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DSLRFocus or other focusing help?

Started by BillH101, 01/19/2006 06:52PM
Posted 01/19/2006 06:52PM Opening Post
I have a 20d, but have been having difficulty trying to focus through the camera, to say the least. The viewfinder is just to dim to see the difference unless I am making drastic changes. I have made a hartman mask to get me in the ballpark, but then it's even dimmer yet. So, I'm thinking about getting DSLRFocus and trying it out with my laptop. Does anyone have any experience with that to let me know how easy or difficult it is to focus that way? Or are there other/better options I should think about? I have an Orion SkyView Pro 6EQ scope. I know they make a motorized focus controller for it. I don't know how precise it is, but I've thought about that too so I could theoretically make finer adjustments. Any help/suggestions anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. I've managed to get a few widefield shots, but really nothing prime focus or afocal due to problems focusing. Thanks! -Bill
Posted 01/19/2006 07:19PM #1
Hello Bill,

it does not matter how dim it is in the viewfinder, just find reasonably bright star, put hartman mask on your telescope, set ISO to 1600 or 3200, exposure time to couple of second and do test exposure, zoom it at LCD screen and you will see it immediately. Look here: http://www.newastro.com/newastro/samples/c2d.pdf , Im using hartman mask with triangles, its cheap and it works perfectly. Frankly speaking I own DSLR focus but Im using hartman mask with triangles more than that.

Radek
Posted 01/20/2006 08:46PM #2
I use ImagesPlus rather than DSLRFocus with my digital rebel. I assume the DSLRFocus routine is similar to that of ImagesPlus. I would never go back to the Hartmann mask I once used. It was useful for getting close, but with ImagesPLus, I hit the sweet spot, no question. And hitting the sweet spot as opposed to "getting close" make a large, noticeable difference in the resulting images.
Rob Mackie
Posted 01/21/2006 02:37AM #3
Hi Bill,

What kind of 'scope are you using with the 20D?

Thanks,

Dan
Posted 01/21/2006 06:48AM #4
How about this device http://www.dpreview.com/news/0506/05060701zigview_lcd.asp ?
Anyone have any experience with that ?