Astrophotography - Making the Connection

Astrophotography can be a fun and rewarding hobby. Even a novice telescope user can take beautiful images of the Moon and stars. There are many types of astrophotography, from simple piggyback photography (mounting your camera on top of your telescope's optical tube) to fully connecting your telescope to a 35mm or SLR camera.

Piggy Back Astro photography 
One of the simplest methods of astro photography is to attach your camera directly to the top of your optical tube. This will allow the mount and its motor drive to also move the camera. Most telescopes are compatible with a piggy back bracket, which allows the camera to mount and stay along for the ride.

Connecting your 35mm or SLR Camera
A more advanced way to experience astro photography is through a telescope connected directly to a camera. To attach a camera to your telescope you need two simple parts: a T-Adapter and a T-Ring compatible with your particular camera model. The T-Adapter will connect directly to your telescope, and the right T-Ring will attach to your camera. Now the telescope and the camera are ready to be connected. With this simple connection you can take amazing images of the Moon and planets, and with practice, you can take stunning images of deep space objects such as galaxies and nebulae.

We'll Hook You Up 
Connecting modern digital cameras like SLRs to telescopes is still fairly new. This means that some digital cameras may require additional accessories for adaptation. For example, cameras without threaded lenses require attachments specific to that camera. Several companies make such accessories to meet the growing interest in astrophotography, which is enjoying unprecedented accessibility. Odds are that if you have an SLR camera, we have the telescope accessories that will make it work with your telescope.