Attaching a DSLR camera to your Newtonian Telescope 

12 years later it still is useful!

LMAO. I couldn’t figure this out for weeks. Had a Barlow sitting in my bag and didn’t even know it. Thanks!

Your content is still absolutely fantastic 11 years later. This video saved me a lot of money and a big headache! Thank you!

Best video I have ever seen. Bought three astronomical cameras and could not get any of them to focus. Now, I can take off the 1.25" adapter from the Celestron 150/750 XLT reflector and Bresser 102/460 refractor and insert camera and come to focus. And, I can add a 1.5 Barlow to my Orion 134/650 reflector and my Celestron 70/400 refractor and they come into focus. I exchanged several dozen emails with ZWO, SvBony, Celestron and Orion and no one ever suggested your solutions. Being new to the hobby, I would never have guessed what you taught me. Thanks!

3:57 you have literally saved me $200 there on not needing to get a low profile focuser. Previously stuck using a 2x Barlow making my 12" around an F10 and very hard to use and track. Had been trying all sorts of combinations and never knew that part could be detached!

Just watched a few of your videos and as a new to the world of astronomy i found them extremely useful. Thankyou and keep them coming

Thank you so much, i was about to work on adjusting (harder) on the magnifier glass, but now I'm trying the Barlow first. Thanks for the video.

Great video! i just started astronomy last month and i get ALL of my information from your channel, cheers from Montréal!

I love easy to understand examples using basic astronomy and photography equipment.

Thanks for such a clear and informative video! I just got an 8" reflector and had purchased a t mount for a DSLR, but then discovered the issue with focus! It didn't ruin my experience, primarily I wanted the scope for visual viewing, but it would be nice to be able to snap the occasional photo.

Thanks for this info, I have a Sony NEX mirrorless camera and it seems that as it has no bulky mirror it makes getting it to work much easier as the flange distance can be much smaller.

Great overview of the barlow lens and how to attach your camera to your telescope. Thanks very much.

Great video again, thank you, I'm ordering my Canon 500d tomorrow, so this video has helped as I already have the Celestron Barlow. Very informative video as always. John

Thanks for sharing, Happy New Year !

Great video and excellent presentation skills! I am just getting started on astronomy/astro-photography and I have been trying in vain tonight an hadn't thought of using the Barlow lens! I just need to work out how to properly operate my DSLR now too :-)

best video I've seen on the issue. i'm going to try the barlow end piece strategy

Method no. 1 worked perfectly for my 8 inch Skywatcher reflector :) Highly recommend this tutorial! Thank so much / subbed. Greetings from Sweden

Great video - got my first good detailed shots of the Moon following this advice. As usual, spot on - thanx.

I finally found the answer to my problem, thank you for addressing it so specifically!

You have answered my questions. Now I know how to correct my problems and I do have a Sky Watcher with the 2 " adapter. Thank you very much.

thank you, well explained.

This channel is outstanding!

This is great. Thanks for making the vid. I've also heard you can take off the mirror assembly, and hacksaw off a cm or from that end of the tube to push the focus point further out into the eyepiece tube.

Very interesting and helpful video. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing this great information!

...many thanks, very helpfull video...

Great thanks for the tip.. your videos are very very informative. Thanks

Thank you so much! I gave up with my camera cause it good never get into focus but now i can :)

Excellent video very clear. I tried this last night with a 35mm ME super slr on a 150mm Newtonian dob and got a great view of Jupiter and its moons through the viewfinder. Just need some 35mm film now.

Some telescopes (Meade Newtonians) have an extra set of mounting holes (1.5 inches up the tube) for shifting the primary mirror cell and moving the focal plane farther out.

Helped me a lot. Thank you

Cheers mate great info , just what I needed , subed :) .

Very useful, thanks for sharing.

Este "CAMARADA " , tem realmente uma "BAGAGEM " fora de série! E realmente demonstra ter pleno domínio neste assunto deslumbrante, que é o mundo 🌎 da ASTRONOMIA. Chego a ficar TRAUMATIZADO, com tanta bagagem de CONHECIMENTO e EQUIPAMENTOS!!!

thanks a lot, my Newtonian is just the budget one with bad mount and I bought the extender for Canon dslr and it works perfectly!

really good video... many thanks

Great video. Thank you!!!

