Equipment

Kendrick FireLite Camera-Cozy Heater Package
Camera lens heater (for lenses up to 3″ in diameter) with FireLite micro controller and a DSLR body sock.

Canon 550D with removed IR filter
I bought this camera via Astronomiser. They modify a range of cameras for astrophotography and offer a one year guarantee on top. I had the IR filter replaced with a Baader IR and UV blocking filter to maintain its ability to autofocus.

Bresser R.A./DEC Motor for EQ-MON2
Motor for the equatorial mount.

Bresser EQ-MON2
Robust equatorial mount that can carry up to 21 kg. It has an integrated 8×50 pole-searching telescope, which is illuminated.

Tiffen 58DF3 58mm Double Fog 3 Filter
A fog filter is a diffusion filter used in front of the lens that puts a halo or glow around bright stars. This can make the bright stars of a constellation stand out, making its shape easier to recognize in a photograph that may contain thousands of other stars.

Fotomate 6006
Pretty stable tripod for its price class. It has a minimum height of 70cm and a maximum height of 172cm  – that is taller than me! It can carry up to 2.5 kg, so it handles my 0.5 kg camera without problems.

Timer Remote
This remote has several nifty functions, the most important being the one that allows me to take long exposures of up to 100 hours. It also has a delay timer, so I do not have to touch the equipment at all during the exposure, and the LCD panel can be illuminated. Finally, the remote has an interval timer, with which I can for example set the camera to take one exposure every 10 minutes until it has taken a specific number of photos (or runs out of storage space).

Canon 350D with a standard 18-55mm zoom lens
I bought this camera in 2006. Back then I just wanted a better than average camera and had no intentions whatsoever of taking up astrophotography. Luckily, it turns out that the camera is up for the challenge.The Canon 350D is a DSLR camera. I have full control over its aperture, the shutter speed and the ISO. The camera has a hole in the bottom which allows me to fix it to a tripod. Finally, the lens can be removed and replaced by an adapter so that I can hook it up directly to a telescope.

Praktica 8×21 compact binoculars
While the camera is working, I can explore the night sky with my binoculars.