• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Evostar 80ED DS-PRO (1 Viewer)

F

foxtango

Well-known member
Hi Guys
Congratulations on belonging to such an informative forum....

I can see that many of you are using, or have used the above telescope for photography over many years, with outstanding results. I have also followed, with great interest, the TN thread which has shown how to successfully increase their reach.

I have a great interest in aircraft and would like to extend this further by capturing those aircraft often seen cruising and contrailing above our home.
I am aware that many 'extreme contrail spotters' are using 8, 10 and 12" Skyliner Dobsonians and I have seen their spectacular photographs on various web sites. I don't, however, want to own or house a telescope of that size.

My question is - not withstanding atmospheric conditions - in the right hands, is a 'beefed-up' Evostar 80 capable of capturing a 'trailing aircraft with anything like a useful image, or is this just a reach too far?

I would be most interested in seeing any such shots that you have taken too.
Many thanks for your time.
Jont (foxtango)
 
I found this one posted by someone in the astro gallery thread. http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=313640&d=1300546804

I've posted quite a few myself on this forum over the years but can't find them at the minute. I know there's some on my old computer but it's not starting up since I loaned it to my daughter.

In good conditions the scope is more than capable of photographing aircraft at altitude and in perfect conditions all the numbers etc can be seen too.

Paul.
 
Air is and always will be the one single "worst enemy" for all of us. Get some nice, cold, crisp, clean air (fat chance these days...) and that scope will perform very well. Good TNs help a lot, but in the end it still comes down to the air. Dern stuff....;)
I would take a good refractor over a dob for terrestrial photography any day!
 
Good Morning Paul and Dan
Many thanks for taking the trouble to reply.
Paul - that's a great shot of the KLM B747-400 and thank you for the link to the Virgin A340.
Dan - absolutely re the crisp and clean air. Here at the moment, we have drifting low stratus cloud - but between the breaks - incredibly clean air and high cirrus. The moon is also visible which is often a sign of good seeing conditions.
A further question if I may - I notice many DSLR setups have an extension tube. Is this mandatory (to enable the camera to focus at all) or is this because you are wanting to focus relatively closer to you?. For my use - the focus requirement is likely to be beyond 9,000m. If I don't need a tube for that sort of distance then I will avoid it. I don't have any of this equipment yet - but will shortly acquire the telescope and I am also looking for a good (pre-owned) Canon 500D DSLR.
Again, many thanks for your time.
Jont
 
You will still need an extension tube, even at infinity you need some extension, just not as long as for close up stuff. A 50mm long tube should be ok for what you want to do and that is fairly short and not too obtrusive.

Paul.
 
Many thanks for that Paul and it's very impressive that we can read the registration.

Yes KLM continue to use these and I see many of them over here. My location is actually very good because this is where a number of upper air-routes converge for traffic to begin their assigned Atlantic crossing tracks....

As you are probably aware, here in the north - this convergence is very busy (and this is just the 'heavy' trans-continental aircraft let alone the north / south / east / west domestic and European traffic).

For example - the 'heavies' flying from the south....

1. Fly north, then over our location turn left to head towards the Atlantic, flying over Dublin.
2. Fly north, then over our location turn left to head towards the Atlantic, flying over the Isle of Man and Belfast.
3. Fly north, then continue north over our location towards Scotland - then left turn to cross the Atlantic.

The KLM B747-400's are often crossing us from east to west - heading towards the Belfast crossing....

On all these routes I am seeing more and more of the big A380-800 from other airlines too.

www.flightradar24.com is for me, THE program to support my interest.

Jont.
 
Usually with a DSLR on that scope you would need 75-80mm extension, plus your T2 to camera addapter. Best to work it out so that either you have infinity (star) right at the end or just a tad before the end to make sure. I use normal extention tubes (old Nikon) if I want to get in close. Even done some macro like stuff with my 600mm triplet. Good fun.B :)
13818553035_dca1edc052_b.jpg
 
Thanks Dan - great macro.....
I'm of course after those great painted metal birds - 9,000m and beyond. Paul thinks a 50mm tube should do the trick.
Yes, as you say, all great fun.
Jont
 
Just checked on my SW80ED and a 50mm tube will allow me to focus from around 10m right through to infinity with room to spare. Also with a regular 2X teleconverter I can still focus through that range. I have the older white/gold SW80ED but I don't think there's any real difference in focus travel between mine and the newer model. An 80mm tube will let you get down to around 5m or less but you may lose infinity.

Paul.
 
Distance, a little less than 1K.
15567428551_9fb0f52f1e_b.jpg
Shows what a little thick air will do to your resolution.;)

These guys fly low over the vineyards to scare away the Starlings. Doubt that it does any good. They just wait till he has gone and go right back where they were. One pilot died this year and one almost did last year. I am sure they have fun doing it though, and this old Piper turns on a dime.
 
Last edited:
Hi Tord
Don't know how I missed this - many thanks indeed for the link and for your pictures.

Hi Dan - great shot and yes these Piper J3's are very agile and of course the birds quickly learn how to manage the threat!!
Jont
 
Just going back to the technical stuff - I understand where the extension tube goes - could someone very kindly clarify how / why people are using the macro tubes and how they could be useful for me. Do I purchase these or have they been cannibalised from old camera lenses?
Many thanks
Jont
 
Temperature does miracles. Here is a shot taken at about 500 meters in very cold weather.
 

Attachments

  • 001-140209aa084kf.jpg
    001-140209aa084kf.jpg
    151.7 KB · Views: 113
This J3 has been souped up with a later engine to give it more power and thus maneuverability. When they want to turn around they pull the nose up and practically turn around in their tracks. Fun to watch. But they are a bit of a pain. Worse are the automatic noise makers going boom boom boom all the time. Amazing how fast the birds get used to it though. They don't even blink any more. Slowly the vintners are converting over to nets, but the starlings figure those out too. If one finds a hole he immediately tells all his mates about it, and the feast continues.B :)
 
Warning! This thread is more than 10 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

hopster
Blackouts looking at edge of FOV with Noctivid 8x
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
Bentley03
B
looksharp65
EDG 7x42 and Meostar B1.1 8x32 head to head
2
Replies
22
Views
2K
Scott98
S
G
A 14 night Cruise from Southampton to Norway and Iceland, 22/6/23 to 6/7/23.
Replies
3
Views
934
greer3
G
G
  • Article
Surprises And Satisfaction
Replies
2
Views
639
Green Sandpiper
G
wolfbirder
Morocco Marvels and Meanderings 21 - 28 March 2023
2 3
Replies
41
Views
5K
wolfbirder
wolfbirder

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top