I want to start doing astrophotography, what kind of camera to I use and how do I get great quality photos?

Question

For you experienced astrophotographers, what are some great techniques used to get great pictures?

Answer 1

A lot depends on your target and conditions. Do you already have a telescope of some kind? If so, does it have tracking? It is not necessary to have either of these, you can also shoot the sky "as is", but what kind of camera, exposures and such will depend on these to a degree.

I've had good results shooting the Moon and planets thru undriven telescopes, though I've had to keep the exposures short (under 1/10 sec). There are also brackets available to hold the camera in place up to the scope's eyepiece. A digital camera with the standard gamut of shutter settings will do fine. Make sure it has a 2 or 3 sec self-timer to allow any shake from pressing the shutter to die down.

If you are going to shoot the stars (no scope) it helps to get away from city lights to where the Milky Way is easily seen. Fast film with a tripod-mounted SLR camera that has a bulb setting (now getting cheap with so many digicams) will bring out stars not visible to the unaided eye even with exposures under a minute -- which will keep the stars from trailing too much from Earth's rotation.

These I've had experience with. They are just guidelines. Perhaps more advice could be given if you stated more your targets and conditions (sky and instruments if any).

Answer 2

I think a great way is to use a webcam. It is cheap, if you already have a computer (preferably a laptop) to operate it. An unmodified webcam can take great pictures of the planets. With modification, it can take long exposure deep sky images too, but it is a difficult modification. Check out the QCUIAG Yahoo group.

Another way is to just use a regular digital camera. The expensive SLR types are better, but some good results are possible with almost any camera. Check out the digital_astro Yahoo group.

There are many Yahoo groups devoted to astrophotography and many other web and paper book resources.

Answer 3

Well if you really want to get some great photos try getting a telescope that is also a digital camera. Then it should come with computer software but there better ones you can buy. To be honest if you want great quality photos you can get them developed at a photo center but its way much better if you have your own picture pritner.