I Ditched My Telescope for a Cheap Vintage Lens.

I once tried selling this lens for £8 ($11) and failed, so when things didn't go to plan imaging with the ED72 refractor, curiosity got the better of me!

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[nodrogawson]

Very interesting. Nice to see some old lens being used by somebody who knows his stuff and getting such good results.
Thank you for sharing your skill and knowledge. It really helps people like me who can't afford much money to spend on such expensive equipment.

[Astrolavista]

If you like this style of video please consider watching these:

Ursa Major Hunting - Basic DSO Imaging.

Sky-Watcher 200p with the Cheapest DLSRs I could find!

It's Amazing What You Can Capture in 2 Minutes! ZWO ASI462MC & Sky-Watcher 200p

Something for those cloudy nights :)

[lukomatico]

Hey Chris! - What an adventure mate, haha! it looks like you were really up against it with the Megrez on there, balance/collision chance etc as you stated!
I bet that super takumar will do the business, while only being mildly radioactive at the same time - trade offs and all that :D
cracking to see the Fuji working well with the l-enhance by the way, that HA response is really good!

Great stuff mate, as always!

[TheUrbanAstronomer]

Very cool capture with the vintage lens Chris!!

[blood_n_guts_murphy]

Is it more important to keep the focal length long or aperture wider? For example, would It be better to use a 135mm f2.8 or a 200mm f4? I also have teleconverters which can double the length of these, but I think that also halves the aperture e.g. the 200mm f4 becomes a 400mm f8 (ish). Thanks.

[TelfordO]

Nice video, how do you find focussing the old lenses, I am interested in the super takumar 135mm as I have heard they are good.

[geotechlb]

Hi great video i had similar issues with a scope same size ( star trailing and movement) and found it to be the EQ wedge mine flexed alot so a got a WO eq wedge and it sorted it out.

[TheJerryRN]

I just bought a 20 year old Williams Optics 80 SD Megrez doublet. Haven’t had it out yet though… is this a William Optics scope you are using?

[bushcraftandastronomer.]

Hey Chris that's one wonderful shot you got and I'm glad you got it.
Keep the scope and use the red cat one as I thought while watching I should use the 50ed guidescope instead of the evostar 72ed ds pro so what you think? It's much easier to balance the 50ed guidescope on the star adventure and is a brilliant little scope.
Never get rid of your old gear as you never know when it could be so good for you.
I'm camping right now and I'm getting great shots of the milky way with my Huawei p20pro smartphone and got Jupiter and Saturn. Saturn is low down I'm in bortle 3 skies. If clear again I'll try 3x zoom on phone at Deneb to see if I do get NGC 7000 with phone.
Would it be better using a much smaller scope than a bigger one? Those clouds must have known you were out so wanted to say hi to you. Will you be trying to image M31 with this setup in coming months?
Glad you got the image and more soon! Stay safe buddy!

[coolwater]

Wait a second dude... you're in Ipswich? I've been bingeing on your vids and had no idea!
I'm off Rushmere road, down Roundwood.
Just so happen to also be a Chris.
Small world.

[GarnettLeary]

Easy to clean the fungus. I love those old Japanese lenses. Superb.

[Haos]

@AstroLaVista
Interesting, I've been getting these red and blue star colorings on my Nikkor 135mm f/2 DC. but not on my 200mm f/2.8 even in matched exposure. Do you perhaps know what is causing these or where can I read more about it?

[stargazer]

Not bad at all. That was a good session. By the way, that Lens is worth more than 8 pounds. It has sentimental value which is more that Money.

[DSOImager]

Looks like the vintage lens accounted for itself pretty well :)

[smalloptics]

I bet you were glad curiosity got the better of you.. Great final result pal.. Who needs a telescope :)

[OlliesSpace]

Hey Chris I've just dropped a Star Adventurer vid today as well. My 135mm tends to start trails at around 90sec unguided. I also ended up throwing away nearly all my subs this week. Either my filter draw wasn't in properly or my 150pds was out of collimation....or both. Great vid as always, thought that second image looked great 8 quid lens !!!

[Mouxbar]

I'm more photographer than astronomer and as soon as I saw you pick the Chinon lens I was expecting some gold. Plenty of really great cheap M42 lenses out there that have been overlooked. Helios 44M at 55mm would be tack sharp at f5.6 if you fancied something wider as an example. Great stuff :-)

[MMIMC]

M42 thread, takes me back in time to names like Pentax K1000, Practika, Zenith, etc..

[avt_astro]

Awesome Image of North america chris! The stars Are Lovely Round and The Cygnus Wall is Just Visible! Nice Video Editing To!👍🏻

[thefourgrapples]

I really like the image produced with that lens. What is producing the starburst pattern on the bright stars?