Camera+???+telescope=long distance photos

November 30, 2005 2:15 PM

I would like to attach my camera to a telescope...

My camera is a Panasonic DMC-FZ5. I've heard there are attachments I can buy to do this, but I don't know what they are called, so I can't Google for them effectively. I don't have a telescope, or a specific in mind other than 'cheap'.

What do I need to have to attach my camera to a telescope and take pics of things long-distance (ie. moon, 'nearby' planets)? What do I need to look for on the telescope to make this connection?

posted by Kickstart70 to technology (16 comments total)

(also, will I be able to use the 12x optical zoom?)
posted by Kickstart70 at 2:16 PM on November 30, 2005

except for the moon maybe, you wouldn't want to use the zoom -- you wouldn't get enough light in.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 2:23 PM on November 30, 2005

The cheap and dirty method I use is to take the eyepiece off the telescope, put the camera in macro mode, and just hold it to the telescope.
posted by CrazyJoel at 2:28 PM on November 30, 2005

This picture was taken by me through a telescope. A guy had his telescope on a tripod and I just set my Canon A95 on the viewfinder of the telescope and used the LCD viewfinder on my camer to frame the shot.
posted by NoMich at 2:31 PM on November 30, 2005

This is my moon picture.
posted by CrazyJoel at 2:36 PM on November 30, 2005

But I guess the method I used wouldn't be very wise in low/no light conditions. Sorry.
posted by NoMich at 2:40 PM on November 30, 2005

t-rings are used to connect a camera to a telescope (sometimes directly, sometimes with another adapter).
posted by jimw at 2:49 PM on November 30, 2005

if you're just messing around, do what nomich says. if you're expecting to take pictures of anything other than the moon, however, you need to put more effort in. you need an adapter like jmw says, and you need to use long exposures. that causes problems, because the sky "rotates" (or the earth rotates underneat), so you really need a telescope that has a motor to move it in the same direction, keeping your camera pointing at whatever object you hope to take a picture of. also, looking at planets isn't as interesting as you might expect - they just look like fuzzy blobs, really. you're better looking at nebulae, galaxies, etc (which are fainter and so exacerbate the problem with the sky moving).

i have to admit i've never done this (the photography part) myself, so i may be wrong somewhere, but i was an astronomer and i have looked at the planets through telescopes by eye.
posted by andrew cooke at 2:59 PM on November 30, 2005

(should have said "do what nomich/crazyjoel says" at the start)
posted by andrew cooke at 3:01 PM on November 30, 2005

googleFilter: digicam telescope

http://www.scopetronics.com/digicam.htm

http://ottawa.rasc.ca/astronomy/digicam/digicam.html

these two may yield more search terms for you...
posted by joeblough at 3:02 PM on November 30, 2005

yeah, the t-ring and motorized telescope would be the best way to do things. I've got a 'someday maybe' on that so I can help look for those civilization destroying asteroids.
posted by CrazyJoel at 3:03 PM on November 30, 2005

that's a series of pictures of the most recent lunar eclipse, taken through a meade ETX-90 with a canon digital rebel mounted to the telescope with a T-adapter, unguided. the focal length is about 1300mm and the moon almost fills up the whole frame. this camera has an APS-sized sensor.
posted by joeblough at 3:08 PM on November 30, 2005

Andrew's right: you're probably not going to be able to photography any astronomical objects other than the moon for "cheap".

If you have access to a telescope with a tracking motor though, it'll have either 1.25 or 2 inch eyepieces, most likely. This website seems to be what you need to find the right adapter. It doesn't have your exact model; is it possible that one of the other listed models has the same dimensions?
posted by mr_roboto at 3:12 PM on November 30, 2005

You'll need a scopetronix adaptor (I think.). Check out OPT (oceanside photo & telescope). You'll be best off giving them a call, as the parts can be fairly specific.
posted by mmdei at 5:31 PM on November 30, 2005

ScopeTronix, ScopeTronix, ScopeTronix. They make all sorts of great adaptors for telescopes. Here's my [oblig.] moon photo taken with my Meade LX90 and my shitty Olympus C-3030.

Behold our satellite

If your camera can accept screw-on lenses/filters like that one did, that's great, but otherwise ScopeTronix offers universal adapters for other cameras.
posted by symphonik at 6:01 PM on November 30, 2005

See, when you said "long distance" photographs, I totally figured you were looking through someone's window halfway across the city. Am I the only one whose mind is that perverted? :P
posted by antifuse at 5:57 AM on December 1, 2005