Fuji S2 Pro DSLR with Celestron 80ED refractor (1 Viewer)

bluedubius · Jun 28, 2008

Encouraged by the discussions started in the thread by Paul Corfield and his disgiscoping experiments, I decided to try this method with yet another of the Syntra-made (I think) scopes, the Celestron 80ED refractor. I've been experimenting as time permits for a couple of weeks with this refractor and my Fuji S2 Pro. Although a bit dated, this camera is still praised for it's beautiful color rendition and decent performance at high ISO. The Celestron is a heavyweight (7.5 lbs), 600mm f7.5 ED refractor that I picked up at the rock-bottom price of $384 including shipping from amazon.com a few weeks ago. Here is an example shot I took this morning of a young American Robin at a distance of around 75 feet. This used the scope plus an old 2X soligor teleconverter that came with a 500mm mirror lens I got around 20 years ago, and a 60mm extension tube that came with a Meade ETX-90 telescope. Looking foward to further experiments along this line.

Rick

Paul Corfield · Jun 28, 2008

Yes, the Celestron 80ED is the same scope as my Skywatcher Evostar Pro 80ED. Synta own Skywatcher, Celestron and Orion. You can take off the tube rings to save weight as there should be an extra tripod mount on the scope body and on a good tripod it should be more than sturdy enough.

There's quite a uniform pattern to the background of your photo, is that how the camera outputs it? If you see any teleconverters going cheap on ebay then they may be worth a try. I'm always buying and selling different ones as they all vary to a degree.

Paul.

bluedubius · Jun 28, 2008

Yes, Paul, that is the original background. The birds were perching on a fence and the background is trees in the distance. I wish you were right about the tube rings, but for some reason on this scope the tripod mount is built into the weird looking "tube ring mount" that clamps around the scope (I'll have to post a photo so you can see what I mean) and it is heavy. That would really save a lot of weight and I hate that they designed theirs this way. Still, for the price I paid...I really can't complain about anything.

Rick

Paul Corfield · Jun 28, 2008

Don't know if you ever used Noise Ninja before but it's great in situations like this. You can remove the noise and then use the noise brush to bring the detail back out. This is an example with your photo.

Paul.

bluedubius · Jun 28, 2008

Paul Corfield said:
Don't know if you ever used Noise Ninja before but it's great in situations like this. You can remove the noise and then use the noise brush to bring the detail back out. This is an example with your photo.

Paul.

Wow. That's nice. I haven't used Noise Ninja, but have seen it referenced in discussions. Certainly something I need to look into.

Rick

JGobeil · Jun 29, 2008

I think that Syntra makes the lens cell and sells it to quite a few scope companies like Celestron. Celestron will then incorporate the cell in its tube, add a focuser and accessories. They may as well buy the focuser and some accessories from Syntra and even the tube. They are quite easy to recognize since they are the only 80mm ED APO 600mm f/7.5 out there. Some of these are known to have so-so focusers but the optics are a good bang for the buck.

Rick, your picture is very nice and sharp. Your rig seems to be doing a good job. However, the photo seems a bit dark and lacks punch - a good Photoshop cleanup would bring it back: adjust levels and increase saturation, remove noise and sharpen.

Paul Corfield · Jun 29, 2008

JGobeil said:
I think that Syntra makes the lens cell and sells it to quite a few scope companies like Celestron. Celestron will then incorporate the cell in its tube, add a focuser and accessories. They may as well buy the focuser and some accessories from Syntra and even the tube. They are quite easy to recognize since they are the only 80mm ED APO 600mm f/7.5 out there. Some of these are known to have so-so focusers but the optics are a good bang for the buck.

Rick, your picture is very nice and sharp. Your rig seems to be doing a good job. However, the photo seems a bit dark and lacks punch - a good Photoshop cleanup would bring it back: adjust levels and increase saturation, remove noise and sharpen.

Celestron as a company was bought out by Synta, back in 2005 I think it was. Before that Synta supplied the optics etc to Celestron but now they own the company. The 80ED scope is basically made in 3 colors, the Skywatcher, the Celestron and the Orion. All the same scope but you pay more for the name depending on which one.

Paul.

bluedubius · Jun 30, 2008

JGobeil said:
I think that Syntra makes the lens cell and sells it to quite a few scope companies like Celestron. Celestron will then incorporate the cell in its tube, add a focuser and accessories. They may as well buy the focuser and some accessories from Syntra and even the tube. They are quite easy to recognize since they are the only 80mm ED APO 600mm f/7.5 out there. Some of these are known to have so-so focusers but the optics are a good bang for the buck.

Rick, your picture is very nice and sharp. Your rig seems to be doing a good job. However, the photo seems a bit dark and lacks punch - a good Photoshop cleanup would bring it back: adjust levels and increase saturation, remove noise and sharpen.

Yes, Jules, you are absolutely right. I tend to underexpose trying to get the highest shutter speed I can and correct this in post processing. Looks like I forgot to do those adjustments on this photo.

Rick

bluedubius · Jul 12, 2008

Today I briefly tested the Celestron 80 ED with a Kiron 2x MC7 teleconverter I won off of ebay for $26. No birds yet, but surprisingly nice photos from non-moving objects like these oak leaves. Taken at around 100 feet, 600mm Celestron 80 ED + Kiron 2x teleconverter, Fuji S2 Pro, 1/250 sec at f8, 400 iso. Also, because some were interested in this lens, I shot a couple of photos with a sigma 170-500mm zoom and the teleconverter. This also gave some better than expected results. This first photo of leaves is the Celestron-Kiron 2x, the second of the hawkmoth is with the sigma and Kiron 2x converter at around 10 feet.

