Meade Instruments LX80 - Manual (Page 51)

are becoming available as time goes by.
• If the camera is not directly coupled to the eyepiece,
keep it as close to the eyepiece as possible and
center the image to be photographed to minimize
vignetting (darkening of the edges of the photo).
• Try to block ambient light (from street lights, house,
etc.) from the eyepiece and the camera with a piece
of cardboard, a screen, etc.
• Keep extra (charged) batteries on hand for your
camera as digital cameras often drain batteries
in a short period of time. Rechargeable Lithium
batteries provide power for a longer period than
non-rechargeable batteries. If practical, use an
AC adapter.
• Avoid short-focus eyepieces. They present many
diffi culties for digital cameras.
• If using manual focus, set to infi nity. Otherwise, using
the camera’s autofocus is OK.
• Experiment with your camera’s exposure, brightness
and/or contrast settings. Keep notes for future
reference.
• Clean eyepieces and camera lens as needed.
• Many digital cameras have a manual ISO setting.
Short exposures times work the best.
• Use your camera’s highest image quality and lowest
compression settings. Although this fi lls up your
camera’s memory more quickly, it produces the best
quality photos.
• Use the camera’s timer or remote shutter release
(if available for your camera) to minimize vibration.
Wireless shutter releases may be available
for some model digital cameras. If you do not
have a shutter release, use the camera’s timer
(sometimes called “self-timer”), which is available
with most digital cameras. The timer may also help
minimize vibration.
Photography with Meade’s AudioStar Suite™
The AudioStar Suite with Meade LPI™ (Lunar Planetary
Imager) or Meade’s line of Deep Sky Imager™ turns
your Meade LX80 telescope, AudioStar and PC into
even more powerful and easy-to-use astronomical
instrument.
LPI and Deep Sky Imager combine the power of an
electronic astronomical imager with the simplicity of a
web cam. Check out the following imager features:
• Achieves great results the fi rst time out on the Moon,
planets, deep-sky objects and terrestrial targets.
• Easy to use with real-time display of object on your
PC screen. Just center, focus and shoot.
• Magic Eye software-assisted focusing.
• Automatic and manual exposure control from .001
seconds to one hour.
• Automatically takes multiple exposures. AudioStar
Suite Software includes powerful tools to help you
get the most from your Meade LX80 telescope.
• Sophisticated planetarium program with over 19
million objects.
• Select objects from the planetarium display and the
telescope slews to those objects.
• Create time-lapse movies of objects, such
as Jupiter
• Create your own Guided Tours.
• Advanced Image Processing Software includes
Unsharp Masking, Convolution Filtering and many
other features.
• Controls all AudioStar functions from your PC.
• Talking Telescope software translates AudioStar
text to synthesized speech through PC speaker.
• Includes a cable to connect your LX80 model to
your PC Serial Port.
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Photography with the LX80