Taking pictures is an intention that I share with many
others interested in stargazing.
First attempts with my old Canon F1 were pleasing but having
a degree in computer science means that a PC and software has to be put in
place ... ;-)
Looking through the Web I found people investigating in least expensive
CCD technology - and I know instantly that this was my kind of business.
To contribute to this community I took the approach with the Logitech
series of QuickCams namely the QuickCam Pro 3000 which is a nice Web Cam
with CCD technology.
But before I got the Pro 3000 I had the QuickCam Web - beware, this is
a CMOS cam with a real resolution of 320x240 and it does not well behave
if it has to take low exposure photographs. As a Web cam it is quite OK.
Using SLR lenses with this CCD cam reveals that the cam can do much
more than I expected when I used it out of the box the first time.
One issue I found is that the modified cam does
work only with capture programs using the MS WDM Image driver - in
AstroVideo for example you may choose this driver. In addition it is
really required to set the cam to a low capture rate as suggested in the
manual.
You will find my thoughts, findings and achievements on
the following pages. I hope that it may inspire some readers to take this
step - feel free to comment but in the first place have fun with our
hobby.
BTW: all pictures are taken with a Sony
DSC-P50 digicam mostly in macro mode.
