Jupiter (Very first attempt)

Here's my very first attempt at Jupiter. This is with my XTi directly attached to my Celestron 6SE. Focusing is a real challenge. I pretty much just focus a tiny bit at a time and take a ton of pictures.

Not bad , you did well . Does your camera have live view ? If so you can zoom in on Jupiter and focus for imaging .

Celestron wrote in post #11575965
Not bad , you did well . Does your camera have live view ? If so you can zoom in on Jupiter and focus for imaging .

My camera does not have live view.

cnaude wrote in post #11577556
My camera does not have live view.

Nope, live view post-dates the XTi.

Not bad at all, especially considering planetary imaging is extremely tough with any DSLR. Unless you've got a lot of aperture and a very long focal length, you're usually better off using a camera with a much smaller chip, i.e. a Web-cam which will give you a much better image scale.

tkerr wrote in post #11578428
Nope, live view post-dates the XTi.

Not bad at all, especially considering planetary imaging is extremely tough with any DSLR. Unless you've got a lot of aperture and a very long focal length, you're usually better off using a camera with a much smaller chip, i.e. a Web-cam which will give you a much better image scale.

I'm already searching for a Philips SPC900NC. They seem to be hard to find. I may just get the NexImage camera.

cnaude wrote in post #11578882
I'm already searching for a Philips SPC900NC. They seem to be hard to find. I may just get the NexImage camera.

Yeah, Philips discontinued them a couple years ago, not long after they were on the market which is a shame because it is a good web cam. Nonetheless, Planetary CCD cameras such as the NexImage are essentially the same thing anyways, and the prices have come down some making them even more appealing to many getting into lunar and planetary imaging.

cnaude wrote in post #11578882
I'm already searching for a Philips SPC900NC. They seem to be hard to find. I may just get the NexImage camera.

Does your DSLR have a "crop mode" for movies? If so then then your DSLR might work as well as a webcam. I've been successful at getting good planetary shots using crop mode on my T2i. (and RegiStax processing)

Doug

dugpatrick wrote in post #11579004
Does your DSLR have a "crop mode" for movies? If so then then your DSLR might work as well as a webcam. I've been successful at getting good planetary shots using crop mode on my T2i. (and RegiStax processing)

Doug

The XTi doesn't shoot video or have a crop mode

cnaude wrote in post #11575353
Focusing is a real challenge.

For better focusing you might try a Bahtinov mask. Templates are available for free if you google for it. Or you can purchase a mask for ~$20.

Doug

dugpatrick wrote in post #11581723
For better focusing you might try a Bahtinov mask. Templates are available for free if you google for it. Or you can purchase a mask for ~$20.

Doug

I did some quick research on that mask. That's really a neat idea. I'll have to give that a shot.

I just received an amazon gift card today so I went ahead and just ordered myself a NexImage camera. I can't wait to try that out as well.

cnaude wrote in post #11575353
Here's my very first attempt at Jupiter. This is with my XTi directly attached to my Celestron 6SE. Focusing is a real challenge. I pretty much just focus a tiny bit at a time and take a ton of pictures.

Hi Chris,

Just type in astro web cam into google and see how to modify any web cam. Then go to this site and follow the directions and get the down load of Registax.

http://www.astro.shore​galaxy.com/webcam_astr​o.htm

Best