Looking for decent telescope under £400

peter fran

peter fran

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Peter Francis
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Can anybody point me in the right direction of a decent telescope for under £400.I’m wanting it to use for photography.Already got a Nikon T adapter.Wanting to get some shots of the planets,moon and possibly further
 
Yes the Newtonian telescopes are good. Get an 8" size............

Mounts are probably more important. I use a Goto EQ5. Comes with tracking software.

Consider equatorial mounts, maybe easier to use...
 
RIR said:
Maybe have a look at this? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-ds-eq3-2-eq3-pro-goto.html
Click to expand...

Doesn't look like that mount has the drive motors installed.
The EQ3 mount payload is 5.5 kg. It's not really up to a useful sized scope plus a camera. I use one (driven on both axes with GoTo) for a camera plus 150-600mm lens and it's perfect for that.
I think you'd be pushed to get a useful scope and mount for £400 unless you could go secondhand. Plenty of scopes/mounts get left in cupboards because people either can't figure out how to use them or the novelty wears off, but you have to know what you're looking for.
 
Jannyfox said:
Doesn't look like that mount has the drive motors installed.
The EQ3 mount payload is 5.5 kg. It's not really up to a useful sized scope plus a camera. I use one (driven on both axes with GoTo) for a camera plus 150-600mm lens and it's perfect for that.
I think you'd be pushed to get a useful scope and mount for £400 unless you could go secondhand. Plenty of scopes/mounts get left in cupboards because people either can't figure out how to use them or the novelty wears off, but you have to know what you're looking for.
Click to expand...

Must admit I bought myself a starter scope two years ago and I was quite disappointed with it, so it's sat gathering dust. I should have researched much better than I did and probably spent more.
 
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If you want to use a EQ mount with a 8" reflector for astrophotography you'll need at least a HEQ5 mount but probably better off with the NEQ6.

If you just want it for planets and moon shots I've had success with my dobsonian mount 8". With the skywatcher you get direct camera connection to the scope without the need for a Barlow.

With my M43 Olympus mounted onto the scope it becomes a 2400mm lens if you think in terms of FX.

Here's one I took an hour ago.

Moon Mono by Terence Rees, on Flickr
 
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