LiveView Troubleshooting Checklist

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If you image with a DLSR that has LiveView like I do, you’ve probably encountered some problems trying to get those pesky stars to show up on the display. What I’ve always discovered, after much frustration, and sometimes not until the next morning, is this can be attributed to one or more of the below listed setup issues.

I put this list together as a reminder to myself the next time I run into a problem to walk through these steps. I figured I would share it in the hope of helping others avoid some of these frustrations.

Lens Cap – Or the cover on the telescope. Yes, I’ve forgotten this one more times than I care to admit.
LiveView Enabled – Make sure it’s actually in LiveView mode, with the mirror flipped up.
Manual Mode – If you use your camera for general photography like I do, you may find you left it on a different setting.
Exposure Duration – Unless you’re pointing at the moon, Set this for at least 5 seconds for really bright stars. Better yet, just set it to bulb mode.
ISO Setting – Anything under 800 may be hiding those stars from you.
Focus – If the camera is far enough out of focus, you aren’t going to see anything on the live view screen – not even fuzzy halos. This one will crop up whenever you make a change to the imaging chain, like adding or removing a barlow. You can figure out the approximate focus during the daytime by pointing at a distant object (not the sun of course).
Scope Alignment – Did you make sure the finder scope is aligned to the primary? If you have a bright star right in the bullseye of the finder scope, but don’t see anything after going through all the other steps, chances are the two scopes are out of alignment. You can align these during the day as well on a distant tree or building. The further away the better. (Again, don’t point at the sun!)

Hopefully this list is a helpful reminder. It can be easy to forget one of these troubleshooting steps (typically, the one you need) when you’re out in the dark freezing your fingers off.

Did you find this list helpful? Have something to add? Please leave a comment to let me know.

sebaker says:

February 1, 2016 at 2:52 PM

I have a question for you–I’ve had trouble using my tele-extender/eyepiece/camera set up and getting anything to show up either on Live View or through the view finder. All I get is black. (Works fine when I simply attach my camera to the visual back of the ‘scope.) Do you have any experience with tele-extenders? Is there a camera setting I’m missing? Should I be enabling ‘mirror lockup’? Reading through your checklist (again), I’m wondering if maybe it’s the focus issue that’s causing this. I’m still a novice, but consider myself a quick study. Using a Canon T1i with a “vintage” Celestron C8. Thanks!

Sorin says:

February 1, 2016 at 11:26 PM

I’m not entirely clear why you would want to use a tele-extender and eyepiece projection when you can connect the camera directly to the scope, unless you are trying to get a very narrow field of view. Depending on the camera lens (I’m assuming you have a lens on the camera looking into the eyepiece) it may not be able to achieve focus through the eyepiece. Also realize there is a lot less light reaching the camera sensor in this setup, because the light is being focused down through the eyepiece, and again through the camera lens, and depending on the eyepiece and lens, you may be getting 1/10th or less of the light vs prime focus, and probably not coving the whole sensor in the camera. If you want a narrower field of view, I recommend using a barlow on the telescope and connecting the camera to that with a camera adapter to fit the barlow (either a 1.25″ or a 2″ depending on what size the barlow is). In general, I avoid eyepiece projection because it’s so finicky and difficult to get as good a result as with prime focus (directly connecting the camera to the telescope with no eyepiece and camera lens).

1. sebaker says:
  
  February 2, 2016 at 5:34 PM
  
  hey, thanks for the reply. Yes, was trying to get close ups of the moon surface (for example). I wasn’t satisfied with the clarity I received using prime focus–some other photos I took using my smartphone and an 8″ Dobsonian were slightly better, which surprised me. The difference didn’t appear to be in atmospheric conditions, but maybe that’s what it was.
  
  The Orion tele-extender I am attempting to use doesn’t allow for a camera lens itself (you can see the set up diagram in the manual: http://www.telescope.com/assets/product_files/instructions/29011_03-09.pdf). It’s meant to take that eyepiece magnification and project it straight through to the camera. You make a good point about the light level though. Gonna try to get my focus on point first and see if that helps. I’ll look into a Barlow, don’t have one at the moment. Cheers.
  
  1. Sorin says:
    
    February 2, 2016 at 6:01 PM
    
    OK, I see. As I mentioned before, it probably is going to vignette on the sensor (not cover the whole APS-C size), and the f-ratio will be very high, meaning relatively little light, so you’ll need a longer exposure time. I do recommend a barlow as a good option to take the eyepiece out of the equation. I like the ones from HighPoint Scientific: http://www.highpointscientific.com/telescope-accessories/barlow-lens?manufacturer=185

williamwardwell says:

January 9, 2015 at 10:43 AM

This is really helpful – thank you. I am getting my feet wet with some basic astrophotography and have had no luck so far getting LiveView to work. I had not thought about the ISO setting being the issue, but it totally makes sense. I will give it another try tonight!

Sorin says:

January 10, 2015 at 9:42 AM

I’ve stumbled over the ISO several times before. Good luck and clear skies!

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