Hi,
I currently have a 90/1000 star tracker refractor telescope with manual equitorial mount. i’m planning to buy a dlsr camera to capture the images through the telescope for astrophotograpy. currently im using my mobile phone to capture the telescope but the images are not that good for planets and nebulae. So someone can recommend me a good camera for astrophotography through the telescope. Budget is around 30K.
can someone please answer my query?
You can use any DSLR. Try to get one that has a tiltable screen so that you can see what you are imaging easily even when the scope is pointed at the zenith.
IMHO, you will have difficulty with a manual mount while taking photos of nebulae & other DSOs because of the long exposures involved(2+ minutes). Planets might be easier. If you are only looking to do planetary photography, I would suggest getting a dedicated astronomy camera instead as DSLRs might give you very small images. ZWO, QHY are some well known brands.
Hi,
DSLR is a great place to start.
I started with canon XSi/450d and it’s a great camera. It has a good Signal to Noise ratio. And decent pixel size. It might not be very efficient as new dslrs, but it does the job for you. For astrophotography, you are not going to gain much by buying an expensive DSLRs.
Try buying an used camere if you know a reliable place to buy.
DSLRs are great to start with, but it can be frustrating when you are looking to image the nebulosity of a target.
My recommendation -
Buy used DSLR (save money)
Once your tracking is good enough and you are able to take long exposures, modify your dslr yourself.
Follow Gary Honis videos on youtube.
Try imaging with some good filters on ur dslr.
If the hobby still fascinates you, and when you are at a stage where you are imaging 180+ seconds sub exposures, consider buying dedicated astrocameras.
But it would be wise to spend money on buying a solid mount before considering an dedicated astrocamera.
Talking about your set up,
Here’s a tool that can be handy. Enter your telescope’s focal length and aperture to see what you can expect to see/image
https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/
Generally, for astrophotography, you’ll need a faster telescope, 90/1000, if I understand correctly is a F/11 telescope.
And at 1000 focal length, you are going to be lot closer to ur target.
While imaging at this focal length, small tracking mistakes can show star trails.
So your tracking needs to be very accurate for good results.
Also, aperture 90 means less light gathering. Less light gathering means, you’d need longer exposures to fill your camera sensors with photons.
But it is still possible to make a good image with this setup, but you need to work carefully on it.
The above explanation is by no means to discourage you from using the telescope for astrophotography. It is only to set right expectations to what you’d image using the telescope and the challenges you’ll encounter before making a good photo from it.
Happy to help!
Hi @Deepan_Vishal_Thulas thanks for this wonderful reply. It does help me alot. do you recommend buying any other telescope for taking astrophotography? like a 102/600 scopes, and can you recommend where to buy it, i am from chennai btw. i bought my old telescope from tejraj. your view is really helpful and i can spend some few money around 20k to buy a new telescope along with the used DSLR. and can you tell me where i can buy used DSLRs too?
Is there any t-ring available for a Sony alpha 99 (A-mount) series of camera ? I want it for my 8 inch dobsonian with 2 inch focuser .
Sir can you recommend any good camera model in QHY brand for planetary photography below 20 k ?
