Remote Power for EOS 300d

Dear Friends,

I was wondering if any of the hardware gurus in this group would be interested in exploring the possibility of constructing a cigarette-type lighter interface which can be used to power a Canon EOS 300d and one of the generic 12-volt batteries from Lidl? This is something that would be absolutely great for extended field use!

Last night was my first attempt to use the EOS 300d for the photography of star trails. Less than three hours into my imaging, the double battery pack was exhausted. For a quick glimpse of the result, please see www.astrovox.gr/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=467 .... I am about to apply the little algorithm described for removing sky glow.

In the event it matters, the details for the said image are as follows:

Location: Kryoneri Observatory, 09-04-2005 @ 00:33:45 - 03:13:45 UT+3
Equipment: Canon EOS 300d, EOS 50mm/f1.8 @ f4.0
Exposures: 16 x 10-11 min (165 min)
Processing: RAW-TIFF conversion, Layers & Lighten, Levels, Unsharp Masking, resampling (20%), JPG compression

Clear skies!

Anthony.

Anthony,
I was going to look into this, I don't think its straight forward, but I'll have a go. I'll let you know the results.
The biggest problem will be mimicking the shape of the battery, I probabily have to get out the jigsaw cutter and make it out of wood.

Hi Dave,

I honestly do not know of a better person to tackle this little challenge than yourself. I am very happy to learn that you will at least look into it.

I think (?) the folks at Hutech have something similar but the price is/was quite grotesque. I will look for a link in case they have some information on their website that will make things easier for you.

Thanks bud!

Anthony.

PS. Please see www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/canon.htm and the reference to "EOS203 - DC12V adapter for 20D/10D/D60/D30/digital Rebel - $99.00" .

Nice shot there Anthony! Your processing obviously paid off with regards to taking out the noise, its a very clear image. What is the bright white star in the center?

Seanie.

Hi Seanie,

Thanks for the kind words. As for the trail in the middle, it is Saturn! The two brighter trails towards the top right corner are the Gemini twins (Castor and Pollux).

Tomorrow I will be taking the roll of film for development which was used to capture the southern celestial pole as well as the settings star trails (about three hours for each photo).

For the initial photo (link provided earlier), I was very happy to confirm that my EOS 50mm lens is in accordance with other people's observation, namely that of a very sharp lens which mimics an "L" glass type of lens. I managed to pick it up on eBay for 30 euros due to the fact that the autofocus does not work and one must use it in manual mode for focusing (as if it matters since I will be using it strictly for astrophoto work).

Anthony.