telescope purchase

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billozz

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hi all i am thinking of havng a go at astrophotography and wondered if someone could suggest a good telescope to begin with, i dont really have a budget in mind, but i dont mind if its second hand or new any help appreciated.
thanks
Bill
 
Have a look at the Skywatcher stuff - something like a 200mm Newtonian reflector on a computerised Synscan mount. It's a good size of scope for dslr photography and relatively straightforward to use. Budget for a hefty Powertank to drive it. Batteries don't like the cold! Bear in mind that if you're based in a built up area you'll have to travel with it and a decent mount isn't light.
 
Hallo.

Would you be using it with a DSLR? If so, make sure that you get one that will achieve focus with a camera attached; some won't. Also, you'd need an equatorial motorised mount, to avoid star trailing and to aid long exposures.
 
A good scope sold for photography should be fine for focus, but.... You need an adaptor ring and tee piece to do prime focus (using the scope as the lens, ie the camera without a lens connected directly into the scope's eyepiece tube without the eyepiece). The adaptors that are the easiest to find are quite thick and may not enable the camera to focus, depending on the scope. However you can also get a low profile adaptor. Google specifically low profile adaptor otherwise you won't find them. I've used a dslr on several different scopes and have always had to use a low profile adaptor.
And I should have said an equatorial mount, not an alt az. Been an astronomer too long and assume everyone knows all about it... :)
 
I have a Skywatcher computerised (AZ) mount. It won't reach focus, unless on a Barlow, with the lens removed.

There is a program that will correct rotation from an AZ mount; I'll post a link when I find it.
 
If you wrote this question on an established Astro photography site 99% of the replies would probably state an ed80.
I would also suggest a small refractor like an ed80.
The mount is 100x more important than the scope. Heq 5 or Celestron ax or bigger.
Astrophotography is about solid setup, no vibrations, there is so so much more than focussing a camera through a telescope.
Ofcourse there are many different types of astrophotography, but keeping things as simple as possible from the start is key to getting rewarding results.
If budget doesn't allow for scope and mount to start, just buy a mount and fix your camera, worry about a scope and getting a smaller fov later.
 
thanks for all the replies i have a lot to think about
 
Here is my first setup, and my first 'rewarding' pic, although very poor compared to even the slightly dedicated.
Sky watcher ed80 on celestron advanced Vx mount. Don't forget the most important purchase is a seriously warm wooly hat. :)

View attachment 91352IMG_1481064407.868878.jpg
 
I use an EQ5 mount with the dual axis motors. Super for tracking, very accurate.

Now wanting a GOTO mount, I see there is an EQ5 GOTO mount available for 5-600 squids.

Only snag for the EQ5 is that its not very portable. Mainly used for the 8" Newtonian scope...

Any suggestions for a more portable mount...................
 
Portable and sturdy enough for a scope/camera setup are mutually incompatable..... My partner uses a 10" reflector on an EQ6. He uses a dslr and ccd (not at the same time) with a webcam for autoguiding. He only has to carry the mount ten feet from the door and finds that's enough! We couldn't focus our 350D on the scope till we got the LP adaptor for the T piece. I've had the same problem on other scopes too, but our scope is quite old (the mount's been replaced for the autoguiding capability but the scope's fine) and so are the others I've used, so whether the more modern reflectors are better optimised for dslr photography I don't know.
I'd say nothing smaller than a 200 mm reflector (equivalent refractor is smaller but though the cost of refractors has come down they're still relatively more expensive) for photography, but it's a good compromise between capturing the larger objects and getting a reasonable image of the smaller ones (planets need a different technique). I've never used a refractor so I have no experience of them. They might be better for focussing a dslr, but that's a question better asked on a proper astronomy forum. It's worth doing your research properly before committing - so many good scopes lie unused because people haven't bought the right one for their ability/purpose. Driven go-to alt az mounts are available now but for photography don't bother. They're commonly used for the smaller scopes as they're simpler to set up for visual observing. I have a 150 mm scope on a GoTo alt az mount and it's brilliant for just looking through. I also have an EQ3-2 (also GoTo) but it's purely a camera mount. As Mark said, tracking on the SW mounts is very good. Anything from Celestron is equally capable. I think their range is very similar.
 
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