IN PREMJITH’S BAG
01 Celestron CPC 800 tripod
WEB: www.celestron.com
MY TELESCOPE is a bit of a beast, weighing 19.1kg with it’s large two-pronged fork mount… So I need a very heavy duty tripod to take its load and my Canon camera when attached too for stable and sharp shots. I use my telescope with a Celestron CPC 800 tripod, which is a specialist tripod that can take the load no problem and has an Alt-azimuth mount to take the telescope. It’s expensive at £399, but it’s worth paying the price to get the right tool for the job.
02 Celestron CPC 800 telescope
WEB: www.celestron.com
THE CELESTRON
CPC 800 is a computerized telescope that has a comparable aperture of f/10 and a full-frame equivalent focal length of 2032mm – which is absolutely massive! It has two prongs that reach down around the scope, to the base plate, that screws onto the sturdy CPC 800 tripod. It’s motorized, so it can be used to track stars, or I can aim at specific constellations and celestial bodies by punching them in on my computer.
03 Astrozap Baader solar filter
WEB: www.astrozap.com
JUST AS I wear Baader solar mirror glasses over my eyes to protect them when looking at the Sun,
I use the same Baader Astrosolar material to protect my camera and restrict the light coming through too. I use an 8-inch Astrozap filter on my large telescope and a 3-inch Kendrick on my smaller one. The restricted light flow helps me control the exposure and stop details from blowing out completely.
04 Canon EF 300mm f/2.8l IS USM
WEB: www.canon.co.uk
THE CANON
EF 300mm f/2.8l IS USM and EF 400mm f/2.8l IS III USM lenses are workhorses that get constant use at racing events, like Formula One. Although they are long zoom lenses, they’re pretty ‘wide’ when compared to my telescopes. But they’re great for capturing a bit more of the scenery, like my shot of the crescent sun, where I was able to include Bahrain’s Port of Khalifa Bin Salman at the bottom.
05
Canon EOS R & 5D Mark IV
WEB: www.canon.co.uk
I USE two Canon bodies, my EOS 5D Mark IV, which usually goes on my Celestron CPC 800 telescope; and my Canon EOS R full-frame mirrorless camera goes on my 300mm, or 400mm, f/2.8 lenses with a Canon EF-EOS R adapter. Both bodies have comparable image sensors with resolutions of around 30Mp. This is large enough for me to crop in a bit, if needed, to make these distant objects look larger in the frame.
06 Celestron Skyportal app
WEB: www.celestron.com
I’M ABLE to use the Celestron Skyportal app in conjunction with a Celestron Skyportal Wifi module, (£135) letting me control the telescope from my phone using Celestron’s patented Skyalign technology. This makes it much easier to accurately aim the telescope at any celestial object in the database, like distant galaxies and nebulae. For the transit of Mercury across the sun I put the telescope into its Solar Tracking mode.