Astrophotography in Urban Environment

I recently bought a used Soligor Teleobjective lens on eBay for about $40 (!) and tried it out for Wide field astrophotography with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi (unmodified camera).

The Soligor is a 200mm F/D 3.5 Lens for 35mm SLR cameras. The Teleobjetive is lightweight – but gives impression of being very solid.

To use it with a Canon EOS Digital Camera you need an adapter that includes a lens.

Using an FD to EOS adapter usually extends the focal – in my case by 25% from 200mm to 250mm.

I took the following pictures at Joshua Tree, CA – under quite a dark sky on the 25th of October 2009.

The Lens was stopped at F/D 4. The Camera and Teleobjective were mounted on an Orion Onyx 72ED and an Orion Atlas M0unt.

Coma is still visible at the edge of the field.  However, I am quite happy with the result given the cost of the lens, especially comparing it to the cost of a brand new Canon teleobjective …

Processing:  MaxIm DL 5, Photoshop CS4, and Neat Image.

M31 – on 10/25/2009 – Soligor 200mm at F/D 4 – Digital rebel: 9 exposures of 104 sec.

M42 – 10 exposures of 104 sec – Soligor 200mm

Pleiades – 8 exposures of 104 sec – Soligor 200mm and Digital Rebel XTi

Jupiter and a Joshua Tree after Sunset – 18/50mm Zoom – Canon XTi