Chuck, Make sure you visit the digital astro group on Yahoo -- there's a lot of folks doing some great photos with modest digital cameras (not just webcams). Debbie Whitaker has looked into this and can tell you more about it. Folks on that list can certainly recommend which brands work better than others, what the focusing issues/solutions are, etc. -Rich --- Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thanks Joe.
I understand the limitations of these cameras; acutally for bright objects such as the moon, planets and sun, they are fine. For dim stuff, I'm still steeped in emulsion-based phototgraphy (for the time being). The grain problem is partly from not doing one's homework. You have to match pixel size to the resolution of the particular optical system you're using. Have you tried using it in "live" mode for focusing?
C.
--- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:
Chuck, the regular digital camera I borrowed was almost worthless for astrophotography. They're pretty grainy and I understand they're awful for long exposures -- I think signal noise builds up. That's why the real astrophotography digitals, like SBIG cameras, are relatively expensive. For a low-end camera that may do the trick, try a webcam. The types many amateur astronomers use work extremely well on bright targets like planets and the moon. You shoot a video then stack the best frames using freeware like RegiStax. According to the latest issue of one of the big mags -- I take S&T and Astronomy and don't remember which it was in -- some of these cameras can be modified to allow long exposures. Best wishes, Joe
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