Fitting a 4x5 camera to a telescope.

[John Kasaian]

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

[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.

[tgtaylor]

It just occurred to me that my Toyo 45CF would be an ideal 4x5 camera to piggyback off my scope - a 10" Meade SCT. With a 150mm Apo Sirona-S attached it weighs in at ~ 4lbs which is about what my Pentax K1000 35mm with 250mm lens weighs. I've pibbybacked the Pentax between the forks with no problem other than focusing it from that position from under the tube. But since then Meade replaced the screws on the top, which I couldn't before remove, to mount a camera and it would be easy to balance the CF on top of the tube. From a suitable dark sky location excellent B&W wide field images should be obtainable with Acros and Provia.

Hey, spring is just around the corner and all the eye candy will be rising in the east!

Thomas

[John Kasaian]

What I'd like to try is taking photos of the tops of distant peaks. A tele lens of a useful size would be out of the question so that is why I thought of using a telescope---probably a reflector---and 4x5 since that would be easier to cover. Also I don't think tracking wouldn't be an issue with terrestial subjects. However I do have a very light 8x10 aerial camera fixed focus at infinity---if there was a way to cover 8x10 that would be an interesting option. It has a 300mm Nikon M mounted. Would it be possible to cobble up be some kind of adapter to fit the filter threads to an eyepiece, I wonder?

[tgtaylor]

John,

Here's what you will need for prime focus photography:

http://www.scopecity.com/detail.cfm?ProductID=1432&pn=Parks Camera Adapter for Schmidt Cassegrain Telescopes+Parks Optical+701-40040&sc=Photographic Accessories&tc=Accessories

and

http://www.scopecity.com/detail.cfm?ProductID=8009&pn=Kowa T-Mount SLR Camera Adapter for Pentax K-Mount+Kowa+TSN-CM2-K&sc=Photographic Accessories&tc=Accessories

Just choose the scope type (refractor, reflector, SCT) and camera model.

Thomas

[John Kasaian]

John,

Here's what you will need for prime focus photography:

http://www.scopecity.com/detail.cfm?ProductID=1432&pn=Parks Camera Adapter for Schmidt Cassegrain Telescopes+Parks Optical+701-40040&sc=Photographic Accessories&tc=Accessories

and

http://www.scopecity.com/detail.cfm?ProductID=8009&pn=Kowa T-Mount SLR Camera Adapter for Pentax K-Mount+Kowa+TSN-CM2-K&sc=Photographic Accessories&tc=Accessories

Just choose the scope type (refractor, reflector, SCT) and camera model.

Thomas

Thanks, Thomas!

[Jim Jones]

You might as well use a 35mm camera as Thomas suggests. 35mm may well record all available detail of distant subjects through atmospheric turbulence. If you need the large negatives, a suitable objective from http://www.surplusshed.com/ may be easier to mount on the camera than mounting the camera on a telescope.

[ericpmoss]

Would something like this be of any help?

http://www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/mitsub/ac4x5.htm

[Drew Bedo]

Johnm,

Your aerial camera idea is a good direction. A Fotoman could be mounted on a telescope or even a spotting scope. eyepiee projection will get you an in-focus image at the film plane.