Guide to cheap astrophotography

• Aim of this site
• Imaging methods explained
• Photos of example setups
• Images
  • Widefield images
  • dSLR with telephoto lens
  • Afocal images
  • Eyepiece projection
  • Prime focus dSLR
  • Prime focus webcam
• My equipment
• My recommendations
• Summary and conclusion

Aim of this site

The aim of this site is simple. To document my attempts at astro-photography via various methods and to hopefully act as a guide to others showing the difference between the various approaches to capturing the nights sky digitally, with or without a telescope.

My tools for the job are currently a reflecting telescope, a compact digital camera (pentax w60), a high quality dSLR (canon 550d), and a cheap old webcam (philips spc900nc). All 3 can give very rewarding images. The webcam is a real surprise !

Although my setup is relatively cheap (with the exception of the dSLR) and basic I have somehow accumulated the bits and bobs to attempt several different approaches to astro photography. Over time I will fill in the gaps and attempt to explain the differences.

From the most basic (point your camera up) style pictures, through the afocal (hold the camera up to the eyepiece of your scope), prime focus (camera used directly instead of an eyepiece), and eyepiece projection.

I will attempt to show planetary images, lunar photos, widefield shots as well as the deep sky objects like nebulae and galaxies. There are many far better photos and sites out there which I will be linking to from my links page but my aim is to show the different shots obtained using the different methods but the same basic gear, cameras, scope, and indeed human.

I am by no means an expert on the nights sky, or telescope use. Nor am I an expert in photography. And that is the point. Hopefully this page may show you what can be achieved if you are not an expert.

I haven't had much time to gaze at the stars recently due to commitments to my watches and collectibles site