SUN 26th January - Imaging with a Lunt 50mm H-alpha scope

[RichardJ]

It has been many sols since I have posted on Solar Chat. So hello to all. Lots of great images.

I've been imaging with my Lunt 50mm H-alpha scope. I know that it is primarily for visual observing and some people have found imaging difficult.
So I thought I would share a couple of ways you can image with this scope.

DSLR method:
I use eyepiece projection with a 12.5mm Plossl (15mm works just as well). My camera is a Canon 600D. With this setup I can get a full disc in the frame. The set up is shown here. There is a bit of weight on the end of the scope (be careful) and it is a bit more fiddly but I think the results are reasonable. Also you can zoom in on the viewing screen and examine the proms in detail. No straining at the eyepiece to get that fine detail.

DSLR-1.jpg (192.89 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

DSLR-2.jpg (185.77 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

SUN-260122-DSLR-PROMS-&-DISC.jpg (1.32 MiB) Viewed 1272 times

SUN-260122-DSLR-PROMS-1.jpg (204.65 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

SUN-260122-DSLR-PROMS-2.jpg (228.07 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

ZWO ASI 120MC method:
So you need to screw the camera into the base on the diagonal and pull out the drawtube a bit to get coarse focus. Then fine focus with the helical focuser. The weight on the end of the tube is minor and you can easily get focus.

ZWO-1.jpg (196.59 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

ZWO-2.jpg (193.67 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

SUN-260122-ZWO-PROMS-&-DISC.jpg (738.24 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

Hope this helps.

RichardJ

[EGRAY_OBSERVATORY]

You have proved the points well Richard - with the LS50 for imaging.

These are actually very good (if not exceptional) captures using both the Canon 600D and the ZWO ASI 120MC-S cams.
Adding your processing, does make for showing much details and the proms are Fab.

Thanks for sharing
Terry

[ffellah]

Very nice images, Richard.

Franco

[Ivan]

Great shots, Richard. And thanks for the recommendations.

Ivan

[Montana]

Wow!! these are exceptional DSLR images it is also great to see the difference with the ZWO. Very nice prominences!

Alexandra

[eroel]

Richard:
Very nice images and experiments with the DSRL and ZWO cameras.
Regards,
Eric.

[DeepSolar64]

Nice work Richard. Both your imaging methods turned out well. I have used image projection ( afocal imaging ) also using my iPhone and tablet with similar results though your DSLR rivals the best afocal images I have ever done. They look good! I have also used a DSLR as well for solar imaging with fair results. I have much better luck, as expected using my ZWO 178MM monochrome camera.

I have seen some decent images here by other posters using the LS50Tha refractor.

My typical image detectors though are a set of old Mk-1 eyeballs!

Welcome back!

James

[rsfoto]

Hi,

Well done

[Carbon60]

Useful information, Richard. Nice results. Great prom shots in a beautiful deep red.

Stu.

[marktownley]

Nice pictures of both the sun and your setup.

[RichardJ]

Further to my post about imaging with a Lunt 500 scope.
I found I can image with my Lunt 50mm scope by just using a Celestron 2x Barlow. I use the one you can screw off the lens from the rest of the tube and then I attach it to the ZWO camera. Simple and works well. Hope this helps.

RichardJ

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[ffellah]

Your images with the Lunt 50 are great, Richard. Good for you that you figured it out. I always have problems imaging with my 50.

Franco

[DeepSolar64]

Nice work Richard. It's nice to see someone showing that DSLR solar photography is a viable option. Your limb-ring prominence pictures look like some I have done using my Nikon D3500 and my iPhone XR and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

James

[MapleRidge]

Hi Richard...

Good to see your post with the barlow element added to the camera nose-piece.

How much of an amplification do you get with the lens mounted in the adapter you have shown? That looks to be a pretty common model of adapter.

Brian