ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAS Last updated: 9 February 2003

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:	ETX125EC - picture of M11 
Sent:	Sunday, September 9, 2001 11:05:42
From:	GERALD_WECHSELBERGER@at.ibm.com (Gerald Wechselberger)

On August 14th this year i tried to picture the Open Cluster M11. I used
the Olympus 2020Z which i cooled simply between the shoots in the deep
freezer for 3 minutes to minimize thermal noise which came up at air
temperature of more than 20 Degree Celsius!! Picture was exposed 16
seconds with 40mm Eyepiece projection - No guiding. Darkframe
subtraction done.

Feel free to put this image on your guest ETX-Page.

Thanks for keeping the ETX issue all time update. Its always very
interesting and useful!

Click for full-size version

Subject:	Astrophotography with Olympus C-3000 and ETX-125
Sent:	Wednesday, September 26, 2001 9:49:23
From:	rhayes@simulutions.com (Richard Hayes)
Terrific Site!  I hopefully have some input for Peter.
I am using a Canon G1, ETX60, and the digi-t adapter and was having
the same problem which I think I have 'mostly' figured out.
Firstly, your eye and the ccd in your camera see things a little differently. 
Your eye can pull things into focus that might not really be in focus to
your ccd.  Build yourself a simple tool called a "hartman mask", (see
easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~chrish/lx_mask.htm for a much better explanation
than I can give).  It will make your focusing much more accurate. 
I made a quick one out of cardboard and painters tape and it works
fine.
With my canon I get a more complete view of what's in the eyepiece
if I have the lens at the wideangle as opposed to the telephoto setting.
People kept telling me to set the manual focus to infinity and I don't
think that is really correct (not for my camera anyway).  I don't
know how to describe this but try to find the 'sweet spot' for your focus. 
Find a bright star, and adjust your focus from one extreme to the other. 
With my canon the sweet spot is about 2/3rds of the way towards infinity. 
If you can employ a digital zoom do so, this makes the star just that much
bigger and easier to focus on.  It doesn't look like a star when I do
this, it looks like a small vertical bar.
The weight of the camera comes into play too.  Your eyepieces won't
sit exactly the same way with the weight of the camera as they would without.  
So you may have everything in perfect focus, slap on the camera, only to
find things are out of focus again (especially if you have a barlow in
the equation).  Don't despair, if your have a bright star in your
viewfinder put on that hartman mask again and adjust your scope's focus
with the camera in place.
It's frustrating but patience is rewarded.  You can see some of
my pictures using my G1 and my ETX60 at members.shaw.ca/rph/astrophotos.htm. 
You might need to crank up the brightness/contrast to see some of the pics
(my monitor at work shows nothing while my one at home shows stars).  
They aren't the greatest but they are my first and it is only an ETX60.  
A MIGHT ETX 60 that is!
-Richard

Subject:	Moon Pic
Sent:	Saturday, December 29, 2001 11:55:01
From:	detectorist@swbell.net (Steven G. Ables)
I truly enjoyed my ETX-70AT that I bought back in November, but after
using it for a while I decided that an ETX-90RA would better suit me. I
received my ETX-90RA and #883 tripod last week and am very impressed
with the optics of this scope. Here is one of my first lunar shots taken
with the scope. This was using the 25mm SP EP and 2X Barlow. The camera
was an Olympus C-2040Z coupled with the Digi-T adapter. Exposure was
1/30 if I recall correctly. No if I can just get past the flu, I can get
out and play more.

Steven Ables
Tulsa Snapshots
http://digitalphoto.servepics.com/index.htm
Detecting Tulsa
http://home.swbell.net/ablessg/

Subject:	jupiter pix
Sent:	Friday, January 4, 2002 3:37:22
From:	michelle.taylor6@ntlworld.com (Michelle)
first post to this site. i got my etx90 as a birthday present back in
november and have spent many cold nights here in Cambridge, UK starting
to learn the woners of the night sky.

learning from the site that it is possible to do astrophotography with
the etx and a digital camera, I bought a t adapter and had my first go a
few nights ago.

