Telescope: Vixen 130S, Newton Telescope with 130mm (5,1") aperture and 720mm focal length (f/5,5)

Mount: Vixen Super Polaris german equatorial mount with dual axis drive. While it is too light for this kind of setup, the polar alignment with the built in polar scope is very accurate. Corrections in declination are only needed a few times during an exposure

Guidescope: Optus 70/700 Achromatic refractor. I bought this refractor with a quite reasonable equatorial mount at an outlet of the Lidl supermarket chain. It´s low price made it quite popular with amateurs in Austria and Germany. I found mine to perform quite well as a Guidescope. It is very light regarding it´s size, which is a bonus for me and my overloaded Super Polaris! I use the Baader Microguide as Guiding eyepiece.

Cameras: Nikon FM2: The FM2 is a fully mechanical 35mm camera, it does not need a battery for its full range of shutter speeds from 1/4000s to B. When the self-timer is activated the camera swings up the mirror at the push of the button, so when the exposure starts some seconds later, the vibrations have dampened out. For widefield shots I use lenses from 20 to 105mm, with the AF 85/1.8 and the AF 105/2.8 Micro Nikkor being my favorites. Focusing prime focus shots is difficult, but the 2x focusing magnifier helps a little. So far I this method proved to be sufficient for my purposes.

 

Pentax 6x7: With lenses from 55 to 400mm this should be a powerful camera for widefield shots. I have not used it very much for astrophotography yet. The combo Pentax 6x7 and 400/4.0 is quite impressive! In the picture it is shown alongside with the FM2. The biggest problem with this camera is the current lack of good astro-films in 120 format. The camera is quite old, and I had to replace the shutter (700 € ouch!) but it works fine and it delivers nice slides.

 

Nikon Coolpix 950: This digital camera is usable for shots of the moon, planets and the sun.The images are taken afocally, i.e. The camera looks through the eyepiece like an observer. I use a Vixen Digital Camera adaptor to couple the Coolpix to the eyepiece. For use with a cable-release I made a bracket of surplus pci-card slot covers from my computer.

Webcam: This is my latest addition. I found this Philips Vesta 675K for only about 22€ at the local Media Markt. It is well suited for planetary imaging. But the focal length of my Newton is too short (720 mm). In the accompaning picture I put a diagonal prism between the barlow and the camera, but the planets are still not large enough to produce interesting results.

60mm Refractor: For quick and dirty looks (mostly the sun) I use my old 60mm Refractor. This is the third incarnation of this telescope now in a drainage tube. The oven-pipe (sic) didn´t work out that well :-)