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Phil
member
Reged: 09/30/03
Posts: 37
Loc: London
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Hi,
Not sure whether to post this under the photography section, but as its specific to the ETX, I thought I'd start here.
So far, to get some poor quality photo's, I've just held my digital camera up to the eyepiece of my ETX125 and taken a snap. This resulted in some decent shots of the venus transit, but some very poor attempts at Jupiter (small white blurred disk, even with a 9.7mm lense).
I've been looking into the various methods of taking photo's with the ETX, and it seems that one of the more favoured methods is to use a ToUcam Pro web cam. Can anyone heartily reccommend this? and what sort of equipment (clamps etc) would I need to make this work? Also, is it much easier than sticking a camera on to the ETX via a T adapter and using an SLR camera? Any help much appreciated. It would also be helpful to hear of peoples general experiences of taking photographs with the ETX.
Thanks,
Phil
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Beginner
ETX 125
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pbm77
super member
Reged: 05/21/03
Posts: 167
Loc: Denmark
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Hi Phil
I have recently acquired a Meade LPI (sort of a modified web cam), which comes with easy to use software. Haven’t used it very much yet, and I’m still learning to produce the pictures, but it works very well and comes with everything you need to start taking pictures (well, except a PC  ).
Just thought I would let you know of this possibility. The Toucam Pro is also very good, and a lot of people use it with great results.
You can see some of my pictures taken with the LPI and an ETX90 on my homepage at http://pbm77.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/ .
Peter
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Peter Madsen
12" LightBridge Deluxe
8" dob, ETX90, PST
80mm ED, ST80 and 15x70 binos
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seeker372011
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 03/05/04
Posts: 993
Loc: Sydney , Australia
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Hi Phil
I have posted a couple of examples of photographs of deep space objects taken with an ETX 70 and a modified for- long -exposure phillips Tou Cam in this forum
With an ETX 125 you should be able to go much better
For planets you can just use the webcam with its lens removed instead of an eyepiece. You can either purchase an adapter or make one from old film canister that will slide into your focuser . (visit the QCUIAG site for details)
If you are looking for deep space you really need a modified webcam for anything other than the brightest objects.
IMHO it's easier with webcams compared to say emulsion. With the webcams at least you get started straight away and see some fair results almost immediately, though it probably will take some experimentation and learning before you start getting good to great results..I'm not there yet so I dont know. 
If cost is a consideration the webcam route may well be the way to go as I Digital SLRs are still quite pricy..for the moment anyway
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ED 80 on ASCG5 mount;ED 127 on EQ6; QHY8,QHY2pro, 20 x 80 LW Obies;PST (spectrum 60);10 inch GSO dob;Astrotrac and Mini Borg 45ED
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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For planetary and deep sky, I think you'll need to learn all about digiscoping and stacking. A DSLR may be too big for that sort of thing. You would use either your existing small camera or some sort of webcam setup.
I've done just a little dabbling. I tried some Mars shots last year with Canon S330 attached to the ETX 125 with a Scopetronix digiscope attachment. That combination was impossible to focus and I got nothing but fuzzy blobs.
With more light, I had better luck focusing on the Venus transit (link below). The closeup is digiscoped through the ETX 125 with a 20mm eyepiece as I recall. There is some motion blur and it might be slightly out of focus. (The other two Venus shots and the Iceland eclipse were taken with a DSLR and telephoto lens.)
Also on that page, there is one example of an SLR attached to the ETX 125 with a straight through t-mount. I shot the Moon with a Pentax KX film camera, Provia 100 slide film, just some slight cropping. The moon would almost completely fill the frame with a t-mounted DSLR. I also took some film shots of the Venus transit with the Pentax and the ETX 125, but the buffoons at Qualex lost the film! Another reason to go digital. 
http://www.thomasoneil.com/page2.php?g=1010
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Duncan Rosie
super member
Reged: 02/14/04
Posts: 135
Loc: South Africa
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There is a very good comparison of the LPI and the ToUCam Pro on the CN Reports section which might help.
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Duncan Rosie
ETX-125
10" Sky-Watcher Truss-tube
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cwstad
sage
Reged: 07/22/04
Posts: 305
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i use an etx 125 and a cannon powershot 400, this adapter savs a lot of hassle
http://www.telescopehouse.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=1A5932321D6F4159839ED5F725C2D2EA&action=lnk
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Celestron 80EQ
Meade ETX 125
Homepage http://www.farstar.co.uk
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