The internet at it's best, great information.

very good thanks that was helpful

You sir just saved my day

Great and simple demonstration and explanation, Robert! Congratulations! It helped me to understand the focusing problem with my digital SLR câmera.

Hello there. Im a 35 year old guy just got a Newtonian telescope and have been watching a ton of your videos to gain some knowledge and iv noticed you always wear a watch and there all stunning im sure iv seen you with a Cartier at least once .whats your favorite watch i wonder im guessing your a machanical watch fan id love to know ur watch story iv been collecting watches my whole life pretty much

great review

A lot of thanks ,sir

Great video, cheers

If you don't want to use a Barlow, the other option is to shorten the distance between the Primary and secondary mirrors. Some do this by removing the Primary mirror assembly and shortening the tube by 30-40mm and reattaching the primary assembly. Others cut a larger section out of the middle of the tube and turning it into a trussed tube. You can control the length by the length of the trusses in that case.

Barlow lenses have a number of functions and uses, but we need to concentrate on just the aspect that allows it to be an SLR ‘focus enabler’. As a function of increasing the apparent primary focal length of the instrument the B/lens also increases the extent that the focus point is clear of any parts of the scope (including the B/lens itself). And of course it is this ‘raising up’ of the focus point that allows cameras to be accommodated and achieve focus that previously could not do so. KR RJD

Wow! You make great videos. Thank you. Question: Years ago, I took good photos through several different telescopes with film type cameras (35mm, 2.25x2.25 & a 4x5) where all I needed to do was remove the lens & focus directly on the film plane. Now all I have is a standard, auto/fo point & shoot 14 meg DIGITAL camera, with a non-removable lens. I can build a mount, but how can I use & focus this camera? Should I use the telescope eye pieces? What settings should be used? Thank you for any help.

Thanks jeff

Great video but I have a question. I own a Zhumell Z8 which is like the 8 Inch SkyWatcher and it has the 2 Inch focuser with the 1.25 adapter and I tried using the T-Ring and T-Adapter as a prime but could not achieve focus so I added a barlow lens making the focal plane longer and then I was able to get focus. Unfortunately the barlow lens makes shooting the moon unfavorable because now my 1200mm scope becomes a 2400mm. So what adapter are you using that allows you to switch over to the 2 inch? Do you know what that is called because all I have ever heard of what a T-Ring and T-Adapter.

Great video :-) just wondering if you know of any reason why I cant get enough in focus when I mount my Sony A58 DSLT on my barlow lens on my helios 8" Newtonian? Thanks for any help. ps I can focus when its on the 2 inch adapter as its much closer, but the images are so small :-(

You should be an professor or an instructor! Great job! and i wanna know who disliked this video lol

Thank you very much for the great video and clear explanations. I have a Newtonian/Dobsonian 1500mm/300mm which I want to connect to my Canon 500 D camera.When i use the T-ring and the adapter the furthest object that I can focus on is at a distance of 60 meters. After that it is physically not possible to push the camera deeper into the eyepiece holder. Therefore I can't photograph the Moon for example. In fact it follows from my calculations(from the simple 1/x+1/y=1/f equation) that I need to push the camera by an extra 5 cm in order to be able to focus on the Moon. Now from what you were saying one solution would be to use a Barlow lens which will be located in the adapter in front of the camera's sensor. Now you are saying "if the primary mirror is delivering a 30 mm amount of in-focus latitude that will double too". In other words by introducing 2xBarlow the 30 mm somehow turns into 60mm which given the 50mm that I need should give me enough room to get the Moon into focus. However on the other hand you are saying that the 2xBarlow doubles the focal length of the primary mirror. This would mean that now my reflector has a focal length of 3000 mm and therefore the optical projection of the Moon should be somewhere 1.5 meters above the top of the eyepiece holder and not just sixty mms above it.I would appreciate if you could help me understand where is the error in my reasoning? In addition what type of Barlow lens would you recommend me to use in my case?Thank you very much in advance.

Thanks for the tip, I'm trying to shoot with D3200 Nikon SLR through my telescope, it only records on M mode, but no shots can be taken,it clicks, but doesn't photo, what would be the right camera setting parameters to overcome this please? Thanks in advance.

