Telescope to attach Z7 to
- Thread starter Lisa Zee
- Start date
BF Hammer
Senior Member
Lisa, I wish there could be a simple answer for such a simple question. I do not own a telescope, but I have done some of the research. I simply use my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 and Sigma 150-600mm C to do my DSO work (Deep Space Object).
In a generic explanation, you need a T-adapter for Z-mount. T-adapter meaning telescope, and it would install in place of an eyepiece. A telescope that can be fitted with different magnification eyepieces is what you would look for there.
As for a starter telescope, I keep seeing recommendations for a refractor style in the range of 450-600mm size. A refractor is the kind with glass lenses in a line that you look through from the back end, very much like your camera lenses. On the cheaper end are doublets with 2 elements, but most recommend trying to get at least a triplet telescope. Often in front of the T-adapter there might be a field-flattener to buy which make the distorted stars in the corners appear more round.
And none of this addresses what may be the most important part: Tripod and mount. You need a sturdy enough base to hold everything without transmitting vibration to the camera, and a motorized tracking mount that can bear the weight of everything. That tracking mount is not really an option either with astrophotography. The more you zoom in, the shorter the.j exposure time must be to avoid motion blurs. You will certainly need to attempt 45 second to 90 second exposures on the low end and still have to do exposure stacking to gain and hour or more of total exposure. The mount has to track accurately to give you that.
So as I said, I use camera lenses, not a telescope. But I do have a motorized telescope mount with Go-To control. That means once I carefully align it to a pole (using Polaris in the north in my case) I can use a phone app to select a target and aim the camera. My mount has about 5Kg load and I also use counterweights to steady it some more. I have had some nights where I managed to set-up and align perfectly and it tracked right to any target I requested, and I have had more where I had things a little off. When it is right, photos can be beautiful.
I actually took these photos with the Sigma 150-600mm. They are exposure stacked, but that is pretty standard for DSO photos.
In a generic explanation, you need a T-adapter for Z-mount. T-adapter meaning telescope, and it would install in place of an eyepiece. A telescope that can be fitted with different magnification eyepieces is what you would look for there.
As for a starter telescope, I keep seeing recommendations for a refractor style in the range of 450-600mm size. A refractor is the kind with glass lenses in a line that you look through from the back end, very much like your camera lenses. On the cheaper end are doublets with 2 elements, but most recommend trying to get at least a triplet telescope. Often in front of the T-adapter there might be a field-flattener to buy which make the distorted stars in the corners appear more round.
And none of this addresses what may be the most important part: Tripod and mount. You need a sturdy enough base to hold everything without transmitting vibration to the camera, and a motorized tracking mount that can bear the weight of everything. That tracking mount is not really an option either with astrophotography. The more you zoom in, the shorter the.j exposure time must be to avoid motion blurs. You will certainly need to attempt 45 second to 90 second exposures on the low end and still have to do exposure stacking to gain and hour or more of total exposure. The mount has to track accurately to give you that.
So as I said, I use camera lenses, not a telescope. But I do have a motorized telescope mount with Go-To control. That means once I carefully align it to a pole (using Polaris in the north in my case) I can use a phone app to select a target and aim the camera. My mount has about 5Kg load and I also use counterweights to steady it some more. I have had some nights where I managed to set-up and align perfectly and it tracked right to any target I requested, and I have had more where I had things a little off. When it is right, photos can be beautiful.
I actually took these photos with the Sigma 150-600mm. They are exposure stacked, but that is pretty standard for DSO photos.
Lisa Zee
New member
Great photos!. I've been reading a lot about astrophotography on Reddit and other forums. It can easily get confusing and expensive.
I have considered two options after doing a lot of research:
Option 1: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Kit
Option 2: Telescope with Mount
I know many will say start with option 1 and then down the track go with option 2 but I don't want to buy option 1 only to realise I could get better photos with option 2. Both are considered entry level/beginner set ups from what I have read. I'd also need to buy a tripod with option 1.
I watched a video on Astro Backyard of a guy that shows you how to take photos of Andromeda Galaxy with just a camera and tripod. But this involves using a Bhatinov mask (which I did actually buy), then taking calibration frames, biosframes, flat frames and light frames (literally around 1000 shots). Then using Deep Sky Stacker to pre-process (which takes about 22 hours), and of course Photoshop or similar for final processing.
Is there an easier way? Would less frames need to be taken if using a telescope with camera attached? Or would the pre-processing be pretty much the same?
Thanks for the input so far, as there is just so much information out there I've been down a rabbit hole
I have considered two options after doing a lot of research:
Option 1: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Kit
Option 2: Telescope with Mount
I know many will say start with option 1 and then down the track go with option 2 but I don't want to buy option 1 only to realise I could get better photos with option 2. Both are considered entry level/beginner set ups from what I have read. I'd also need to buy a tripod with option 1.
I watched a video on Astro Backyard of a guy that shows you how to take photos of Andromeda Galaxy with just a camera and tripod. But this involves using a Bhatinov mask (which I did actually buy), then taking calibration frames, biosframes, flat frames and light frames (literally around 1000 shots). Then using Deep Sky Stacker to pre-process (which takes about 22 hours), and of course Photoshop or similar for final processing.
Is there an easier way? Would less frames need to be taken if using a telescope with camera attached? Or would the pre-processing be pretty much the same?
Thanks for the input so far, as there is just so much information out there I've been down a rabbit hole
BF Hammer
Senior Member
I used to watch Trevor's (astro backyard) videos regularly. In the early years he was using more basic gear but he leveled-up a lot over the years. I will politely say Trevor gets pretty geeky in his processing and I do a lot less. No darks or flats, I use Siril to stack and process mostly and do the finishing in GIMP.
Some other YouTube inspiration for me has been Nico Carver and The Lazy Geek. Nico does get lost in covering every detail often, but you pick up a lot of his hard-earned experience. Cuiv (Lazy Geek) lives in Tokyo and still makes good images through all that light pollution. He emphasizes affordable gear and free software and techniques.
But I won't be able to guide you on this topic much further than this as I have not taken the steps into buying a telescope. Yet.
Some other YouTube inspiration for me has been Nico Carver and The Lazy Geek. Nico does get lost in covering every detail often, but you pick up a lot of his hard-earned experience. Cuiv (Lazy Geek) lives in Tokyo and still makes good images through all that light pollution. He emphasizes affordable gear and free software and techniques.
But I won't be able to guide you on this topic much further than this as I have not taken the steps into buying a telescope. Yet.