Cyrstalvue LX 8X (LX8X, LX8) Telescope
with HP Photosmart 850 digital camera.
I received my new Crystalvue LX8 a few months ago and have learned much about it and how to operate it with my HP850. I discovered that the mounting instructions (as I understood them) place the LX8 too far from the cameras objective lens. I mount the LX8 by screwing the "T" adapter to the camera first. Then turn the camera on to extend the lens....screw the camera with the "T" adapter on until you just touch the lens. Then back off 1/8 turn and lock using the lock ring. Vignetting almost disappeared after mounting as I describe above. Photo's below (first row) are all taken from same spot and are full frame (no cropping). In the first photo subject is small dot just to right of center, about 50 feet distant. The dragonfly was taken with LX8 mounted using instructions that came with the telescope.
The telescope is well balanced by itself, but badly off balance with a camera attached. To hold on a subject, I had to tighten the tripod vertical joint to keep it from sagging. Then I couldn't move it until I loosened the joint. I solved this problem by making a bracket that moves the telescope forward and braces it at the same time. Now it is balanced with the camera attached and moves easily as well as stays put. It's very difficult to hold steady at 64X so many shots were taken using the timer. Needless to say I ended up with many empty frames. It hard to tell a bird to stay put for ten seconds. My next project was to make a cable release bracket so I could use a 40" cable release. The butterfly and robin's nest were taken using the cable release. To speed things up, I built a battery pack using Radio Shack parts so I can leave the camera turned on to save boot up time and settings. I'll post pictures of the entire setup as soon as someone comes along with a digital camera to take the pictures for me.
Full Frame (not cropped) |
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Camera as turned on LX at left |
Camera at 8X zoom |
Camera 8x and LX8 @ 50' |
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Camera 8x and LX8 @ 50' |
Camera 8x and LX8 @ 50' |
Camera 8x and LX8 @ 50' |
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Camera 8x and LX8 @ 50' |
Camera 8x and LX8 @ 50' |
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Camera at 8X with LX8 at 15' |
Camera at 8X with LX8 at 30' |
Camera at 8X with LX8 at 10' |
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Camera at 8X with LX8 at 30' |
Camera at 8X with LX8 at 20' |
Camera at 8X with LX8 at 20' |
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| Camera at 8X with LX8 at 10' | Camera 8X with LX8 at 10 miles* | |
Cropped |
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Camera at 8X with LX8 at 30' |
Camera 8x and LX8 @ 50' |
From above, cropped |
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From above, cropped |
Camera at 8X with LX8 at 20' |
Camera at 8X with LX8 at 150' |
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Camera at 8X with LX at 300' +/- |
Camera 8x and LX8 @ 50' |
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* This photo of the Space Needle was taken across Puget Sound from a distance of 10+ miles on a hazy Summer day. Not the best photo mainly due to ten miles of haze, but shows what an 8X optical zoom lens with the Crystalvue LX8 is capable of at long distance. Full frame and untouched. Click on photo for an enlarged view.