161 replies to this topic

[Lightning]

Any chance of photographing a colourful, tight open cluster with this scope?

 

This scope is currently on my list shortlist of "dream" scopes, but it's remarkably affordable considering it's an 8" refractor with good colour correction.

 

Cheers,

Cam

[Psion]

You can make colourful pictures, but this is not photographic apochromat like LZOZ, TEC or Takahashi, this is similar as a semi APO telescope for superb visual observing. You can see around the star small blue-purple fringe, but you can eliminate by a software. I make a picture of M42 nebula, 3x15s Canon 1100D without guiding. This is was a test full FOV of the Zerochromat - how is flat. The camera is more sensitive to blue or purple than the eye.

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Psion, 11 June 2016 - 02:15 AM.

[Lightning]

Thanks Psion! There's a little fringing but that's seriously nice for an 8" refractor with a single lens.

[cw00]

Hi Psion, what kind of filter do you use for solar observation with the ZC 8"?  I used to use the Baader Herschel prism for white-light viewing with my NP-101.  But with the ZC 8", I need a front-mounted solar filter but I am not sure which one to use.

[Psion]

I always use the Baader solar film like Baader, it has a nice detail of the photosphere. 

[nicknacknock]

Would be interesting to slap a Baader ERF filter on the front end and a Quark combo on the back end.

 

Find a very mild barlow element (1.25x) to keep it at f15 (minimum operating f ratio for quark combo) and you can just squeeze out a full disk view by my calculations.

 

EDIT: The quark combo comes without the 4.2x telecentric element and almost double the aperture than the regular quark. Fit barlow / telecentric / powermate element that you want to choose the f ratio of your liking.

 

The quark works best at f30 but at f15, the difference from what I read is not dramatic. Thinking of getting one myself once autumn arrives and the sweltering heat dissipates.

[Starman81]

I make only Ronchi test today, because is a terrible seeing. I think the telescope is not excellent, but quality of picture is very good. Vega is in a centre FOV and I cannot see any CA on magnification 100x  (Panoptic 24mm). Stars are pinpoint from edge to edge, also in Panoptic 35mm. The sky is rather bright (20.35 MSA), but I can see NGC 6992, 6960 without problem, after that, much better with Lumicon Deep Sky filter. Globular M15 is beautiful and I can resolve lot of stars in it. The telescope resolve Epsilon Lyrae without problem with small magnification, but seeing is blurring a picture in the eyepiece. A colours on the stars are very good visible (like Albiero).

 

I apologize, I must be misunderstanding something... I have read on the website that the Zerochromar's 'apochromatic performance is over a 0.75° field'... With the scope's 2400mm f/l, a 35 Panoptic would yield a 1.0° TFOV in the ZC. So, were the stars in the outer 0.25° 'pinpoint' but not 'apochromatic' i.e. some residual color? 

[EuropaWill]

You can make colourful pictures, but this is not photographic apochromat like LZOZ, TEC or Takahashi, this is similar as a semi APO telescope for superb visual observing. You can see around the star small blue-purple fringe, but you can eliminate by a software. I make a picture of M42 nebula, 3x15s Canon 1100D without guiding. This is was a test full FOV of the Zerochromat - how is flat. The camera is more sensitive to blue or purple than the eye.

Please take some pictures of Jupiter, the Moon and Mars please! 

[Psion]

Jupiter and Mars are too low for me, the Moon you can see.

 

Edited by Psion, 04 July 2016 - 03:47 PM.

[fishhuntmike]

Exquisite!!!!! Great job on that moon!

[EuropaWill]

Is that a black and white reduction of a color image? I was hoping to see the color artifacts inherent in the one-shot-color image. 

[Psion]

Yes, you have right. This telescope is very good for observing, but not for photography, a camera is very sensitive for blue and red part of the spectrum, but eyes not. This is not apochromat, but semi apochromat. This optical concept has a great value, you can eliminate atmospheric refraction like ADC, especially in these times is very useful for planets.