mount would you suggest to get started?
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Hi Bob,

Thank you..

A tracker like the Star Adventurer would be good for dipping your toes. That's what I started with and my 250mm lens. If you have lenses over 300mm / likely to be heavier then I would go for a German Equatorial Mount such as the Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro.
 
Rustydon said:
Thanks for this inspiring thread Joel :)
- I occasionally take photos of the moon with my Canon 400mm lens + R5 camera (total weight 2.8Kg) - do you thing this combo would be too heavy for the Star Adventurer as a first step into astro photography?

Russ
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Should be fine Russ, the payload capacity of the Star Adventurer is 5kg. I liked the Star Adventurer that much that I think I will buy another one, I sort of knew at the time I was selling it that I would probably buy another at some point, but at the time the money was to fund my HEQ5.

I would like to use the Star Adventurer for some landscape astro shots as well, I've never imaged the Milky Way and the portability of the SA is great, so I could drive to a dark sky site, set up within minutes and image.

If your lens is the 400mm f5.6 I think that's quite a nice light lens as well. Just be mindful of lens creep though, but there are ways to counteract that if it hasn't got lens lock. But yes as for the payload capacity it's well within the SA's limit.

I'm not sure about the focal length, you might have to keep exposures quite short and raise the ISO a bit but it should be ok if you get accurately polar aligned.
 
smr said:
Should be fine Russ, the payload capacity of the Star Adventurer is 5kg. I liked the Star Adventurer that much that I think I will buy another one, I sort of knew at the time I was selling it that I would probably buy another at some point, but at the time the money was to fund my HEQ5.

I would like to use the Star Adventurer for some landscape astro shots as well, I've never imaged the Milky Way and the portability of the SA is great, so I could drive to a dark sky site, set up within minutes and image.

If your lens is the 400mm f5.6 I think that's quite a nice light lens as well. Just be mindful of lens creep though, but there are ways to counteract that if it hasn't got lens lock. But yes as for the payload capacity it's well within the SA's limit.

I'm not sure about the focal length, you might have to keep exposures quite short and raise the ISO a bit but it should be ok if you get accurately polar aligned.
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- many thanks for your detailed response Joel - I'll have to plan a route into this genre before too long!

Russ
 
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Stunning images Joel, inspiring in fact. Presumably these were taken at a dark sky location rather than in your back garden?
 
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Rustydon said:
- many thanks for your detailed response Joel - I'll have to plan a route into this genre before too long!

Russ
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Good luck Russ, it's a fantastic hobby.

Son_of_Thor said:
Stunning images Joel, inspiring in fact. Presumably these were taken at a dark sky location rather than in your back garden?
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Thank you Si. These were all taken in my back garden, I have yet to image from a dark sky site. I hope to do so this year though.
 
Totally loved the video and great music to the images, today I just treated my self to a Bresser Messier AR 102/1000mm. As a little boy I loved just watching the night sky and took many images that sadly got lost over the years, I use to love shooting people and street with my cameras, but now I switched to Sony full frame I'm totally changing my photography and will be getting back in to this, as I already own a Travel scope 70 and a Firstscope so can't wait to relearn it all again. Thanks for sharing these stunning images and a cracking video.
 
Inspiring images, I dabbled with this during lockdown albeit without a tracker, stacking many short exposures. I would have bought a tracker if I could get one. Still on my list for this year, I assume supply will open up again.
 
smr said:
These were all taken in my back garden, I have yet to image from a dark sky site. I hope to do so this year though.
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That's really interesting, there's hope then! You can see a lot more stars where we are now they've changed all of the street lighting to LED. I may treat myself to a basic tracker later in the year (assuming supply returns to normal) and have a play
 
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