How to Use a Meade 8 Telescope as a Telephoto
Meade Instruments makes several reflecting telescopes with 8-inch diameter mirrors. They are all called "reflecting telescopes," and most of them are a complex kind of reflector called Schmidt-Cassegrains. They all can be fitted with a camera "adapter" made by Meade or another vendor that fits on the rear of your telescope. The adapter can then be mated to virtually any film or electronic camera by using another piece of camera-specific hardware called a camera t-mount. That way the telescope becomes the camera's lens.
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Things You'll Need
- Camera adapter
- Camera with removable lens
- Camera t-mount for your camera
- Cable release
Instructions
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1
Slide the eyepiece out of your telescope and set it aside. Replace the eyepiece with a Meade camera adapter.
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2
Remove your camera lens according to the instructions that came with your camera. All single-lens reflex cameras and many other, but not all, digital cameras have removable lenses.
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3
Set your camera to manual focus, rather than auto-focus mode. Lock up your camera mirror if your camera instructions tell you to do that when installing a telephoto lens.
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4
Screw a t-mount adapter intended for use with your camera into the camera mount and hand-tighten.
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5
Attach your camera to the t-mount adapter exactly as you would a telephoto lens or wide angle lens using the instructions that came with your camera.
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6
Install a cable release into your camera's shutter button according to your camera's instructions. Operate your camera shutter with the cable release to minimize vibration.
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Tips & Warnings
Your Meade 8-inch has a fixed focal length that will limit the shots you can get.
Depending on which Meade 8-inch you have, what you see through your viewfinder will probably be an inverted image.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
