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Subject:	Focus problem with Nikon D70 on a ETX-90
Sent:	Saturday, May 19, 2012 11:04:36
From:	Rob Voorend (r.voorend@chello.nl)
Finally I bought a D70, a T2 adapter and a Barlow X2 (with integrated T2
thread). When I put it all together, there's no way I can make a decent
shot. They are all blurry, from a distance or close by.
 
What did I do:
I attached the T2 adapter  to my camera, attached the Barlow X2 (which
can be screwed on to the T2 adapter). I placed the Barlow X2 (with
attached camera) in the eyepieceholder. I set my camera to the M mode.
This is the only mode that will allow me to take a picture if the Nikon
lens is detached. All the other modes won't work. As far as I know, the
camera only focuses when a lens is attached. So how can I focus my D70
when it's attached to my telescope. With my telescope?
 
 
Hope you can help me out.
 
With kind regards,
Rob Voorend
The Netherlands

And:

Thanks for your ever quick answers. I have one more question: with the
D70 in M mode, are there optimal settings for first light?

Subject:	Astrophotography ETX-90 : Nikon D60 or D70
Sent:	Sunday, May 6, 2012 11:14:39
From:	Rob Voorend (r.voorend@chello.nl)
Since I stopped working with a webcam for astrophotography, I want to
buy a good quality camera.

Your gear consist of, next to other cameras, a D70. I heard that the D60
has better quality but it needs manual focussing. Something the D70 does
automaticly.
 
Do you know what camera I can use the best? A D60 or D70?
 
Hope to hear soon,
 
With kind regards,
Rob Voorend
The Netherlands

And:

I have not got the money to buy such an expensive camera. That's why I
want to start with a D60 or a D70.

Subject:	Nikon AF 50mm f1.8 lens for Astrophotography
Sent:	Friday, April 27, 2012 12:00:08
From:	Jim Beston (james_beston@sky.com)
Knowing that you are a great fan of Nikon cameras, I hope you won't mind
me trespassing on your time by asking you the following:
 
Firstly, I have purchased the above lens in the expectation that, with
my D5100, I will get nice, bright, wider-field photos than with my kit
18-55 mm lens.
My belief here stems from my f-10 LX 200 and its reduction to f-6.3 with
the Mede focal reducer in that, everything else being constant a
lower f number = a wider, brighter, field of view. I would like to know
if I am correct here.
 
Secondly this lens does not allow autofocus with the D5100-not a
problem, but I expected to have manual control over exposure, ISO
setting and (the manually controlled)
aperture - the f-stop setting. To my surprise if I try to change the
aperture ring setting to anything less than its maximum (f22) the camera
objects and I am told to lock the
ring at the f22 setting. But, if I can't set the aperture to at least f
2.8, I doubt I can get any good photos. I see that the camera alters the
f stop automatically
with the camera in automatic mode, presumably this alteration is
according to the light conditions. I feel I am missing something here.
 
Is there a way to set the aperture manually?
 
Thanks a bunch!
 
Jim

And:

Further to my request, below. I have now found that I CAN change the
aperture settings by selecting "A," which I believe means aperture
priority, on the camera's function ring
allowing me to change aperture using the "spin ring."
 
However, in this mode the camera determines exposure time not me. In
other words it seems that I can fix either aperture or exposure, but not
both. Is there a way to set both independently of
each other?
 
Thanks again and sorry for being a pain! 

And:

That's the problem, I can only control exposure (with the spin ring) in
"M" mode.

I have one of those ML-3 cable shutter release controls  will that allow
setting of exposure time in "A" mode?

And an update:

I might have "cracked" it. I can set aperture in "A" mode then change to
"M" mode and set exposure. Does that sound right?

And:

Well, I have tried everything I can think of and it does seem that the
aperture ring at the back of the lens has to be locked in the f-22
position at all times and modes.
The aperture is then wholly controlled by the camera.

I have found the only way I can fix the f-stop is to set it in "A" mode.
Then, to enable exposure control at the set
aperture I change to the "M" mode.

Both aperture setting in "A" mode and Exposure setting in "M" mode are
effected by the front spin ring.

Unfortunately the pouring rain (wouldn't you know it?) at the moment
prevents me from doing any observing but indoor photography has
confirmed the above.

Should I see any vast difference in field of view between the extremes
of stops? I see very little indoors.

Thanks Mike :-)

I wonder if the fact that this lens does not have the silent wave drive
but should be driven from the camera body motor (which the D5100 does
not have) has anything to do with this,
or is the drive purely for autofocus?

I have now found: In manual mode the spin ring alters exposure. If the
exposure compensation/aperture button is pressed (the one with +/- on
it)
while rotating the ring the Aperture setting is changed.

QED

And I promise not to bother you again for at least 6 months.

I REALLY am grateful for your help and advice

Subject:	Re: Photography through ETX60AT
Sent:	Tuesday, April 3, 2012 15:23:18
From:	pstanford@waitrose.com (pstanford@waitrose.com)
RE clubs, these two are lovely people, with excellent equipment. It
isn't worth competing. (You may have come across the name Crayford -
they are responsible for the focusser which bears their name.)

