Getting into astrophotography...

This might not be the right forum for this, but I couldn't think of a better one.

After many years of visual astronomy, I want to do astrophotography, especially deep sky. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and the great photos that many Astromart members have shared here have inspired me to give it a go.

I have a Televue NP-101is and a Losmandy G11/Gemini. The camera I am looking at getting is the SBIG ST-8300M. The price looks right and it has plenty of resolution. Is there a better such camera in this class that I should look at, and if so, why? I'm perfectly fine with taking black and white photos until I get color filters and a filter wheel. I want to get a dedicated camera rather than a DSLR.

I guess the biggest question I have is, where to start? What should I be reading or studying as a primer before I jump in? I don't know how long it's been since Ron Wodaski updated his book, is it still pretty relevant? Looking on Amazon, it appears to be out of print, as only high-dollar new and used copies are available.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

Rex Cox said:

This might not be the right forum for this, but I couldn't think of a better one.

After many years of visual astronomy, I want to do astrophotography, especially deep sky. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and the great photos that many Astromart members have shared here have inspired me to give it a go.

I have a Televue NP-101is and a Losmandy G11/Gemini. The camera I am looking at getting is the SBIG ST-8300M. The price looks right and it has plenty of resolution. Is there a better such camera in this class that I should look at, and if so, why? I'm perfectly fine with taking black and white photos until I get color filters and a filter wheel. I want to get a dedicated camera rather than a DSLR.

I guess the biggest question I have is, where to start? What should I be reading or studying as a primer before I jump in? I don't know how long it's been since Ron Wodaski updated his book, is it still pretty relevant? Looking on Amazon, it appears to be out of print, as only high-dollar new and used copies are available.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

You have the right telescope for photography for sure. I highly recommend Adam Blocks training DVD's that will teach you about data acquisition and reduction. He also has a good DVD tutorial on using Photoshop on images.

http://www.caelumobservatory.com/video/dvd.shtml

Even if you don't use CCDStack, this is a great resource to learn about CCD astrophotography.

I have a color one-shot (STL-11k) but I would prefer a mono camera if given the decision over again. It's nice, but you lose too much with a bayer filter IMO.

I would also recommend the set of Vids from Tony Hallas that are really very good. Then there are the tutorials from Jerry Lodriguss. Last don't discount the lowly DLSR there are plenty of things you can do with this type of camera. A Hutech modified Canon DSLR such as the T2i and the software from Images Plus is a great way to go. BTW you have a really steep hill to climb. 8)

Dwight

Hi Rex:

Wow, I did not know that Ron Wodaski's books are out of print. I image with Maxim DL and Photoshop CS and Ron's books were and are what I rely on for technical advice. As I am sure you know, there is also a ton of practical stuff available on many advanced amateurs web sites.

Maybe you could place a "wanted" ad here to pick up cheap copies of Wodaski's books from a disillusioned ex astro-photographer?

Jim

Jim