Dslr Hot Shoe Laser Pointer Astrophotography Machine

Camera Hot Shoe Mount to 1/4'-20 Tripod Screw Adapter Flash Shoe Mount for DSLR Camera Rig (Pack of 2). Got this to mount a red-dot sight to a Nikon camera for astrophotography. It works, but the hot shoe mount is not an exact fit. It is loose enough that, even with the lock ring tightened, it doesn't take much of a bump to twist the mount. Buy a cheap red dot star pointer and hot-shoe adapter. It’s the perfect choice for beginners. A red dot star pointer usually comes with most telescopes. You can buy it with an adapter to mount it on the camera hot shoe. The idea is simple. A laser hits the screen of the pointer so that a red dot becomes visible. Just buy a 'hot shoe red dot finder'. Its the tool for the job, lasers for home astrophotography are not needed ever and people like yourself misunderstand the point of them at all in astronomy. Its just not the right tool. The unit rotates your camera after every shot using a hot-shoe mounted sound detector which is triggered by the sound of the shutter closing. For this reason, the stop-start timelapse functionality is not compatible with Fujifilm, Panasonic, Olympus, Phaseone or Leica cameras (but all cameras work for star tracking).

10-10-2017, 11:17 PM

Hi all.
A couple of yrs back I purchased a decent quality green laser pointer to mount on my (hopefully soon to be sold) 8se to take the place of the finder scope. Never got around to doing so I pondered on the thought of using with my 70d.
I posted a thread on cloudy nights sometime ago asking if it was safe flash through the view finder to make targeting easier when selecting object for widefield AP with my iOptron skytracker? Never really got a definitive answer. As couple of ppl suggest it was fine and a great tactic for the mentioned purpose but live view MUST be deactivated to be 100% safe. Others said bad idea don't do it know of others who damaged sensors etc.
Anyone here use the method or know it to be a safe/practical method?
Cheers for reading,
Ben

Approve the Cookies
This website uses cookies to improve your user experience. By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies and our Privacy Policy.

Index • • New posts • • RTAT • • 'Best of' • • Gallery • • Gear • • Reviews

New posts • • RTAT • • 'Best of' • • Gallery • • Gear • • Reviews

FORUMS➔General Gear Talk➔DIY & Customizing
Thread started 13 Jan 2015 (Tuesday) 11:13

(this ad will go away when you log in as a registered member)

tigger2e8tigger2e8

2 posts
Likes: 1
Joined Jan 2015

Post edited over 6 years ago by tigger2e8.

Jan 13, 2015 11:13 | #1

I have a Celestron green laser pointer and am looking for a hot shoe adapter to allow me to properly aim my camera while attempting AP. There use to be a product called Xtend-a-sight plus which would have been ideal, unfortunately the manufacturer has ceased production. Does anyone have a workable solution? I think the Celestron laser has a dovetail which is approx. 11 mm across the top.

(this ad will go away when you log in as a registered member)

Dslr hot shoe laser pointer astrophotography system

seallseall

561 posts
Gallery: 14 photos
Likes: 20
Joined Mar 2012
Location: Scotland

Could this work, perhaps with an added dovetail on it??
http://smallrig.com/evf-mount-1314.html

tigger2e8tigger2e8
THREAD STARTER

2 posts
Likes: 1
Joined Jan 2015

Jan 13, 2015 15:28 as a reply to @seall's post | #3

That has real possibilities. If I could find a small dovetail it would work great. Thanks for the response. Any one else?

the jimmythe jimmy

1,425 posts
Likes: 30
Joined Dec 2009
Location: west coast of Florida

tigger2e8 wrote in post #17380802
That has real possibilities. If I could find a small dovetail it would work great. Thanks for the response. Any one else?

Even if you mount the laser to that how will you point it straight (parallel) to the sight line of the lens? And at $65 it seems expensive (to me). Look at thisOf course you'll need to make an adapter to attach the laser, do you have an idea for this?

calypsobcalypsob

1,178 posts
Gallery: 3 photos
Likes: 91
Joined Jan 2012
Location: Lynchburg Virginia

Post edited over 6 years ago by calypsob.

Jan 24, 2015 02:44 | #5

Jimmy is right, you will not be able to center the $65 attachment at all. This is exactly what you need http://www.ebay.com …ain_0&hash=item2ec6b6855f mounted on this http://www.ebay.com …geName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT The threads in the laser holder allow you to orient the laser so that it is centered with the camera. What you would do is find a bright object, like Jupiter, and center it in live view. Next you would turn on the laser and use those little screws to align the laser with jupiter. Now once the center of your live view and laser are perfectly aligned on Jupiter, you can point anywhere else in the sky and the laser will land you right on target with ease.

Wes
-----------
flickr
Gear: Many gears Yes.

flyingbarronflyingbarron

592 posts
Gallery: 15 photos
Best ofs: 1
Likes: 255
Joined Nov 2009
Location: Israel

Another direction to go might be something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380598240027
SpiderFire 4 Reticle Sight Scope for DSLR Bird Photos
(I'm not connected to the seller in any way)

the jimmythe jimmy

1,425 posts
Likes: 30
Joined Dec 2009
Location: west coast of Florida

I made a mount and posted pics in a new thread in this forum if anyone is interested.

KbklarryKbklarry

1 post
Joined Oct 2015

Hello,
I just ordered a laser mount made by ScopeStuff that has a hotshoe built into it. http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_sfind.htm
I also just ordered a green laser from Z-bolt that has

Dslr Hot Shoe Laser Pointer Astrophotography