Nikon D3000 Astrophotography

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Ondime
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Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2019 2:12 pm

Nikon D3000 Astrophotography

#1

Post by Ondime »

Hi there, Long time reader, 1st time poster.
I have a Nikon D3000 camera and recently purchased a TAL1 telescope with motor drive (which I haven't plugged in yet). It has the piggy back attachment and I have purchased a t-ring and adapter.
After trying to familiarize myself with the telescope I thought I would try and take some pictures.
I lined up Jupiter and got a beautiful view through the eye piece, took it out and put the camera in and snapped away. Nothing ! All I get in the display of my D3000 is black. This is the case whether I choose an ISO between 200 or 1600, or hold the button down for 1 second or 60. I have tried using a barlow lens rather than the adapter and still the same result. Any setting I try I have no result.
So I went for something easier like the moon. It was just an out of focus picture that looked like I photographed a nearby plume of smoke.
I understand the focus on the D3000 https://cameravs.com/Nikon-D3000 isn't great when the lens is removed and only bulb in manual mode is available other than some exposure settings in aperture mode.
I wasn't under any illusion that this would be easy but I am at my wits end now wanting to get some results on the large outlay I just made.
Any help is VERY much appreciated.
Thanks a lot
Last edited by Ondime on Mon Aug 12, 2019 5:24 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Nikon D3000 Astrophotography

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

The moon is definitely the best choice as a first astronomical target, but even before that it's a great idea to point your telescope and camera at something far away during daylight (a distant tree, roof, hill, etc) and then find the focus position that you need to get an in focus image of that object.

The further away the object is, the closer the focus position will be to the one you will need to image astronomical objects. In any case, you will find that when you move from your hill/tree/roof to an astronomical object you will need to move the camera further back (away from the telescope) to get good focus.

Hope this helps, Robin
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