Anyone has experience using Celestron C5 for photography?

[pat33]

Hi all , Has anyone tried using the Celestron C5 to take photos with a digital camera??

Please share your experiences and feedback on the image quality.

If you have actual images would appreciate if you can share them.

Thank you

 

[Prismatic]

Quality-wise, it will probably be better than after adding 2 tele-convertors on a normal 300mm SLR lenses. But I think the aperture is fixed at f/10 so you will need to slow down your shutter significantly even in bright daylight.

There's a thread in another sub-forum regarding the quality of mirrror lenses, there's a link to some comparison tests in it. Celestron instruments are quite well-made, so quality should be quite good.
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=316816

 

[rvxing]

Why don't you ask the question in www.singastro.org. The guys there play with telescopes day in day out. They may be able to give you a better answer with their experience.

 

[pat33]

Quality-wise, it will probably be better than after adding 2 tele-convertors on a normal 300mm SLR lenses. But I think the aperture is fixed at f/10 so you will need to slow down your shutter significantly even in bright daylight.

There's a thread in another sub-forum regarding the quality of mirrror lenses, there's a link to some comparison tests in it. Celestron instruments are quite well-made, so quality should be quite good.
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=316816

Hi Prismatic ,

Info very much appreciated . Thank you.

I was just toying with the idea of using it as a long lens to shoot moonscape, wild life and birds. 1250mm seems very tempting. Will drop by Astro soon to get some advice as well.

 

[pat33]

Why don't you ask the question in www.singastro.org. The guys there play with telescopes day in day out. They may be able to give you a better answer with their experience.

Yes will go down to astro at science center to get some advice on how to proceed.
Thanks

 

[lsisaxon]

Hi all , Has anyone tried using the Celestron C5 to take photos with a digital camera??

If you have , please share your experiences and feedback on the image quality.


Thank you

They are not too bad. Contrast is not as good for day photography though. I use a Nexstar5 which is essentially using a C5 tube.

Here are some images.

 

[pat33]

They are not too bad. Contrast is not as good for day photography though. I use a Nexstar5 which is essentially using a C5 tube.

Here are some images.

Isisaxon, Thanks for sharing the images and experience.

 

[lsisaxon]

Isisaxon, Thanks for sharing the images and experience.

Oh one more thing. Focusing is very tricky. Just a slight twiddle on the focusing knob can throw the focusing off. Best to use a focus magnifier on the DSLR.

 

[pat33]

This is the first shot I did testing the C5 with the nikon D80. The usual nikon adaptor T ring and T adaptor was used, in addition I used a corrector reducer which astro recomended to achieve f6.3. Shot was taken at 1/15 sec tripod mounted and remote triggered. Weather permit will try do some lunar shots soon .

 

[rvxing]

Can't c yr 1st shot

 

[pat33]

Can't c yr 1st shot

sorry cant seem to link the photo , you can see the shot here


http://gallery.clubsnap.com/showphoto.php/photo/97145/ppuser/51468

the other two shots were done with the C5 too. lighting was not great hence the slow shutter speed. colour and contrast seems better then what i had expected.

 

[Prismatic]

Hmm... the bokeh is better than I have expected. If you are using the focal reducer, the magnification is also reduced right? For moon shots, maybe you can try without the focal reducer, take shorter exposures (underexpose a bit), then stack the pictures using IRIS. The results may yield more details than one single long exposure. Seems like the way to go from the guys at SingAstro.

 

[pat33]

Reposting the images :

1.)

first shot as is without photoshop. just resizing.

2.)

3.)

some adjustments in brightness and contrast were made in second and third shots.

photos were taken at 1/15-1/25 sec shutter speed in manual mode.

Colour and contrast were better that what I had expected. And yes the bokeh looks good.

I was using the corrector reducer. Haven't had the chance to shoot the moon yet. Will do it when I get the chance.

 

[pat33]

Hmm... the bokeh is better than I have expected. If you are using the focal reducer, the magnification is also reduced right? For moon shots, maybe you can try without the focal reducer, take shorter exposures (underexpose a bit), then stack the pictures using IRIS. The results may yield more details than one single long exposure. Seems like the way to go from the guys at SingAstro.

Here is a comparison of the 2 shots taken with and without the corrector. The difference in magnification is quite significant.

1.) With corrector

2.) Without corrector

 

[lsisaxon]

Here is a comparison of the 2 shots taken with and without the corrector. The difference in magnification is quite significant.

1.) With corrector
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/data/500/celestron_test1.jpg



2.) Without corrector
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/data/500/celestron_test1b.jpg

Hmm.. it seems to looks better with the focal reducer/corrector..

 

[asterixsg]

pat33,
just saw this thread.

interesting photos man. i've never used the c6 to shoot anything other than the moon :bsmilie:

did you use the celestron focal length reducer ?
may I know what tripod and head (ballhead, pan n tilt or a gear head) you are using ?

cheers.

 

[pat33]

pat33,
just saw this thread.

interesting photos man. i've never used the c6 to shoot anything other than the moon :bsmilie:

did you use the celestron focal length reducer ?
may I know what tripod and head (ballhead, pan n tilt or a gear head) you are using ?

cheers.

Hi Asterixsg,

yes I used the celestron reducer . Tripod setup I am using manfrotto 055mf4 (bought from eugene for my mongolian trip) and the ball head using Kangrinpoche NB2-A.

You should try and take some shots and post them here.

 

[lsisaxon]

pat33,
just saw this thread.

interesting photos man. i've never used the c6 to shoot anything other than the moon :bsmilie:

did you use the celestron focal length reducer ?
may I know what tripod and head (ballhead, pan n tilt or a gear head) you are using ?

cheers.

C6 may be a bit clumsy to use because it's a Newtonian. C5 is a SCT.

 

[pat33]

Hi All,

managed to sanp a photo of the moon , nothing to shout about but at least the set up is working.

Will work on trying to produce better images.

Tried eyepiece projection photography but the images were ok but not sharp even shooting at iso800 and higher shutter speed. Focusing is tricky and images in the camera viewfinder is upside down. Need to try out more and see what needs to be done to get better images.

Will be closing this thread after this posting as objective achieved . Want to thank Prismatic, Rvxing,Isisaxon, Asterixsg for helping and sharing your knowledge and experiences.