July 18th 2007- Wednesday
The other day we told you about picking up a modified Canon 5D camera from Hutech in Torrance, CA. The camera had the original IR filter removed and replace with a filter that is specialty designed for astrophotography. Well, last night I got to take it out and really try it for the first time.
The filter modification changes the infinity focal point on the lenses I use on the camera. This can be really frustrating if you want to take pictures with pin-point stars. So I had to spend about an hour last night finding focus on my 14mm lens. I do this I connect the camera to my Apple MacBook Pro using a program call Nebulosity, which allows me to view captured images on the computer’s LCD monitor to find focus on the camera. Once I did this I was able to start my image run.
Here is just one of the several images I took last night. There are still a few bugs to work out with the camera and the tracking system I am using, but I am pleased with the first results.
