rartym@cybavax.UUCP (Richard Artym) (06/15/85)
[Munch] Are there any amateur astrophotographers on the net? I'm currently looking at mounts and guidance gear, telescopes and plain camera telephoto lenses, suitability of standard 35mm films and processing, exposure times, microcomputer control, and most other related areas --- all with a view to constructing a small but reasonably good (amateur) system for astronomical photography. It would be very interesting to hear of other peoples' experience in this area. A few specific questions:- 1) Camera lenses have a vast amount of development put into them, yet are mass-marketed, so it's reasonable to conclude that they ought to be exceptionally good value for money compared to small telescope optics. Is this the case? Or are there hidden problems with using (say) a Tamron 500mm/f8 (catadioptric mirror lens), perhaps with an additional 2X converter, on a guided mount? 2) Is there a rule of thumb for the maximum acceptable guidance error for any given magnification and resolution at the focal plane? (Plus a rule of thumb for the latter?) 3) You can get eyepiece adapters to turn camera lenses into low- magnification telescopes (why only *low*, I wonder?), but is there one that also allows the camera body to be attached (axially or radially) for combined viewing and photography? Answers, comments, queries or discussion of any related topic would be fun. P.S. `Microcomputer Control of Telescopes' by R.M. Genet and M. Trueblood, to be published this year by Willman-Bell (reported in Sky&Telescope, May 1985, p.449). Should be interesting. -- vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv > Rich Artym, Elec.Eng., Univ.College of Swansea, Swansea SA2 8PP, Wales, UK. < > UUCP : {UK}!ukc!reading!cybavax!rartym ; JANET : rartym@swxa/000060601800 < ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^