EOS T-Mount Has Arrived

[Wazza]

Yeah, my grandad ordered a T-Mount from Adorama a couple of weeks ago whilst it was closed. Well it has now arrived, and he called me as soon as it was courier, and I had to go check it out after work!

The idea of getting this lens, is to fit it to this monster:

http://wazz*****scity.com/temp/meade2.jpg
http://wazz*****scity.com/temp/meade.jpg

And an old example shot with a Noink point and shoot...
http://wazz*****scity.com/temp/moon3.jpg

So the telescope is a Meade 10" 2500mm focal length f6.3 I beleive..
It weighs a fair bit, and costs 5 times my 20D ;)


My grandad is currently very sick, with a bad Hernia, and didn't get a chance to get to his telescope in the shed.
Anyway, he did have an old 400mm Tamron lens, which we mounted quickly - (he put it on the lathe to get a small thread on it).

And here are the shots:
http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/tmount5.jpg
The mount.

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/tmount4.jpg
The mount, with a small adapter, which was turned on the lathe to fit.

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/tmount3.jpg
Tamron 400mm

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/tmount1.jpg
Tamron with Mount attached

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/tmount2.jpg
An example shot. Very bad example, as it was in a dark room, with flash, "400mm!", and hand held at 1/60th. I would like to try this lens outside on a sunny day.
Obviously, it's manual focus.

If all goes to plan, we're going to look at the moon on next Monday, when it's waxing.

[Skip Souza]

First of all, let me say that your grandad is awesome.
It seems that he did some very fine custom work. I will look forward to photos that this combination was meant for.

[PhotoManMike]

It weighs a fair bit, and costs 5 times my 20D ;)


5 times the cost of a 20D?? Either 20D's are really cheap in NZ or Meades are really expensive! Here in the US, a 10 inch LX200 goes for a bit more than twice the street price of a 20D, no more than 2.5x, at least for the f/10 model. Could be right, though. You're a lot closer to where the 20D's are made but further from where the LX200's are made!

Awesome scope, nevertheless. Nearly bought one myself last year. Clear skies!

Mike

[CyberDyneSystems]

That particualr Meades is significantly larger... dramatically larger than the lx200 you mention.

Great post.. love the photos.. and the indoor shot of GrandPa is in fact quite good!

[BottomBracket]

Wow, I'm lookiong forward to your pics....

[Wazza]

Yeah, well that's the current price of the Meade LX200 10" f10.

I'm seeing it's around US$5000-6000.
When he bought it here, it cost about US$8000
That was about 5 or so years ago.

Anyway, I agree, my grandad is so neat, and talented in making so many attachments for various lens, and other things. :)

I'm looking forward to seeing what results I can get from it.
If it doesn't work, no doubt he'll make something else, or change different pieces to make it work the best. Not bad for a 75 year old. :D

[Wazza]

Sorry, had things wrong.

The one I saw for $4995, is in fact the larger 14" one!

The images just don't make these telescopes look large.

The one my grandad has is definately a 10", and after he got it, he said he wished he chose the 8" instead, coz it's too darn big and heavy. :p

Well it does have the GPS locator, and he's bought a cheap portable b/w tv set, which he plugs in, to make sure he has the right object lined up.
I do know it definately cost between NZ$10-12,0000.
(US$7200-$8600) - That's the current exchange rate, but back 5 years, it was probably closer to 1:2, so maybe US$5-6,000.

The pic I shot with the 400mm Tamron, came out underexposed, as it was from about 10metres away, flash, and 1/60th. I lightened it in the levels, but then had to try and change the white balance on it. I was in a rush to upload and get out of her, so it's not particularly good. It would be pretty funny if this ancient lens, turned out to be sharper than my Sigma 70-300.
There's only about 1 thread holding it on though, so have to support both the camera and lens very well.

[ron chappel]

Wow nice work (wich i had a lathe:()

Uuuuuummmmm-you know-that tamron lens allready has a t-mount on it............
all you had to do was unscrew it then screw the EOS one on!
In fact now that there are two t-mounts in series it won't focus to infinity (unless modified elsewhere)

[Wazza]

Wow nice work (wich i had a lathe:()

Uuuuuummmmm-you know-that tamron lens allready has a t-mount on it............
all you had to do was unscrew it then screw the EOS one on!
In fact now that there are two t-mounts in series it won't focus to infinity (unless modified elsewhere)

Yes, originally it was a T-Mount, but it was already modified, by fitting it to another camera years ago. :p

[Titus213]

Wazza,
Great story and very neat that you have a Grandad willing to share all this with you. It would be great if he could do a brain dump to you but then you wouldn't get to know him and that will be much more interesting I'll bet.

[Mark Kemp]

You will need a REALLY big camera bag to get that in!!!

[Wazza]

Yeah thanks

I get on great with him.

I in bumped into my grandma yesterday at the mall, and she was saying how he was so determined to fix the gear up, so we can have it ready over the next few days. Yet, he's in terrible pain, and can't exactly move around. Wish he would get his personal health sorted before putting his know-how into someone like me. :rolleyes:

So I phoned him up today, and he said even now would be a good time to start shooting the moon.
With all his knowledge, he said forget shooting a full moon, as it's boring. Didn't think about that one. But obviously, full moon, means the sun is pretty close behind the Earth in alignment, so there are very few shadows caused from the craters. He said it's periods like this of the waxing and then waning moons, which would produce better shots. I like that idea, so I'll try and shoot some over the next few days, if the clouds clear up. :D

ANY ideas for which camera bag to store this lens which weighs half myself?

