35mm Prime Focus Imaging

As the title suggests this is where the camera is placed at the prime focus of the telescope's optics or behind a focal reducer placed at this point.

Various examples of prime focus imaging: a Takahashi FS128 and Celestron C11 with filter wheel assembly at prime focus, and a Meade ETX90 with a camera setup for prime focus solar work.

Though I have very few prime focus images scanned at present the image below shows what I obtained of the sun through a Daystar 0.7 ATM filter on an LX200. I took a series of images at different shutter speeds, and picked the best one, and had it scanned into the PC with a Nikon Coolscan.

This is not a technique I have done a lot of, the fine grain of today's faster films such as Fuji Sensia 800, and the Fuji superior 400 films coupled with a large negative size ( compared to ccd), means some great deep sky images can also be obtained.

Whilst I hope to do some CCD work on Deep Sky objects I also intend to try similar objects with 35mm film, particularly the larger ones such as M31.

Static Camera - Afocal - Eyepiece Projection - 35mm Imaging

For more details on Astrophotography I recommend:

Michael Covingtons Book - Astrophotography for the Amateur

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