Fitting a 4x5 camera to a telescope.

[John Kasaian]

Can it be done? How big of a telecope would needed?

[Mark Woods]

Yes it can be done, but you need to figure out the diagonal coverage. If the telescope is designed for an eyepiece, the coverage won't be great. If it's a later one that uses larger imagers, say 4x5, you're in good shape. I'm sure there are more people on this forum who know a lot more about this than I. I hope they chip in.

[Jim Jones]

It's not the size of the telescope, but how it is used. Look up eyepiece projection on astrophotography sites. Mounting a 4x5 camera might be the most difficult part of the project.

[Fred L]

It's been done in the past but the scopes tended to be larger ones used for research. It'd be easier to find a focuser that accepts 6x6 instead. These are still made by scope companies such as Takahashi.

Best bet would be to hit the forum at cloudynights.com or Yahoo's astrophotography group.

[genotypewriter]

Funny how I was just thinking about the same thing two days ago... of course, my intentions of fitting a 4x5 to a telescope are far more photographically perverse

Technically, if the image circle is not enough, adding the right kind of teleconverter (let the hissing begin!) should work as it does the reverse of what a reducer does. Might not be all that practical for anyone who already has the telescope but for someone starting new, a wide-field astrograph + TC might be the way to go if they can't find a scope that covers 4x5 near infinity.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Glass plates were hypered and used up until the late 80's or early 90's at the research telescope facility I was involved with for a dozen years. There are many reasons why digital swiftly overtook film in astronomy. But it also means there are any number of Schott-type cameras going begging.

[Drew Bedo]

In the 1990s I coupled a Bauch&Lomb "Discoverer" spotting scope to a speed Graphic. The eyepiece of the 'scope projected a focused image onto the GG. The scope had a T adapter tube screwed onto it and I placed this over the front lip of a lensless leafe shutter taken from an ocilloscope camera.

The crucial element was a wooden bracket custome made to hold both the camera and scope rigedly. a massive tripod and pan head are necessary to minimize vibration.

My set-up was cumbersome and not too convenient to use. I got several great shots of the sun huge behind a country windmill (also huge). Never did figure out the effective aperature of the assembled system. Did a bit of bracketing to get the sunset shots.

A fotoman or Hobo type camera would be a better camera than the Graphic to start off with. Another handy item would be a focal plane meter ( Sinar-Six or Sinar Booster 1 probe).

[Wayne Crider]

I wonder how that new pinhole camera from Ilford would work sans pinhole. Probably be light enough.

[tgtaylor]

You could piggyback a 4x5 or even an 8x10 provided your drive motor was capable of handling the weight. Prime focus or eyepiece projection wouldn't work unless the scope was custom made for it. For one thing the weight riding on the rear of the scope would pose a problem but could be corrected for with counter weights and a strong drive. Secondly the largest amateur focus is 2" so only small diameter lens would seem to work.

In mu opinion medium format and 35mm cameras will work with prime focus. Large format cameras works best piggyback.

Thomas

[Drew Bedo]

Wayne: The pinhole can work with an eyepiece in the telescope to project a focused image onto the film . . .and cover the format. The coverage issue is addressed by changing the distance for the film plane to the eyepiece.