attached, jupiter: etx90 on tripod, olympus c3000z, 5 images of 2s exp,
stacked with astrostack, final image through photoshop5.0 auto level and
some brightness/contrast adjustment

ps I'm rob parkin - using my girlfreind's mail address

rob

Subject:	a few digital pictures
Sent:	Tuesday, January 8, 2002 05:33:07
From:	abassham@earthlink.net (Allen Bassham)
Just getting started with telescopes and astophotography.  Maybe some
day I can afford a high end telescope, but for now, I got a real deal on
a couple of Meade Telescopes.  I purchased the ETX60AT ($125 at Costco)
and a DS127EC ($150 closeout).  Both are new.  I started by makeing a
home brew camera out of an old e-cam color web cam.  I bought a Digi-T
adapter from ScopeTronix for my Olympus C2020Z digital camera and gave
it a try as well.  The weather has been lousy and cloudy, but I have
been able to get out and grab a few shots between clouds and in early
morning.  I have put up pictures and details at
home.earthlink.net/~abassham/moonshots.htm.    Feel free to use
the content if you feel it worthy.

Allen Bassham

Subject:	moon gallery
Sent:	Friday, January 11, 2002 19:02:12
From:	dal@daliasgallery.com (D. M.)
Thanks for all the time you take updating your website. We really
appreciate it. :-)

Yesterday, I finally managed to complete my Moon Digital Gallery. Check
it out!! http://www.peachbox.com

I used my ETX 90EC telescope and my Olympus C3030 digital camera to
those shots.

Let me know what you think.

Dalia

"Reading is knowledge and knowledge is power"
Visit my Digital Picture Gallery: http://www.daliasgallery.com

Subject:	Photos
Sent:	Wednesday, January 16, 2002 23:05:06
From:	detectorist@swbell.net (Steven G. Ables)
Just wanted to share some of my latest ETX-90RA photos ! These were
taken with an Oly C-2040Z using Scopetronic's Digi-T Adapter. The first
photo shows Jupiter and the GRS. The second is an Io transit with the
shadow and Io visible. The last is a photo of Saturn. All pics were
stacked and processed with Astrostack. Keep up the great work on your
wonderful site !

Steven Ables
Tulsa Snapshots
http://digitalphoto.servepics.com/index.htm
Detecting Tulsa
http://home.swbell.net/ablessg/

Subject:	M1 picture with ETX 125EC
Sent:	Saturday, January 19, 2002 14:50:50
From:	GERALD_WECHSELBERGER@at.ibm.com (Gerald Wechselberger)
Yesterday, after many weeks of clouded skies,  i got 2 hours of somehow
clear sky here south of Vienna. Tried to capture M1 with the ETX125EC.
Visability was possible only with averted vision. So, i used the digital
camera for capturing more details. The Olympus 2020Z worked with minimum
thermal noise at -2 Degree Celsius.

The picture attached i have stacked from 19 exposures - each single
image was exposed 16 seconds seperately. (Total 304 Seconds) For the
Eyepiece projection i used the 40mm eyepiece. The ETX drive was running
smoothly so no guiding was necessary. Darkframe subtraction was done for
each single image. For stacking i used Mixrografix Publisher.

I would appreciate if you put this picture on your guest  deepskyimage
page to show that with the ETX and a cheap standard digital camera
everybody can do deep sky imaging upto  and slightly above Magnitude 9.0
objects! Open Clustesr can be recorded even upto Magnitude 10.0!

Thanks for keeping your ETX page interesting for beginners and
experienced people all time. If i am on the net it is a must for me to
step by at your homepage  to see about the latest ETX news!!

BEST REGARDS - ALOHA
Gerald Wechselberger

Subject:	M3 picture with ETX 125EC
Sent:	Saturday, January 19, 2002 15:32:01
From:	GERALD_WECHSELBERGER@at.ibm.com (Gerald Wechselberger)
As i am trying to put together my  Messier picture collection with the
ETX125EC and my Olympus 2020Z digital camera, i found another Messier
picture (M3) from last year  which may be can be used on your ETX
deepsky picture gallery.

The picture attached i have stacked from 3 exposures - each single image
was exposed 16 seconds seperately. For the eyepiece projection i used
the 40mm eyepiece. The ETX drive was running smoothly so no guiding was
needed! The Olympus 2020Z worked with some thermal noise at 5 Degree
Celsius.

So, if you wanna use this picture on your guest  deepskyimage gallery
page I would appreciate it!

Thanks for being patient, informativ and helpful  on your ETX page to
beginners and and to those with a little more experience.

BEST REGARDS - ALOHA
Gerald Wechselberger

Subject:	My small contribution
Sent:	Thursday, February 7, 2002 19:54:06
From:	amiziniak@home.com (Mizman)
THANK YOU for a great inspiration. I just wanted to send you my website
that i've posted some moon, jupiter, and saturn pics on
www.mizman.net/astro.html while using techniques I learned on
your web site. I bought the Scopetronix piggy-back after seeing it on
your site and found it very helpful. Thanks again.

