[Beginner] Photography with Nikon SMZ-U

[SanFran77]

Hello, I am owning a Nikon SMZ-U and would like to take take digital photos through the third port and/or get a live picture shown on an iMac. In general, what are the components I would need for that and specifically what would I need for the SMZ-U?

Thank you so much

[Scarodactyl]

How much do you want to spend? One easy solution is to get an aps-c mirrorless camera and directly adapt it to the photo port with no intermediate optics.

[Topcode]

Personally, I use a E3ISPM08300KPD and a .67x reducer, if you want to go the dedicated camera route, its not bad. It is supported on Mac, though I use windows. However, it doesn't make use of most of the amazingly wide illumination on the SMZ-U, as Scarodactyl said it can go up to APS-C, so an APS-C mirrorless is a good choice, try to avoid dslr though however, as the extra spacing from the mirror can make it much more difficult to mount.

[SanFran77]

How much do you want to spend? One easy solution is to get an aps-c mirrorless camera and directly adapt it to the photo port with no intermediate optics.

Unfortunately, I only have a Canon EOS Rebel XTi that has a APS-C, but is not mirrorless. If that's not it, would a Swiftcam (e.g. the 20 Megapixel model) be good? I am not even sure how to conceptualize all of this, aside from "it has to fit the port". Where could I learn the basics?

[Scarodactyl]

It comes down to two things: how big the image circle is and where it's positioned. By default the smz-u puts out an image that's a bit over 27mm in diameter, which is actually larger than it was specced for. If you put an aps-c sensor with a ~27mm diagonal right on the image you get a nice image that matches what you see in the eyepieces really well. The problem is that the image is positioned like 20ish mm above the edge of thr cemra port. A dslr has like 40mm of space between the lens mount and the sensor to accomodate the mirror so it just physically can't get the sensor in the right spot unless you modify something. A mirrorless camera has the sensor much closer to the mount so you can just slap it on.
A c mount camera like the swiftcam has the sensor very close to the lens mount as well but it will also have a very small sensor. You can put it on with a simple adapter but the image will be terrible because you'd basically be cropping the image down to the very center and stretching it out. For a small sensor you want reduction optics to smoosh the image down, something like 0.5x or 0.33x will help. That said you will always end up with a cropped image relative to capturing the whole image circle with an asp-c sensor.

[einman]

It comes down to two things: how big the image circle is and where it's positioned. By default the smz-u puts out an image that's a bit over 27mm in diameter, which is actually larger than it was specced for. If you put an aps-c sensor with a ~27mm diagonal right on the image you get a nice image that matches what you see in the eyepieces really well. The problem is that the image is positioned like 20ish mm above the edge of thr cemra port. A dslr has like 40mm of space between the lens mount and the sensor to accomodate the mirror so it just physically can't get the sensor in the right spot unless you modify something. A mirrorless camera has the sensor much closer to the mount so you can just slap it on.
A c mount camera like the swiftcam has the sensor very close to the lens mount as well but it will also have a very small sensor. You can put it on with a simple adapter but the image will be terrible because you'd basically be cropping the image down to the very center and stretching it out. For a small sensor you want reduction optics to smoosh the image down, something like 0.5x or 0.33x will help. That said you will always end up with a cropped image relative to capturing the whole image circle with an asp-c sensor.

When you say you can't get the sensor in the right spot, you mean to be parfocal with the eyepieces correct? Because as you mentioned, it positions the sensor too "far away" to be parfocal.

[einman]

Here are some shots. I have used an adapter to mount my T3I directly to the camera port. Due to the distance to the cameras sensor, as mentioned, it is not parfocal with the eyepieces. However, given I generally tether my camera to my laptop and do not use the eyepieces when taking pics, the fact it is not parfocal does not bother me.

[Scarodactyl]

When you say you can't get the sensor in the right spot, you mean to be parfocal with the eyepieces correct? Because as you mentioned, it positions the sensor too "far away" to be parfocal.

Yes, exactly. And of course if you just refocus to move the image circle knto the sensor you theoretically are losing some optical quality since you're pushing it out of spec, though I have not tested whether it actually makes a noticeable difference in this case.

[Topcode]

How much do you want to spend? One easy solution is to get an aps-c mirrorless camera and directly adapt it to the photo port with no intermediate optics.

Unfortunately, I only have a Canon EOS Rebel XTi that has a APS-C, but is not mirrorless. If that's not it, would a Swiftcam (e.g. the 20 Megapixel model) be good? I am not even sure how to conceptualize all of this, aside from "it has to fit the port". Where could I learn the basics?

The 20mp swiftcam will be hopelessly oversampled, without a strong reducer, which can just make more issues, with a 1/2.3" sensor that is just far too small with far too many pixels.
You would want at least a 4/3" size sensor to make good use of the illumination.

[SanFran77]

After reading all of this over and over again and also re-reading my post and all of your answers in the beginners forum and this awesome post from 2020 (*), it seems now a bit clearer to me: I need an ASP-C mirrorless camera that I can mount directly on a C-Mount adapter to connect it to the scope. Now, I just want to get going with this before I optimize the camera, would an old Sony A6000 body do the trick? And where would I find a C-Mount that is specific to this setup, or do I 3d print this myself just like the fellow in the post from 2020 did?

(*) viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8710&p=114015&hilit ... nt#p114015

(I am not sure how to thank you all, but you should know that I cherish your answers here!!)

[Scarodactyl]

All you need is a 38mm to m42 adapter
Like https://www.ebay.com/itm/274696367794
And a flat m42 to t mount adapter
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155753235925

[einman]

When you say you can't get the sensor in the right spot, you mean to be parfocal with the eyepieces correct? Because as you mentioned, it positions the sensor too "far away" to be parfocal.

Yes, exactly. And of course if you just refocus to move the image circle knto the sensor you theoretically are losing some optical quality since you're pushing it out of spec, though I have not tested whether it actually makes a noticeable difference in this case.

I have not noticed any significant effect. As that is how I take most of my pictures. I have tried various ways to address the issue, minus using a different camera, and in the end just settled on focusing via the laptop/camera viewer. Although, I think I will try a mirrorless camera to see what the difference in quality is.