I like the lens (and some other fun)!

I pushed my new Nifty fifty to the limit just for kicks and giggles. I put it on my stationary tripod and pointed up towards Deneb for 20 sec shots at the highest ISO my 40D could go. I took these three shots and stacked them in DSS with one dark frame. The CA was really bad on one edge, so I cropped, rotated, and played with curves and color. I CAN'T WAIT to get a piggyback for my camera to attach to the scope. Considering there was a 1st quarter moon as well, I'm pleased as all heck with the outcome even though there is tons of trailing. The color from only 1 minute of exposures tells me that I probably will not mod the camera.

Second is very cool!

The first one is a bit blurry, but I see what you were trying to do... and it still looks stunning!

Yes, the first is quite blurry due to trailing, BUT I was expecting that with a stationary tripod, and not my GEM. But I opened the lens up wide, and had a high ISO, so I knew it wasn't going to be pretty, so to speak. I was just curious as to how much info I could eek out of the camera, as this is the fastest lens I own. I also edited another moon shot as well....

Very cool shots Elizabeth ! You know you should keep that camera on the GEM mount . That 50 will give you some very nice images !

drevilsmom wrote in post #8711446
I CAN'T WAIT to get a piggyback for my camera to attach to the scope.

Don't blame you. I've got what I would call pretty good shots of the Cygnus reason with my nifty fifty, mounted on my EQ5. With the aperture stopped down a few it really cuts out a lot of the CA, and then being able to expose for a minute or so with no trails makes for some great shots. (It's probably why I'm going to keep my EQ5, now that I have an EQ6, as it's easier to set up quickly and mount just my camera on it.)

Nice shots.

Thanks guys! LOL! I just found out all I need to piggyback is a quarter 20 all head screw with an aluminum square between the ring and the camera. Should cost well less than $5. Doh! I think that once my little guy is well and over his tonsillectomy, I'll be back out trying out some wide fields. And I forgot, the second moon shot was taken with my dad's 35 mm Pentax Takumar and 13 seconds. The adapter is wonderful, and doesn't seem to interfere with any of the parts within the 40D. I'm so glad to be able to use my dad's old lenses. He would have been pleased!

nice capture, you got the milkyway with the north american and peilican nebs centered right in there!- that second photo is really amazing--- what kind of K to EOS adaptor do you have?

My mom had gotten it for me on Amazon. It is the black one that allows m42 screwmount style to be adapted. I haven't had any troubles, but after doing research, apparently some have problems with parts rubbing where they shouldn't. I was very careful about looking for that with each lens, but I haven't had any problems. My adapter was very simple, and you have to manually focus, but I do that a lot anyway, so it didn't bother me!

http://www.amazon.com …ics&qid=1254348​443&sr=8-1

LOL, and you gotta love Murphy's law... While my camera takes the quarter 20 screw, the scope only takes metric. My hubby thinks if we work this right, he may be able to weld the 2 heads of each screw together. I figure on tightening down each screw where it needs to be, lining them up properly and marking it, and then clamping them so that he can weld them. We'll see!