Focus Masks

Farpoint manufactures this "lifesaving" astrophotography tool out of virtually indestructible ABS plastic. Our focus masks are one of the best tools for manually focusing your telescope available to astrophotographers! Compared to a standard motor focuser, this is a much less expensive method of getting focus on objects in the night sky. With the right mask and setup, it’s easy to get crystal clear focus on a star in less than 90 seconds.

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How Do I Know Which Size to Get?

Simply measure the diameter of the outside of your dew shield (or OTA) and select your Focus Mask size accordingly. Watch the video for more details.

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History

In 2005, Pavel Bahtinov, a Russian amateur telescope maker and astronomer detailed a new way to easily focus your DSLR, CMOS or CCD camera for astrophotography by adding a mask that matches the diameter of your telescope.

How to Use

The slits in the mask are the focus assist, when the star is in focus it will appear on your screen display as an “X” with a line through the center (see above). These mask will work equally as well on the end of a scope or on the end of a dew shield on top of that the mask itself does not need to be perfected centered on the scope this is due to the angle of the slits themselves.

Select a bright star, this will be your guiding object. Place the Bahtinov focusing mask on your telescope’s lens and secure it into place using the provided rubber tabs. The slits in the mask design create a set of diffraction spikes on the star that will assist in the accuracy of our focus. It will appear on your DSLR display screen or computer as an “X” with a line through the center (when in focus). The diffraction spike pattern from a bright star using a Bahtinov maskAs you adjust the focuser of your telescope, the central spike will move in and out of the X-pattern. If you are using capture software be sure to compensate for the lag time between exposures on the screen, typically 4-5 seconds.The same process applies using Live view display on your DSLR camera. The difference is, the image will be much dimmer, as you are essentially looking at a live video feed rather than a short image exposure.

As you adjust the focuser of your telescope, the central spike will move in and out of the X-pattern. If you are using capture software be sure to compensate for the lag time between exposures on the screen, typically 4-5 seconds.The same process applies using Live view display on your DSLR camera. The difference is, the image will be much dimmer, as you are essentially looking at a live video feed rather than a short image exposure.

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