Re: [APML] Alternative to Film and CCD

["Hap Griffin" <lgriffin@sc.rr.com>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Barlow" <mikeba@rochester.rr.com>
To: <astro-photo@seds.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: [APML] Alternative to Film and CCD


>     I wasn't sure how best to describe what I'm after however your last
> sentence looks like you know what I what I meant.  Cost of switching to
> digital isn't really a problem, it can always be worked out somehow.
There
> may not be any alternative to CCD, Film or DSLR but it might be worth it
to
> ask in hopes someone has an idea or had an idea at one time.  My objective
> which may be futile(?) is to find something similar to commercial "film"
> that can be bought or made long after the last of the commercial films
have
> stopped being manufactured, even if it means building a custom camera.  Is
> it possible to make our own home brewed film or emulsion to spread over
> glass plates, or......?  For that matter, where would be a good resource
for
> doing such?
> Michael A. Barlow
>

I'm not quite sure where you're going with this, but I would think that the
cost and trouble involved in getting into making your own plates such that
you could get reproducable and consistant results would be more costly and
time consuming than simply buying a DSLR and the few needed accessories.
This is the future of mainstream astrophotography and is a good plateau
between the few remaining decent films and the high end dedicated astro
CCD's.  As I said before, assuming you already have the equipment for film
astrophotography, for under $1K you can have a single shot color, >6
megapixel camera with a LARGE support and user base and good processing
software available.

I can't figure why you would want to go down a path not traveled, unles you
just want to experiment.

Hap Griffin
www.machunter.org/hapspics.html
www.hapg.org/astrocables.htm

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