Andrew Miziniak

Subject:	Jupiter
Sent:	Monday, February 18, 2002 12:52:49
From:	Albert.Mennone@yale.edu (Albert Mennone)
This is my first photograph of Jupiter.  I used a Olympus 3030z digital
camera through a 26mm eyepiece and a  2x Barlow on my ETX125.  This
image is the result of 25 stacked images (Astrostack software) and a bit
of unsharp mask tweaking.
Thanks, love your site,
Al

Subject:	First attempt at pictures with ETX 
Sent:	Monday, February 25, 2002 6:10:45
From:	cpiso@rcn.com (Charles Piso)
Charles from Boston again thought you might like to see these two
pictures from the other night.  Unfortunately those of us in the
northeast got clouded out of the occultation of Saturn, but the night
after was clear and cold.  Jupiter put on a show then not as spectacular
as the night before but just as interesting.  The local time when they
were the closest in conjunction was at 2154 hrs EST. and the separation
was about half a degree.

I used a Olympus 2040Z and a tele-vue 32mm Pl. I just held the camera up
to the eyepiece as I do not own an adapter yet.  I hope you enjoy the
two photos.

Keep up the great work mike you and your site are a wealth of
information.

Clear skies Charles

Subject:	Moon/Jupiter Conjunction
Sent:	Monday, March 4, 2002 19:37:27
From:	snodok@mediaone.net (Alan Bodnar)
Here's a picture of the conjunction of the moon with Jupiter on the
night of 2/22/02.  This was taken with a hand-held Olympus 460-D Digital
Camera through a 40 mm. eyepiece with a 2x Barlow and a black moon
filter on my Meade ETX 90EC.  The conjunction was a beautiful sight and
it's nice to have a photo to remember it by.

Alan Bodnar  (snodok@mediaone.net)
Wellesley, MA  

Subject:	Question about Astrophotography...
Sent:	Monday, April 15, 2002 10:30:05
From:	Scott9482@aol.com
I am interested in getting started in Astrophotography.  As far as my
hardware goes, I have an ETX-125 (supercharged), and an Olympus c3040 z
(digital camera).

I just finished reading the chapter on Astrophotography from your ETX
book.  And I am interested in starting off with the method of holding
the camera up to the eyepiece.  I have seen that some of the people who
visit your site, use an Olympus c2040z, and take really nice pictures...

My question for visitors of your website (who use an Olympus digital
camera), can someone please recommend the proper settings for my digital
camera?   I don't know anything about astrophotography.  Should I be
using Macro mode, shoud I adjust shutter speed, etc.  I am clueless
regarding this topic...

Thanks!

And:

Ok, I can set the ISO to 200 or 400, I guess 400 will be better?  Yes, I
can zoom in or also use the Macro mode, I guess the Macro will be
better?

I also want to try to get some images of Jupiter and Saturn while they
are still around...

Subject:	Re: Question about Astrophotography...
Sent:	Sunday, April 21, 2002 7:54:57
From:	Scott9482@aol.com
I still have not yet had clear skies, since your photography advice.  My
Olympus c3040z can actually have exposures as short as 1/800 of a
second.  What would you recommend?  Or should I not even mess with the
shutter speed, and only focus on the ISO setting?

Thanks!

-Scott

Subject:	Digital Adapters
Sent:	Friday, June 7, 2002 15:12:20
From:	PSNicE2001@aol.com
Thanks for helping in the decision process on selecting a scope.  I
enjoy my ETX90RA.   Any suggestions by you or your readers on how to get
my Olympus 3000 to attach to my Tiffen filter adapter?  I have seen the
Digi-T adapter sold by Scopetronix but can''t swallow the price.

Phil

Subject:	Newbie
Sent:	Monday, December 30, 2002 16:45:12
From:	H53CREWMAN@aol.com
I have just entered the new world of telescopes. I purchased a Meade
ETX-70AT. I have been reading alot about it and I say most I have
learned from your site. Thanks. I have a couple questions. I have seen
several ways to connect my digital cam to the telescope. What would you
suggest for my Olympus C-3000. When you turn it on the lens
automatically extends and looking at the type connections I have seen,
it just looks like this would be a problem. Thanks for the time you take
to make such an informative web site. I'm sure I will be there alot in
the future. Kevin R. Schrock 

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