Calling for photos of your unique camera setups
I saw this idea from another YouTube channel (different genre). He features viewers setups in his YouTube posts. I think it would make for great fun to see what people are shooting with and a sample pic taken with that setup. The more unique and different the better. Or just plain and simple gets the job done. I'm less interested in some $2k+ setup and more interested in older digital gear (but film is okay too).
So, what I would need from you to get the ball rolling is a photo of your camera/lens/lenses, a photo taken with the setup, a short description of the setup or image that you'd like me to share, and your username/Instagram/website to credit. And of course permission for me to post it on my youtube channel as a channel post (not a video).
Let me know if you're interested in being one of the first!
I don't know whether this will qualify as a "setup" or if you could even call it unique. When I shoot astrophotos from home or near home I set my K-3II up on an old Mamiya heavy-duty tripod that I bought for $25 (needed some bearing repair), like this:
I usually connect a cheap intervalometer to the camera as well (not shown). And I take images like this (with that very lens in this case, a vintage SMC Pentax-M 200mm F4):
If that is not unique enough, how about the setup I routinely use on my back deck to take images of the moon with the K-3II? The "lens" in this case is a vintage Meade MTS-SN6 6-inch aperture Schmidt-Newtonian catadioptric telescope (circa early 80's).
I get images like this one, which utilized the camera's Pixel Shift Resolution System to get a sharper and cleaner image:
Not too many years after I bought that telescope in 1995, I was using it to take photos of deep-sky objects like nebulae and star clusters. I was using 35mm film cameras back then, both a Pentax K1000 and an Olympus OM-1. The OM-1 was the one I used at the telescope because I had inserted a special, extra-bright ground glass in it called a Beatie Intenscreen, making it easier to see nebulae in the viewfinder. I also used a device called an off-axis guider (OAG) that includes a small prism to pick off light from stars outside of the film frame, diverting it to a special eyepiece with illuminated crosshairs. During a long exposure (typically 1/2 hour to 1 hour) I watched a star in the eyepiece and hit one or more of four buttons on a keypad attached to electronics called a "drive corrector" that controlled the speed at which the telescope's equatorial (EQ) mount tracked the stars. This was done in order to keep a star I chose near my target from wandering away from the intersection of the illuminated crosshairs I saw in the eyepiece. This so-called "manual guiding" process compensated for imperfections in the tracking caused by gear errors and such and was necessary to ensure that stars were recorded as precisely round dots of light rather than slightly elongated.
It looks like it might have been expensive but this was not a $2k setup because everything was bought used. The telescope on its non-removeable mount cost me about $500, the camera $250, the OAG about $200, the illuminated reticle eyepiece about $50 and the drive corrector also about $50. So for everything, not much more than $1,000.
This is one photo taken with that setup. (It's only half an hour of exposure.)
However, that is not my current setup for taking photos of deep-sky objects. My current setup is this one, which uses a Meade LXD55 SN6 6-inch aperture Schmidt-Newtonian telescope almost identical in optical design to the MTS-SN6 but this time supported by a much more advanced EQ mount, specifically a Vixen GP-DX with a "GOTO" system called SkySensor 2000PC. A GOTO system is able to point the telescope at any desired celestial object by selecting it on a keypad and hitting "enter." It's kinda like cheating!
The second smaller telescope riding on top is for automatic guiding, this time aided by a small CMOS camera that watches a star and sends commands to the mount to ensure the star does not move on the camera. Much easier than manually guiding!
This is one image taken with it. I actually need to reprocess it (image processing of astrophotos can be a tricky business) because it is showing a few problems I need to correct, but it's shareable as is.
Both the telescope and the EQ mount are getting on in years; I've had both since 2003. I again bought them used, but even so everything in this case did cost me more than $2,000. However, that is actually small potatoes for this kind of photography. This kind of setup is not in any way exotic or unique; it merely seems that way to the uninitiated. So again, I'm not sure if this was the kind of thing you are looking for. If any of it is, you of course have permission to use it.
That's fantastic! Amazing what you have learned over the years of practice. I don't think the go-to is cheater for you, you've earned it I'm sure. It would be cheater for me since I can't find even the easiest of objects sometimes. I got some work to do on my astro 😉 Not trying to do anything fancy, just appreciate the night sky more.
The idea to share is to inspire people to go out and take pictures with whatever they have. And see what other people are taking pictures of. And also see what people are using because some of us are camera nerds. 🤓 Even if it was a Canon Rebel TI with a kit lens, it's just fun to see what people are up to and getting along with. Might help cure someone's GAS.
I'll probably just share the first one and reference your astrobin for people that want to see more. I love it because it's a fairly ordinary setup, but incredible shot of Andromeda! Just goes to show what you can do with a little know how.
I have yet to finish my first film roll and take nice photos with some of the lenses but here it goes: sony a3500, canon tx, sigma 21-35mm f/3.5-4.2 II, canon fd 50mm f1.4 ssc, vivitar 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5, canon fd 80-200mm f/4 L (really excited about this one and plan on giving it its own post when I have samples).
sample shots:
Quote from Gawad on June 17, 2021, 10:28 pm
I have yet to finish my first film roll and take nice photos with some of the lenses but here it goes: sony a3500, canon tx, sigma 21-35mm f/3.5-4.2 II, canon fd 50mm f1.4 ssc, vivitar 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5, canon fd 80-200mm f/4 L (really excited about this one and plan on giving it its own post when I have samples).
sample shots:
So cool! I'll share that in a few days. The Sony DSLR is fun. I have wondered about those nowadays with people only really thinking about Sony mirrorless. Should be some good deals to be had on their older DSLR cameras 🙂
Great pics too.
thank you 😀
but actually this one is also mirrorless the sony a3000/a3500 can be placed somewhere between the nex line of cameras and the a6000 I was looking for the cheapest mirrorless camera with a hotshoe so that I could use a speed light and dive into the vintage lens world and ended up with this little thing.
However not so long ago I came across some a mount bargains especially with the lovely minolta glass available for them
Quote from Gawad on June 19, 2021, 8:46 pmthank you
but actually this one is also mirrorless the sony a3000/a3500 can be placed somewhere between the nex line of cameras and the a6000 I was looking for the cheapest mirrorless camera with a hotshoe so that I could use a speed light and dive into the vintage lens world and ended up with this little thing.
However not so long ago I came across some a mount bargains especially with the lovely minolta glass available for them
When you had posted about your a3500 I looked it up and found that out about it being mirrorless. There are so many different cameras out there, it's a little bit addicting to explore the many cameras over the years.
I have a little camera setup to share, not anything particularly unique, just taking product photos. The camera is a Fuji X-T20 with 23mm f/2. There's one light that isn't pictured, a 60w led bouncing off the wall to provide a base level of exposure before adding the rim, fill, bounce, and blue accent. The other little thing that is very handy is the camera monitor. It's nice to have a larger screen for checking focus, composition, lighting, and exposure.
Uploaded files:
looks amazing and practical, I'd love to see the lovely work you put out with this setup:D
