David Hinds Ltd is a small family run business that has been supplying amateur and professional astronomers with high quality optical systems and accessories since 1965. After 55 years of service to the astronomy community distributing and supporting brands such as Celestron, Baader Planetarium and 10Micron, we are sad to announce that we are closing…
We now have a small quantity of the very high quality Baader Mark V Großfeld (Giant)-Binocular Viewers in stock (as of 12th November 2020). These all-metal housing German-made models are the fifth incarnation of the Carl Zeiss giant binocular viewers with 30 mm prisms with 7-layer anti-reflective multi-coatings on all air-glass surfaces. The binoviewers feature…
At this time of year and during the winter months there are many amazing nebulae to observe. One problem however is light pollution that may affect you observing them. Baader offer their Ultra-High Contrast (UHC-S) nebula filter which blocks light pollution from streetlights and increases the contrast of the nebula(e) against the background sky. The…
In order to take a photo through your SCT you need an SCT-to-T adaptor. A one that is often used is Celestron’s T-adaptor for Schmidt Cassegrains (their 93633-A). However currently there is a shortage of some accessories (due to Covid19) including this useful and popular item. An alternative to the Celestron accessory is Baader’s Universal…
The T-2, M48 and M68 connection system are threaded methods of connecting many cameras, filter wheels and other accessories together. There may be some occasions when you connect items together and find that either one item is rotated “too far” (e.g. camera is just at the wrong angle) or you may need just an extra…
A lot of telescopes can be powered from batteries, but during the winter the cold and affect their performance and life often leading to a malfunctioning mount. If you spend more time doing astronomy at home it makes sense to make use of the mains power to run your telescope. Baader’s 60W Outdoor Telescope Power…
We’re not too far away now from the 2020 Mars opposition which will occur on October 13th where it will be just over 22 arc seconds in apparent size and shine at magnitude ~-2.6. Unlike other recent oppositions, Mars will be higher in the sky at ~40 degrees altitude from the UK so that will…
Baader’s ND5.0 AstroSolar film can be used to safely view and image our Sun. The most popular size is their A4 variant which allows you to make a full aperture filter for small camera lenses or telescopes or a sub-aperture filter for larger instruments and in some cases still have some of the film left…
The Celestron RASA 8″ was designed with small CCD cameras, colour astronomical CMOS cameras, and mirrorless cameras in mind. Of course one can use Mono cameras too. If you have multiple filters and want to swap between them during an imaging run, to take LRGB or narrowband (e.g. with Baader’s F/2 filters) taking the camera…
With Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in the night sky (and Mars’ upcoming opposition in October) many want to image these planets. Trying to get the small planetary image of onto a small imaging camera’s sensor by trying to centre it in an eyepiece, removing the eyepiece, inserting a camera, to find that planet is not…
The Andromeda Galaxy is an amazing sight to behold. It is the nearest galaxy to our own at nearly 2.5 million light years distant and has around 1 trillion stars. It can be seen as a “small smudge” with the naked eye and through binoculars it has a “squashed” elliptical appearance. With the Andromeda galaxy…
Earlier this week we sent out our latest Baader newsletter. This month we look at what you can use to clean your optics ready for the observing season to start and the useful 4-eyepiece revolving turret which makes swapping between eyepieces easier. You can read it here.
On the 13th October 2020 Mars will be at opposition meaning that the Earth lies between Mars and the Sun, and Mars will appear larger than usual meaning its a great time to observe the Red planet! Mars will be visible all night and has an altitude of approximately 40 degrees above the horizon so…
We are now heading into August and those lovely Autumn skies are not that far away now, and what is often referred to as the “start of the astronomy or observing season” when the nights start to “cut” (it gets darker earlier) and get longer, are just about upon us. It could be time to…
We now in our summer season. The weather is warm and pleasant, the days are long and the Sun is high in the sky, and Solar observing is a popular astronomical activity. To observe or image the Sun without proper safety equipment can cause permanent blindness and/or damage to photographic equipment. Baader Planetarium offer a…
The popular Baader Sky-Surfer III red dot finder is back in stock. This zero-power, variable brightness LED red-dot finderscope, has a larger clear aperture of 30mm compared to 20mm from competing similar-styled models, making it easier to view objects through and therefore easier to use. The (1:1 – non magnifying) objective lens has a non-reflective…
The Baader SkySurfer III is a very popular red-dot finder. It has a larger clear aperture than other similar style finders of 30mm rather than 20mm making it easier to use. It features longer front and rear dew shields to prevent fogging and a non-reflective front lens for improved red-dot visibility against a darker sky.…
We have had a lot of enquiries from people asking if there is a Solar filter to fit a particular make/model of telescope that someone has or may be getting. The answer is yes – there is a range for telescopes, small telescopes/spotting scopes and camera lenses and also for binoculars too, made by Baader…
The new and much anticipated Baader MaxBright II binoviewers were released earlier in 2020. These new models feature: Unique in-house produced die-cast moulds using Carl Zeiss production drawings. Use of 27mm size prisms with 26mm clear aperture on the telescope side and 25.5mm clear aperture on the eyepiece side. All optical surfaces have a 7-layer…
We often receive enquiries about how to obtain the correct spacing between a camera’s sensor a focal reducer or field flattener – such as a Celestron EdgeHD reducer and a deep sky imaging camera. If you want to use a field flattener or focal reducer with your camera, the camera’s sensor will need to be…
Stocks of the long and eagerly awaited Baader Maxbright II Binoviewers are now here! We have in stock the popular variants of these binoviewers Maxbright II body only with case Maxbright II with 1.25″ nosepiece Maxbright II with 2″ nosepiece See further down this page for these packages and links to them on our website.…