![To set up and use the SteadyPix:](/images/new-backgrounds/190552/1905527x1.webp)
Figure 3. By orienting the camera and SteadyPix assembly as shown you will bring the center of mass of the assembly as low as it can get. This will prevent the SteadyPix and camera from rotating downward.
To set up and use the SteadyPix:
1.If you examine the bottom of your digital or SLR camera, you will notice a threaded adapter that will accept the SteadyPix’s
2.Locate the object you wish to photograph in your tele- scope. Before attaching the SteadyPix, focus the image in the telescope’s eyepiece using the telescope’s focuser.
3.Remove the eyepiece from the telescope.
4.Loosen the eyepiece clamp knob until the clamp is wide enough to fit around the barrel of the eyepiece. Then place the clamp over the eyepiece and tighten the eyepiece clamp knob until the SteadyPix is secure on the telescope. For some eyepiece designs, the barrel may be too large for you to fit the regular eyepiece clamp over the eyepiece. If this is the case then you should try using the larger clamp that came with your SteadyPix. (See Part 4. Changing the eyepiece clamp.)
5.Place the eyepiece back into the telescope with the SteadyPix and camera assembly attached.
6.Loosen the
7.Look at the camera’s viewscreen or viewfinder to see if the object is there. If not, some more adjustments may need to be made. Try bringing the camera lens closer to the eye- piece, or adjust the camera support plate by loosening the shaft knob and moving it left or right and up or down. Note that unless your eyepiece has long eye relief, the views- creen or viewfinder may have a constricted view of the object you wish to photograph. Keep making minor adjust- ments until the image from the eyepiece takes up as much space in the viewscreen or viewfinder as it possibly can. Be sure to tighten the
8.Focus the camera, and shoot the picture.
Some telescopes mounts, such as Dobsonian mounts, may move very easily if any pressure is put against the eyepiece. The act of placing the SteadyPix over the eyepiece and ready- ing it for shooting may cause the telescope to move off of its target. You may find it easier to attach the eyepiece and cam- era to the SteadyPix in advance, then find the object you wish to photograph with a separate eyepiece with similar character- istics. Then replace that eyepiece with the SteadyPix, camera, and eyepiece assembly you have prepared in advance.
Figure 4. A camera about to be attached to the SteadyPix. The SteadyPix’s
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