Canon 450D + Skywatcher 80ED (6 Viewers)

[Paul Corfield]

Thing to remember is barlows are mainly used at night to look at distant stars so there isn't all that much light entering them. It's in the day that you get the issues with stray light. The Ultima was the worst I've tried with respect to stray light but it was ok as far as sharpness goes.

I've found a way to get my current1.25" barlows to fit into the Canon macro tube. I found that with the ones I currently have, the 1.25" chrome barrel will screw into the rear bayonet plate of a Pentax teleconverter. I'll post a photo later. That doesn't mean any barlow will screw in ok, just the ones I have now.

Took this image this morning with the 2X GSO mounted behind the 2X DOI TC. Plenty of fine feather detail for the 70m range but the GSO is a bit low on contrast for my liking at the moment. I've got it sat in the Canon macro tube, held in with some blu-tac so it's a bit hard to baffle.

Paul.

 

[Musoman]

Ok thanks - on that note, i'll forego the Ultima. I guess the reviews i was reading were not based on using them in a scope for prime digiscoping

You certainly get good photos at a huge reach though.

What is making you go for Barlows though, in the future ? Do they not suffer from the same problems, as they're all meant for night vision ? Even this Antares 4x you might try, are you not going to get the same problems, including the rather expensive T V Big Barlow ?

 

[Paul Corfield]

I suppose the easy or sensible route is to go for a decent 2X teleconverter. I like tinkering around with stuff though which goes back to when I used to build my own scopes. I have as much fun playing with optics as I do taking the photos. There will always be problems with barlows but they are problems that can be overcome and one might just turn out to be really good. Main reason I'd like to try the Astro Engineering 4X Imagemate is to see how it's two glass elements compare to using the 14 elements of the stacked teleconverters and to compare light loss, shutter speeds etc.

Got a couple of nice ones of this quite tame Blackbird this morning. Range was only about 7m at most and taken with the Kenko Pro 1.4X TC. Shame about the plant being in the way on the second one though.

Paul.

 

[Musoman]

Nice work

I'm struggling to get that sharp at any range. I have to do plenty of PP work on any pics i take. Even that £20 note.

Off topic,
Just hooked up the 2x DOI and didnt mount the 50mm Ext Tube, and couldnt get focus at 21 metres ! :-O

 

[Paul Corfield]

Won a Hoya 3X teleconverter on ebay yesterday for £4 so if it's no good then it's no great loss. Shall post a report when it arrives.

Paul.

 

[Paul Corfield]

Photo taken with the Hoya 3X teleconverter. It's in Canon FD mount so for this I just held it between the camera and scope. I'll strip it down later and see if it can be easily adapted. The only other 3X teleconverters I've tried are the Vivitar and the Prinzflex and this is certainly a lot better than either of those.

Photo taken from 70m and is uncropped.

Paul.

 

[Paul Corfield]

Stripped the Hoya 3X TC down which was really simple. It also mounted into the Canon macro tube very easily.

Here's a couple more photos taken with it after I got it mounted in the macro tube.

Paul.

 

[Musoman]

Thats certainly worked a treat. That Blackbird is very sharp.

Looks like the 3x is a good find. Was this on a tripod ?

 

[Paul Corfield]

Yes, on the tripod and used mirror lock up with 2 sec timer. Really breezy here today and with that much magnification I didn't have a choice. For the Greenfinch I think I had an extra 25mm extension between the camera and teleconverter so I was getting up to around 4X for that one (2400mm or 3840mm with crop factor).

Paul.

 

[Musoman]

Did you mount the 3x nearest to the scope or nearest to the camera ?

I'm wondering whether i should try my 1.5x next to the scope. I've only tried the 2x, as noted in earlier posts, and its the first item next to the cam body before any of the other bits. I cant move the 2x nearer the scope, as its all glued up with AF chip / EOS mount, so i can only experiment with the so far unused 1.5x

 

[Paul Corfield]

I have it mounted closest to the camera.

With your mounted DOI it should be possible to screw the actual lens cell in and out. I have mine set up like that so that if I don't want to use it I just unscrew the lens cell and completely remove it.

Paul.

 

[Musoman]

I might try unscrewing the cell and see if the 1.5x is also threaded, and maybe see what the IQ is like with this Vivitar 1.5x, or 1.4x, whatever it is.

 

[polaris2]

Well i got my scope today:king:
I will try to get some shoots tomorrow i just need to fit everything together.
Musoman did the AF confirm work when u mounted it on the TC?
And do u like the Manfrotto 393 head?

Cheers B B

 

[Musoman]

At last ! You have the scope

Yes Pol, the AF confirm worked, but only in good light.

When i added the the DOI 2xTC , it stopped working.

The Man. 393 is the best piece of kit i've bought in years. But please bear in mind that its really meant for a prime DSLR Tele lens.
Its not meant for a scope where the travel of the focusing tube is so great from near to far, that it changes the balance point enough to make you need to re-set the 393.

Having said that, its not that bad, and i can still use mine ok. Its a wonderful piece of kit. So simple, but very well built. Go and grab one !! :eat:

Some fair weather would be nice. Its been snowing again here and been very dull these last few weeks. Its getting to the point where i'm getting bored

 

[polaris2]

Great i will try to find a Man 393 i have been thinking about making a slidable setup that could fix the changing balance point.
Yes fair weather would be nice it has been really bad.
One more question i am thinking of painting the inside of my macro and ext tubes
have u done it? i am worried about the paint acting as a glue and making it difficult to unscrew the diffrent parts.

 

[Musoman]

The MAN 393 is astonishing. Once you get the balance point sorted, lock the sliding plate, adjust the tension knobs from slack to the tension you need, and you can swing the scope and camera to any position and it just sits there.
Pointing at the sky or down at the ground, it doesnt matter

Re tubes..
My macro tubes are already black inside

 

[Paul Corfield]

The shiny black paint inside the macro tubes will only likely be a problem if you are using barlows. The Kenko teleconverter works fine although painting the inside of the tubes matt black would probably increase contrast a small amount. You should be able to keep the paint off the treads with some masking tape or something.

Paul.

 

[polaris2]

Ok i have to say that the photos from Paul is now even more impressive.:clap:

I tryed to take some shoots today but idont know if i got the shakes or what but the most of them came out blurry:-O

This gonna take some time to master B

 

[Musoman]

I still havent mastered it. Its much harder to get a sharp shot with this method. Even on a tripod ( today ) using live view for critical focus, i still got a load of fuzzy shots that couldnt be cleaned up in PP

The £20 note and a Starling is about the best i've got out of this scope, and i spent some time in PP just to get those up to scratch.

If i dont figure whats going on by the time we have some decent weather, i may have to give it up

 

[polaris2]

If i dont figure whats going on by the time we have some decent weather, i may have to give it up

Have you tryed using remote shutter relese?
i gonna try using my rf remote tomorrow and i will also use the 10x mag in live view, that should help a bit.