Special offer: The popular SkyTracker with tripod and bag

June 6 2016, Stefan Taube

Celestial photography with digital reflex camera is gaining in popularity Why not use your excellent photo equipment to photograph the night sky? There is a vast variety of photographic mounts available for this purpose. You convert your camera to an astronomical telescope, which is then tracks the rotation of the night sky.

iOptron Mount SkyTracker tracking unit for astrophotography, white

A well proven and very popular photographic mount is the SkyTracker from iOptron. Just add this solid, compact accessory to your photo equipment and you are ready for taking photos of the night sky.

We now offer you the SkyTracker as a set with all necessary accessories: Ball head, tripod and tripod bag. The bag not only provides space for the tripod, but also for the SkyTracker and further accessories.

With the SkyTracker set you save €145.- when compared with the sum of all prices per item!

We will receive the SkyTracker set at the beginning of June from iOptron, USA. Reserve your SkyTracker set now for € 494.-!

You can choose from two colour variants: black or white.

Celestial photography with the digital reflex camera (DSLR) is an economical and very mobile variant in astrophotography, which quickly gives beginners the feeling of success.

By the way: We also offer DSLR and other system cameras which have been specially modified for astrophotography. These cameras are more sensitive in the red spectral range and thus much better for taking photos of emission nebulae.

Tags: iOptron, Mount
Posted in New Products »

Astrophotography: New cameras from ZWO

May 30 2016, Stefan Taube

The cameras from ZWO, which can be recognized by their distinct red housing, have taken astrophotography by assault. Based on the big success of the low-priced planet cameras ASI-120, ZWO now extends its product range bit by bit and now also offers advanced cameras with USB 3.0 and CMOS-sensors.

We are able to offer you two new series of these cameras:

ZWO Camera ASI

ASI-290: A very good all-purpose camera with small pixels, high image frequency and low read-out noise. The camera is equipped with the CMOS-sensor IMX290 from Sony. This chip is particularly light-sensitive because it is exposed from the back. Such sensors are elaborate in production, but now they are available to hobby astronomers for a reasonable price.
ASI-1600: This camera is equipped with a huge 16 megapixle CMOS-sensor with 21.9 millimetre diagonal. The sensor is normally installed in Olympus cameras. With this camera you can fill a large field of view.

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All camera models are available as colour or black and white variants, but also with or without active cooling. I.e. there are four versions each for you to choose from.

Black and white cameras have the advantage of a higher sensitivity and resolution when compared with colour cameras. However, it takes a higher effort to successfully shoot colour images: You need colour filters and a fllter wheel.

A cooled camera allows for longer exposure times, because the sensor noise is suppressed. However, you need a separate electric power supply and, for long exposure times, a suitable mount with tracking control. Due to the increasingly high sensitivity of the sensors, uncooled cameras also become more and more popular for the photography of low-luminosity DeepSky objects. Beginners and casual photographers are therefore already very well equipped with the uncooled models of the ASI-290 series.

Tags: ZWO, camera, Telescope Accessories
Posted in New Products »

Meade ETX: The camping telescope!

May 23 2016, Stefan Taube

The series ETX from Meade offers very compact travel telescopes with state-of-the-art technology. These are telescopes you would like to have with you on any journey. Especially during camping holidays we experience dark night skies, unknown to us from home. Wouldn’t is then be nice to have a small telescope with high-quality optics in your luggage?

Meade Maksutov telescope MC 90/1250 ETX-90 Observer AZ/EQ GoTo

The ETX telescopes are carried by a strong equatorial fork mount and are equipped with a modern computer control (GoTo), which makes the objects of the night sky also available for beginners. Electric power is provided by the integrated battery compartment.

The latest model of this series is the ETX-90: With its true colour representation at large focal lengths this compact reflector telescope is highly suitable for viewing the moon, the planets and also nature. With its 90 millimetre opening it is relatively big for a compact travel telescope and thus luminously strong enough to show you bright DeepSky objects.

For this instrument the handbox not only contains the GoTo control, but also the new AudioStar from Meade. AudioStar speaks to you in English through the integrated speakers and informs you about anything worth knowing with respect to the most popular celestial objects.

For even better transport of the ETX-90 the tube can be lifted out of the fork. The ETX-90 comes with a sturdy tripod with steel tube legs. The tripod can be conveniently transported in the attached bag.

If you are looking for an even more portable and reasonable telescope should decide on the model ETX-80. The telescope even fits into a transport bag. Since the ETX-80 is a refractor, there is no shading caused by a secondary mirror. With respect to its luminous intensity it is almost as good as the Maksutov. However, the colour-related fault and the small focal length of the refractor considerably impair the fun when watching moon and planets. For this reason and also because of its better tripod the ETX-90 is is far superior and really worth its money!

Tags: MEADE, telescope
Posted in New Products »