ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAS Last updated: 27 May 2004

This page documents Olympus digital camera models comments, tips, and photos. Search the site for "olympus" for other items about the Olympus digital cameras. Contributions welcome.

Subject:	Moon Picture, 8"SCT, 2" 40mm eyepiece
Sent:	Wednesday, May 26, 2004 13:32:25
From:	Niall Saunders (niall@njs101.com)
Here is my first picture acquired using my new Antares 40mm 2" eyepiece.
Compared to the really complicated 'mosaic' that you already posted on
the 'Olympus' camera category of the astrophotography section of your
ETX site, this one was just so much easier to acquire. Although I
actually took the picture using my LX90, the result would have been the
same had I used my neighbour's LXD55, so I thought I would offer it to 
you for posting anyway. (I can't actually use my neighbour's LXD55, and
neither can he, because one of the collimation screws has parted company
with the secondary mirror, and we are now waiting for a set of Bob's
Knobs to rectify the situation - poor Meade quality control, yet again
!!)

The details for this picture are:-

Telescope:Meade LX90 8" SCT
Eyepiece:40mm Antares 2" Erfle
Optical Acc's:Meade 2" mirror diagonal
Camera:Olympus C-3040Z
Camera Mount:Homebrew, afocal
Date:25/05/04 21:22:49
Exposure Time:1/80s
F Number:2.60
Exposure Program:Manual
ISO Speed:100
Compressed Bits Per Pixel:5.00
Exposure Bias:0.00
Max Aperture:f/2.00
Meter Mode:Spot
Focal Length (mm):9.50

Cheers,
Niall

Click for full size image

Subject: (no subject)
Date: 4/6/04, 16:47
From: KPMYSONS@aol.com
I have just discovered the fun I can have with my etx-70.  I just bought
an Olympus C-740  UltraZoom Digital camera and have been trying some
moon shots. I have also been tying some pics of Jupiter with little
success.  This pic of moon was taken on 3/28/04 thru a 24mm-8mm Meade
zoom with camera on a tripod.  I don't remember settings but was high
magnification with some zoom.  I am looking at a Scopetronixs MaxView 40
and adapters or just adapters for my eyepiece. What are your opinions?
Would love to see my Moon shot posted!!





Thanks Ron McPherson

Subject: ETX Moon Picture
Date: 3/4/04, 03:29
From: Niall Saunders (niall@njs101.com)
The attached picture (sent in full 2048 x 1536 resolution) is of a 9-day
old Moon, taken on 29 Feb 2004. It is a 'collage' of 84 much smaller
images taken with my Olympus C-3040Z digital camera, mounted afocally on
a 20mm SP eyepiece, on my polar-mounted ETX-105.

Unfortunately, the way I had put the camera together had introduced
severe vignetting on each image. This is not normally a problem when I
use the full 3x optical and 2x digital zoom feature of the camera, as I
would when trying planetary photography - but was a major irritation
when I decided to go for the moon that night However, because it was
-14C (!!) I was not hanging around swapping lenses and the like.

The images were processed in Corel Paint. Each image was 'cut' from the
original frame, and overlaid on its neighbours - using a (temporary) 50%
transparency to help with alignment. When all the images were aligned,
they were all treated to a 50 pixel 'curved feather' (to help reduce the
luminance fade at the edges, due to the vignetting), and then had their
transparency set to 33%. Finally all of the images were 'merged' using
the "If Lighter" filter. Subsequently, I have written a Visual Basic
routine that takes the aligned images and 'averages' all the pixel
information to give a resultant picture - but there was little to choose
from as far as quality was concerned.

All I now want to figure out is how else I could have achieved the same
(or similar, or better) quality of image - in a single shot (or at least
'stacked shots, where I did not have to deal with 'aligning' 84 images
myself, a process that the likes of RegiStax cannot do). In other words,
what telescope/eyepiece/camera setting (or equivalent camera/zoom lens
setting) would be needed to get a 'full frame' shot at 2048 x 1536 pixel
resolution?

I was certainly pleased to have achieved 2.6km/pixel (1.6mi/pixel)
resolution - not quite enough to see the flag waving in the Sea of
Tranquillity but, hey, it is a first attempt!!

Cheers,
Niall

Click for full-size image (332K)

Mike here: You could use a focal reducer (see the Shutan Wide-Field Adapter on the Accessory Reviews - Showcase Products page).

Subject: ETX and Moon
Date: 3/2/04, 15:22
From: geheniau@xs4all.nl
You have seen this moon before, but still I like this new picture of it.
Nicely exposed (not overexposed).

ETX90 with Olympus 2020Z on 40mm Plossl (eyepiece projection). Exposure
1/160 sec. F3.5 ISO 100.

Job Geheniau
The Netherlands

Subject: Emailing: Moon Photos
Date: 1/10/04, 14:44
From: Martin Day (amigaone@eurobell.co.uk)
I attatched some shots of the Moon. The Olympus shots were created using
a Raynox 2x lens and full digital and optical zoom. There is one photo
with the  (Cresent?) Moon next to a star, could this have been Mercury?

Many thanks for help, and great site. No flashy anims to load up etc!!
GREAT

Martin

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