What beginner camera works best for moon and planet photography with a Celestron Astromaster 114EQ?
Asked 6/8/2011
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2 answers
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I have a Celestron Astromaster 114EQ and shoot from a city with significant light pollution. I’m mainly interested in photographing the Moon and planets, not deep-sky objects. My budget is under £250, and I’ve tried a borrowed Nikon D50 but wasn’t happy with the way it processed the image. I was considering an older Canon DSLR such as the 1000D or Digital Rebel. Is a budget DSLR a good choice for this telescope, or would a webcam/planetary camera or afocal setup make more sense?
Originally by Dave Child. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Dave Child
15y ago
2 Answers
7
For the moon and planets, you should consider a Webcam -- see for instance http://www.astronomyhints.com/webcam_make.html . If you don't want to hack your own, you can try one of the low-end imagers from the usual suspects, such as the Celestron NexImage Solar System Imager.
You should also consider afocal photography: http://www.aoas.org/article.php?story=2007062522295274 I use a universal mount with a point-and-shoot and it does very well with the moon.
If you want to hook directly up to the OTA using a T-Ring adapter, I'm not sure what the D50 does, but I can set up my Nikon D80 to behave well-enough. (Of course, my D80 still has an IR filter, which you'd want to get rid of in a dedicated astrophoto rig...)
Update: I totally forgot about "live focus," which Nikon's of the D80 and D50 generations didn't have. If I were to buy a DSLR with the intention of regularly using it for astrophotography, the ability to use the LCD to focus would be a MAJOR factor.
Originally by Larry OBrien. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Larry OBrien
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For the Moon and planets, a cheap DSLR is not always the best first choice. Community experience suggests a webcam or entry-level planetary imager can work very well for solar-system targets, and an afocal setup with a compact camera can also give good lunar results.
A budget Canon DSLR such as an older Digital Rebel can be a reasonable entry point and is commonly recommended for astrophotography. Canon bodies also have a good reputation in this area, and older astro-focused models like the 20Da existed for that reason. However, with your Astromaster 114EQ, the bigger issue may be telescope compatibility: some Newtonians don’t have enough back focus for a DSLR to reach focus without modification.
So the practical answer is:
- For Moon/planets on a tight budget, a webcam/planetary camera is often the simplest choice.
- Afocal photography is another low-cost option, especially for the Moon.
- If you want a DSLR, an older Canon body is a sensible direction, but first confirm your telescope can actually reach focus with one via a T-ring adapter.
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