I could do some very interesting artistic effects slantwise through the
double glazing with the right focus on the camera. But I'm not going to
trek outdoors until I know it's going to be worth it. I've been trying
to work out a way of getting a window which opens suitably - but I'm in
a conservation area with rules about the sizes of panes, which are too
large for side openings. Should have thought about it before moving.

It looks as though it will be rather expensive to get the adapter sent
to me, compared with its price.

Penny 

Subject:	Photography through ETX60AT
Sent:	Monday, April 2, 2012 01:07:48
From:	pstanford@waitrose.com (pstanford@waitrose.com)
After a period of not using my telescope, I've got back to doing so, and
have equipped myself with the correct ring to connect it to my Nikon D40
DSLR. Though I had the ring to connect it to my old film SLR, I had
never got round to it. I found last night that it wasn't possible to get
a very good focus in imaging the Moon and, seperately, Jupiter.
Similarly, with the Pleiades, I had fuzzy, soft focus images, rather
than the sharp ones I was hoping for. With Jupiter, I could see that
there were bands, but the moons visible to the eye through the scope did
not form images in the camera.With the Moon, I could see craters etc,
but they looked a lot sharper to the eye - and since I have presbyopia
and glasses, I am not used to this difference.

I had adjusted the focussing screw as far as it would go, but had the
impression that it needed to go just a little further. I even unscrewed
the T fittings a little to change the focal length, but that was an
adjustment in the wrong direction.

Short of getting a new camera or telescope or both, is there anything I
can do to improve the images?

Penelope Stanford 

And:

Hi, thanks for the prompt response. I was using the rear port, and had
no problems with weight. Your link led me to a "404 Not found" message,
but I will look up the adapter separately. It's the trouble, i suppose,
with using entry level devices.

And:

I've got to your review via another route.

And more:

I've contacted OPT about buying the adapter - your pictures look like
what I was expecting - my eyes could see that sort of sharpness through
the eyepieces. The odd thing was that looking through the viewfinder of
the camera, the image did not look as unfocussed as the photo. I've seen
reviews of the T-Mount where people have written of how good their
pictures were, but they turned out to be of terrestrial objects, and
probably not, as mine were, through a double glazed window - which I
forgot to mention. (I live in a three floor building with good aspects
to the SE and NW, but the windows, though giving brilliant wide views of
the sky, don't open, and can't be constructed to open, in a way which
allows uninterrupted observation. I wake in the night and trot next door
to the spare room, which is better than going outside for lots of
reasons, but it does mean viewing through glass.)

I was going to go outside tonight to see if it was better, but our high
pressure has moved on, and the curse of British astronomy returned.

Penny

And:

I know! But it's trees, or glass! Or a drive to the churchyard. (The
last place I lived I was able to do the Open University replication of
the Ancient Greek method of calculating the distance of the Moon through
glass successfully, but it was single glazed, and float glass which had
very few imperfections. I'm not into getting perfection-if I want a good
photo, I'll leave it to the experts. It's more a personal diary of what
I can see from my home, but I want the best I can do, given the
constraints. For higher objects, my back garden is OK, though not to the
east. And there's a communal lawn beyond that which I intend to use (but
there's a temperamental security light. Saturn might be a good object to
help deal with that, by engaging the house owner.) It was better here
for Mercury than the last place, which had South London to the west, and
I'm looking forward to a good morning apparition (through glass in
pyjamas!)   Though I'm not in a really dark sky area, It's vastly better
than near the Thames, where they built a mall (downlighting, but still
increasing ambient light) and a hospital (no downlighting, almost like
an airport). The village has 1960s architecture, and most lighting is
low bollards, or with good shades on top. I can see the Milky Way.

I used to do telescope evenings at the school I taught at, initially
with a huge home-built-in-a-drainpipe-reflector someone wanted to get
rid of, but this became difficult after a secondary school about a mile
away installed two security lights, and I was never able to make
effective use of the ETX for this activity. (After constantly having to
push the reflector after the Moon between children, I was looking
forward to the drive.)

If I can get good pictures, it will be worth getting up for! It's very
experimental at the moment.

Thanks again,

Penny

And:

I do get good focussing with the camera alone through the viewfinder on
manual focus (using the up to 200mm lens).

The reason I would not  expect to go to real expertise is because of
links with the Crayford and Croydon astronomical societies. I am not
worthy.

Penny

Subject:	Maybe you can help this newb...
Sent:	Saturday, February 4, 2012 04:56:39
From:	J. W. Johnson (cjwj@me.com)
Trying to shoot AP on my D7000 using a William Optics ZenithStar 80II
with the Nikon mount and WO T-adapter, but am unable to focus
adequately. It seems like it can't get close enough to the telescope
when I'm racking the knob; am I missing something obvious? Eyepiece
focuses perfectly, camera useless...help!

Thanks in advance,

John

This missive was sent careening off the walls of my iPad...

And:

Sorry to have wasted your time

And:

I'm just attempting your basic astrophotography, i.e. pictures of the
moon, pictures of Saturn, Jupiter, at the moment.

You are correct. There is a 2 inch photo adapter, made by William
optics, that connects to the T ring on the camera and slots into a
diagonal on the telescope.

And:

I'll try that...thanks again. 

Sent kicking and screaming from my iPhone

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