I've got a Celestron 130 and a samsung NX1000. I can get it to focus if I use a barlow, but trying to do so without for some nice moon photography. The scope DOES let me take off the 1.25" eye piece and screw the camera T-Ring right on... but it isn't enough to get it in focus.

Trying to find the video of you attaching a camera to eyepieces.

Hi I have a canon 1200d camera I brought a adapter to put it on my telescope. I can get good view of the moon but after a few mines the battery light comes on saying low battery power. Do I have to do sum thing with the camera setting to save battery power ?

I have a Canon EOS 1D MKIII, and a Skywatcher 200P Classic, and the only way I can achieve focus is by removing everything from the focuser, including the knurled ring at the bottom, then, with a T connector on the camera, place it up against the focuser. However, that means there is no way to fasten the camera to the scope. Is there any adaptor I can use to fix the camera to the scope?

If you find the right adapter for your camera and telescope, can you use those on absolutley any telescope? :)

The Nexstar 130 SLT does have the removeable adapters so you can stick the T-ring directly on like the first example but it still cannot focus.

Sorry I am confused, wouldn't the barrel length of the Barlow be designed such that the eyepiece will still be in focus when it is inserted on top of it? Doesn't that mean the focal point extending beyond the Barlow is the same as it was extending beyond the focuser tube?

Hi, good video, but would have preferred if some stills or blowups of the adapters and rings used and points where they are added to the scope tube, with links to the products themselves, to help with identifying each one, tiny bit more on details such as barrel threading and dimensions, more closeups please, but very good video apart from that.

You do a great job with your videos. A shame you do not mention using a thinner mirrorless camera like the Sony Nex which easily can get focus. Thanks anyway.

Barlow 5x will work?

would the canon SLR 1300 eos camera be able to do astrophotography with the celestron vx 8" mount and reflector?. please advise.Andy.

Fantastic explanation Sir. Been facing this issue. Tried everything, barlow came to the rescue but then the quality of pic deteriorated, can u pls explain on how can i get the best out of my rig Telescope: 150/750 Reflector Explore Scientific Dslr: Nikon D5600 Thanks Sir

I have a EXPLORER-130P SynScan™ AZ GOTO 130mm (5.1") f/650 COMPUTERISED parabolic Newtonian Reflector and what you describe about the "Low Format" with the eyepiece holder for a camera (my camera is a Sony a35), does not work with my scope. I can focus on near objects (like the tops of roofs and ariels) but to focus on faraway objects (like the moon, I tried it tonight) the focuser won't go in far enough as it, like you said, collides with the focuser body. Pleae help.

Can anyone help me out? I'm using an old reflector with a .965" eyepiece. So I have a .965" to 1.25" adapter, a barlow (Revelation Astro 2.5x), a nose and a T ring. Consequently the setup is stacked and I'm still unable to focus (it collides with the extreme of the focusser before focussing). Tips would be appreciated!

I have a question about using a Newtonian telescope with a DSLR. When I remove my eyepiece and look into the focuser I can see the whole spider assembly. Won't the DSLR also see the spider assembly and catch it in the pictures when the camera attached to the telescope via T-mount? What am I missing?

i am new to telescopes but i notice most high magnification shoots looks like they have been taken with an inch of water on the telescopes. i have read it's do to the atmosphere and on the bigger telescopes they are using manipulated mirrors witch costs way more then most can afford.would not a bunch of small cameras at the eye piece do the same thing but be cost effective? just like the usa surveillance drones have. then the telescope would be self correcting not for the complete field of view witch no camera can do but if broken down in to many sections you would have a lot better view/shoot

Couldn't stop gawking at that absolutely huge white bucket of a telescope behind the camera stand. Oh, I want that telescope so!

Why not simply shorten the nose on the t-adapter? Mine has at least an extra inch of length. It also has a capture screw which allows you to put short eyepieces into the nose piece to do photography through the eyepiece, but that still doesn't solve the focusing problem. A shorter nose piece would solve the focusing problem, especially given that there's actually plenty of room to work with. However, I can not find such a product on the web. I've googled several key words and haven't found what I'm looking for; a stubby t-adapter to 1.25 telescope eyepiece holder nose-piece.

I do have a Skywatcher but I don't think mine has 2 inch eyepiece.

so basically just buy more adapters because the primary adapter that was design to attach a camera is useless without dozen other adapters to make that primary adapter work.