Paul Corfield · Jul 12, 2008

I owned a Kiron MC7 for a while and used it on my Skywatcher 80ED. I think I've tried most of the MC7 teleconverters that come up frequently on ebay. As well as the Kiron I've tried the Tamron SP F-System BBar, Tokina Doubler, Vivitar Matched which I think is a clone of the Kiron as Kiron did a lot of stuff for Vivitar, Aico MC7, Komura Telemore95II 7KMC and the Tamron Adaptall Flat Field 01F. They all performed on a par with each other and there wasn't a clear winner. The 2X GSO ED barlow that I've just bought surpasses all of them in optical quality though and by quite a margin. Some of the cheaper 4 element teleconverters can give good results too through the refractor scopes. Some are so cheap they are worth a gamble and I had one once that beat all my 7 element designs.

Paul.

bluedubius · Jul 15, 2008

Celestron 80ED with Kiron MC7 2X teleconverter

Finally got a chance to set up and try the Kiron 2X teleconverter with the Celestron 80ED refractor on a bird. Measured distance was 40 feet. I had to use a 60mm extension tube between the scope and converter to achieve focus. This puts the focal length at somewhere around 1200mm (before applying a 1.5X crop factor for the Fuji S2 Pro). Handheld on a sturdy tripod (no cable release). Converted from RAW to JPG with the Fuji Raw File Converter EX and then post processed in Photoshop (levels, sharpening, and resize). I think Paul's stuff is sharper, but it will do for a $400 scope. I guess I'd better start looking for a barlow!

Rick

bluedubius · Jul 15, 2008

bluedubius said:
Finally got a chance to set up and try the Kiron 2X teleconverter with the Celestron 80ED refractor on a bird. Measured distance was 40 feet. I had to use a 60mm extension tube between the scope and converter to achieve focus. This puts the focal length at somewhere around 1200mm (before applying a 1.5X crop factor for the Fuji S2 Pro). Handheld on a sturdy tripod (no cable release). Converted from RAW to JPG with the Fuji Raw File Converter EX and then post processed in Photoshop (levels, sharpening, and resize). I think Paul's stuff is sharper, but it will do for a $400 scope. I guess I'd better start looking for a barlow!

Rick

Two more from this morning. The first is a 100% crop and the second fully processed in photoshop. Both were shot as max quality jpeg instead of raw. My monitors must not be calibrated. On my laptop they both look nice and bright. On the desktop darker. Oh well...

Paul Corfield · Jul 15, 2008

The photos are about right for a 7 element teleconverter. I think the 7 elements just give a better control of chromatic aberrations more than anything. With all that glass in the converter though I think that's about as sharp as you will get. The barlow is good as you have noted and well worth investing in. It also works well with my Vivitar 1.5X teleconverter and my next experiment will be to get hold of a Kenko Pro 300 1.4X. The low powered teleconverters are generally a lot sharper than the 2X ones. My Vivitar one is old though and prone to a little CA which is why I'd like to try the Kenko.

Paul.

Paul Corfield · Jul 15, 2008

This is your Finch after my usual tweaks in Photoshop. Open them side by side and compare.

Paul.

bluedubius · Jul 15, 2008

Paul Corfield said:
This is your Finch after my usual tweaks in Photoshop. Open them side by side and compare.

Paul.

Quite an improvement. Paul, would you mind briefly describing your workflow from camera to finished product? I think this would really help my photos.

Rick

Paul Corfield · Jul 15, 2008

bluedubius said:
Quite an improvement. Paul, would you mind briefly describing your workflow from camera to finished product? I think this would really help my photos.

Rick

First I process the RAW in Adobe Lightroom. This usually involves adjusting the histogram to get the levels right. Then I move the Clarity slider about half way up and this helps bring out feather detail. I apply a little sharpening and also move the Detail slider a little but not too much as it tends to enhance the noise levels quite a bit. Then I export the images into Photoshop CS2. After resizing in CS2 some detail usually gets lost so I just apply Smart Sharpen at a level of 0.3 pixels and apply it at a percentage high enough to bring the details back in the resized photo. If there's any noise I just run the Noise Ninja plug-in from within CS2 and if this removes detail from the bird I use the noise brush to bring it back. I only go through all these stages for my best photos that I'm going to keep but it doesn't take long. In Lightroom if you have a load of photos taken in the same conditions, lighting etc you just copy the settings you used on the first photo and apply them to all the others.

For your Finch that I processed I just applied Smart Sharpen and then Noise Ninja and that was all.

Paul.

bluedubius · Nov 27, 2008

This scope is on sale today (Nov 27) for $316 plus free shipping. This is a real bargin in my opinion for someone wanting to enter the hobby on a budget and still get some pretty good results. I'm attaching a photo taken this morning with this scope, a 2x kiron teleconverter, and a fuji s2 pro DSLR.

Paul Corfield · Nov 28, 2008

Here in the UK it's down to £219 which is really cheap. My Skywatcher Pro 80ED which is basically the same scope is also down to similar prices and some suppliers have sold out already. Silly money for a scope with an excellent reputation for very high image quality.

I guess the price drop is due to the new Black Diamond range.

Paul.

bluedubius · Dec 5, 2008

Another example using the Celestron 80ED scope, this time with only a 50mm extension tube.

Derry · Dec 5, 2008

another Cooper Hawk photo

can tell by those eyes on this species,,

great photo through a scope,,

have included one I got when our local bird happen to catch a starling for lunch that day,, he was off in a tree enjoying the feast,,

most likely shot with just the scope at 600mm,, E3 has a 2x crop factor,,

Derry

Fuji S2 Pro DSLR with Celestron 80ED refractor (1 Viewer)

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