philjay Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Been messing again, managed to cobble up an old Sigma mini zoom with pentax m42 thread mount to my Atik 314. Used a couple of M42 macro extension tubes from my photo gear spares and tested the spacing and it focuses on infinity nicely about mid range on the lens focuser so that will do nicely. Cobbled up a lens temporary dew shield and wrapped it in a slightly longer than necessary dew strap, hence the tape Not sure of the quality of the lens but as and when I get chance to find a clear sky which I can use then I will give it a bash. The lens is an old Sigma Mini Zoom f3.5 - 22 with a very unusual range of 39mm to 80 mm, this should give some interesting FOVs if it works. Cost for the mod, nowt really cos all bits are from my photo spares box including the tripod shoe which came of an old 300mm f8 telephoto long departed. OK there's a few bits of pvc insulting tape used to take up gaps here and there but all works terrestrially and its far cheaper than a Geoptik bracket. If successful I may do a more permanent job for my modern Canon EOS lenses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Looking forward to some really wide angles from that Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 looks very interesting Phil, looking forward to seeing the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Glad I didnt spend anything on this, the lens is very poor quality, however the theory works so I may make one up for my Canon lenses. Even stopped right down to f22 stars were poor with this lens. Got to sort an Idac filter fitting method somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Hope you get it sorted with the Canon then. Still an exciting widefield project At 39mm focal length I reckon you'd get 10 X 13 degrees with the 314 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I bet that your setup could bag the elusive and massive Simeis 147? No need for a mosaic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Cheers Pete, I managed to squeeze in the main stars of Orion on the chip but coma was really bad, just couldnt focus it or stop it down. The lens is a very old sigma, looks ok terrestrial but astro works camera optics hard. I know my canon lenses work ok on astro so I shall get a cheap set 8f eos extension tubes to knock a canon version up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now