Looking to get into Astro photography need camera advice? Also not only astro photography but nature pics as well. Would like to keep the budget around 500 and I’m OK with getting used equipment just need to know what to look for.
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Looking to get into Astro photography need camera guys?
- Thread starter jwip
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Hi and welcome. When you say Astro photography, are you talking just with camera and a long focal length to get the moon or are you talking telescopes and tracking mounts and deep space imagery like nebulae?
Have you watched things like backyard astro on youtube? as that is a great resource.
This topic gets complex real quick so tell us what you are hoping to shoot and we can advise.
If you are looking to take images of the moon, then you need to be looking at a camera with a lens of 300-400mm in focal length. However for more distant and fainter subjects, you then start needing to account for the movement of the earth when doing longer exposures.
Expand a bit and we can add colour.
Have you watched things like backyard astro on youtube? as that is a great resource.
This topic gets complex real quick so tell us what you are hoping to shoot and we can advise.
If you are looking to take images of the moon, then you need to be looking at a camera with a lens of 300-400mm in focal length. However for more distant and fainter subjects, you then start needing to account for the movement of the earth when doing longer exposures.
Expand a bit and we can add colour.
You will need a camera with a good sensor that won't create noise when doing long exposures at night.
This is a great forum to learn and get advice:
www.cloudynights.com
Beginning Deep Sky Imaging - Cloudy Nights
Ha. This is a very deep and expensive rabbit hole. It’s pretty easy to just do Milky Way Astro with just a tripod and DSLR but if you want to get into DSOs (galaxies, nebula) then you are asking (sort of) the wrong question.
Everything starts with the equatorial mount.
But essentially you want a canon or Nikon DSLR and you can buy them used and even Astro modified off places like cloudy nights classifies or astromart. Filters will let you use same camera for terrestrial use and you do NOT need latest and greatest for Astro. Guys run circles around me with a T3i.
Cloudy Nights is an Excellent resource as is astrobackyard. Trevor has done a lot to promote this hobby and help simplify (but know the Williams optics scopes he uses a lot are mainly just more expensive rebrands of other telescopes. Which is what all of them are mainly but WO is usually more exp)
Here is a good primer that will give you the lay of the land.
Also
astrobackyard.com
Good luck and clear skies.
Everything starts with the equatorial mount.
But essentially you want a canon or Nikon DSLR and you can buy them used and even Astro modified off places like cloudy nights classifies or astromart. Filters will let you use same camera for terrestrial use and you do NOT need latest and greatest for Astro. Guys run circles around me with a T3i.
Cloudy Nights is an Excellent resource as is astrobackyard. Trevor has done a lot to promote this hobby and help simplify (but know the Williams optics scopes he uses a lot are mainly just more expensive rebrands of other telescopes. Which is what all of them are mainly but WO is usually more exp)
Here is a good primer that will give you the lay of the land.
Also
Beginner Astrophotography: How To Get Started
Learn what it takes to photogaph the Milky Way, Galaxies, and Intense Nebulae regions in the night sky. Camera Settings, Equipment, and Advice.
astrobackyard.com
Good luck and clear skies.
Are you already into Astonomy? (Have Telescope and know the night skies).
If not, that is where you need to start, so you'll have better idea of what it will take to photograph them...
Here - I made this thread OMG 10 years ago, "Top 10 in 2010 to shoot (Astronomy, non telescope) "
I show images, setup, and learnings as I went thru my journey.
Read it, and have fun.
Oh, as mentioned, any DSLR you've bought in the mid 2010's will work, plus tripod.
I took so many with kit lens before I got UWA lens.
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=9752647#post9752647
btw - there are 2 thread here also
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-shoot-the-iss-etc-besides-moon-shots.874356/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/full-moon-fever-lunar-x-general-moon-shots.829718/
I show images, setup, and learnings as I went thru my journey.
Read it, and have fun.
Oh, as mentioned, any DSLR you've bought in the mid 2010's will work, plus tripod.
I took so many with kit lens before I got UWA lens.
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=9752647#post9752647
btw - there are 2 thread here also
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-shoot-the-iss-etc-besides-moon-shots.874356/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/full-moon-fever-lunar-x-general-moon-shots.829718/
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Nothing yet, had my furnace controller board die on me and had to put my money into that. Looks like it will be a bit longer on that now.