[Wazza]

If anyone such as CDS is wondering where these shots have gone?

Well it hasn't happened yet.

Sadly my grandad was taken to hospital a few hours after posting last message. All seems good now. (well not as bad as he was on Saturday morning). Just needed some rest from some illnesses.

And now currently the weather outlook isn't great. So eager to try it out.
Even if I do shoot a full moon, and lose some contrast detail, it will still be cool to have a go. :)

[Belmondo]

Wazza,
I hope your grandfather is doing better. That is certainly a greater priority than taking pictures. Good luck to him and you.

[Wazza]

Thanks belmondo. :)

Good news, he's getting much better. Much more mobile again.

Anyway, I made another visit there, and he's remounted the T-Mount onto the 400mm lens, so it's not hanging on by only 1/4 of a thread! It's now firmly screwed on.

I managed only a couple of test shots.
Of course manual focus, and the 20D was beeping to say it was focused. (Is that normal for a non EF lens?)

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/400_1.jpg

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/400_2.jpg
Nothing great, but I'm sure my manual focus was out. :p

Full Manual mode, 1/250th and 1/320th respectively.
Had to use ISO 200, or shutter speed would be too slow.


My grandad then bought out his grand 1000mm Russian mirror lens. :eek:

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/1000_1.jpg

A funny shot (sun filter)
http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/1000_2.jpg

---
Back to the 400mm Tamron,

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/400_4.jpg

And the home made lens hood. Turned on a lathe, heat gun to expand the tube, and next step is to paint it black, with a red stripe. ;)
http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/400_3.jpg

The idea was to go to airport today and try it out. It's raining unfortunately.
But I'm heading out to lunch nearby soon, and will be taking it along with me, incase it clears up after.

I'll post some more pics if I do use it again today.

[TammieO]

Wazza, Happy to hear your granddad is doing better. I hope he gets his health back 100% so you can hang out with him more.

[GTogs]

Wazza, glad to hear your granddad is doing better! Cherish the time spent with him!

[gaza]

Hi Wazza, and everyone,
"Turned on a lathe, heat gun to expand the tube, and next step is to paint it black, with a red stripe."
Don't you mean paint it white with a red stripe?
Lol

[Wazza]

Thanks for the nice responses.

As for a white lens? Yeah, that would be true L territory, but it looks very out of place on this lens. Both my 17-40L, and my Sigma 70-300 are black, with the red stripe. ;) So I thought it would fit in well. :p

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f16_125th.jpg
From last night.
Purposely underexposed for test.

And at the airport on Sunday afternoon... It was RAINING so hard, but was driving past anyway, so pointed the lens out the window, and grabbed a couple of shots:

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f_osea_ww_nzaa_rain.jpg

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f_osea2.jpg

Considering there was rain all in these images, I didn't think they were too bad.
Focus still has to be adjusted, as infinity isn't quite far enough.

[mvonditter]

Yes, originally it was a T-Mount, but it was already modified, by fitting it to another camera years ago. :p

Don't know if this helps, Mead makes an adaptor for the Canon DSLR for their larger scopes. About $60.

[PhotoManMike]

Hey Wazza,

That's actually a great moon shot. You say it's underexposed, but the entire histogram is there and there's a ton of detail in it. The trouble with the moon is that the tonal range is so compressed, you need some post-processing to bring it out.

I took the liberty of opening your moon image in Photoshop Elements and adjusting the levels to set the black point at 45 and the white point at 145. Here's how it came out (resized to 600x600):

http://members.cox.net/pmm10020d/wazza_f16_125th_proc.jpg

(BTW, here in the 'states these days, they arrest people for taking pictures too close to airports!)

Glad to hear your grandad is doing better. Cherish your time together. I never knew mine.

All the best,
Mike

[PhotoManMike]

Hey I just noticed something else. You even managed to catch a glimpse of Mare Orientale. Cool! I've been trying to snap a good pic of that for about 2 years, but the weather never seemed to cooperate with the most favorable librations.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, see the prominent dark crater near the moon's edge at about 4:00? That's called Grimaldi, and the dark region right on the rim of the moon directly to the right of Grimaldi is Mare Orientale. It's a large impact basin that can only be seen from Earth when the moon is tilted just the right way.

Mike

[mvonditter]

Hey I just noticed something else. You even managed to catch a glimpse of Mare Orientale. Cool! I've been trying to snap a good pic of that for about 2 years, but the weather never seemed to cooperate with the most favorable librations.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, see the prominent dark crater near the moon's edge at about 4:00? That's called Grimaldi, and the dark region right on the rim of the moon directly to the right of Grimaldi is Mare Orientale. It's a large impact basin that can only be seen from Earth when the moon is tilted just the right way.

Mike

Here is a shot taken hand held with a 1Ds and 100-400mm L IS with 1.4x at s/100 @ f/11

[Wazza]

Thanks for the edit. Looks cool

That's a good shot mvon. :)

I've actually done comparison shots last night.

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f22_60th.JPG
f22, 1/60th

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f16_125th.jpg
f16, 1/125th

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f11_250th.JPG
f11, 1/250th

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f8_500th.JPG
f8, 1/500th

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f6-3_1000th.JPG
And I know, f6.3 isn't quite a full stop, but that's all this lens will go to. f6.3, 1/1000th

http://wazz*****scity.com/20d/f6-3_500-th.JPG
f6.3, 1/500th.

None have been edited in anyway.