Newbie needs advice for photography

[Jmemila]

Hi, I'm Jamie I'm into photography and have upto now only taken photos of things on earth, after watching stargazing live his week I'm really interested in taking photos of the sky's. What I really want to photograph is planets, the moon, and of possible galaxies/nebula although I don't believe my budget would accommodate that. I'm looking at between £100/£200 for decent detailed photos of atleast Jupiter and Saturn. Can anyone advise me on what scope to buy to achieve this?

Thanks

Jamie

[Tiddles]

With that kind of budget you'll struggle to get an AP setup.

All is not lost however. I took this image of the moon with a compact digital camera held up to the focuser on a Skyliner 150P Dob.

[Jmemila]

Thanks for the reply . Great pic! What would you suggest I take a look at then to get what I'm wanting

[Tiddles]

There seems to be two schools of thought. You will not get a good mount and good optics for that kind of money, a goto mount is out of the question. I personally see the challenge of astronomy in finding the DSO's, a goto makes that too easy. I bought a Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonion for £200. The optics are great, 6" parabolic primary so fairly good at picking up the low light from DSO's. The mount is the most basic available, but it is stable and well made.

I am absolutely delighted with its performance.

I too had aspirations to image objects but looking at whats involved I've decided to pursue visual observing for now. The idea of astro photography really appeals but for now its out of reach both financially and not enough knowledge. From what Ive seen most people use two scopes, one for the image, one for guiding. It needs a very expensive, stable mount capable of tracking, the camera, filters, laptops, etc etc...

It seems the Dobsonion gives the most aperture per £ and thats the most important factor for light collection. DO NOT buy a scope based on its magnification, that is probably the least important. Aperture IMO is by far the most important for collecting photons from the distant objects.

A wobbly mount that is hard to use combined with mediocre optics will put you off.

My advise would be to buy the Dobsonion, learn how to find your way around up there and you'll get a great grounding in the hobby.

[Jmemila]

Wow thanks I've looked at getting the skywatcher 200p I could stretch to £300 so this is still prob a little too expensive. Although I have seen similar but cheaper specifications one made by seben and the other made by zenith. The seben is on an eq3 and the zenith on eq4 the zenith has a smaller focal length at 750mm with the seben at 1400mm although it has a smaller apature of 150mm with the zenith having 203mm would you say they're worth a look or not?

[Quatermass]

Have a read of my blog and a bit more of a think about what you want sure it will help you

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk

[Jmemila]

You're pictures are amazing I love the dso's but I'm also wanting to get pictures of the planets what sort of quality will I get with the skywatcher 200p

[Quatermass]

Good quality for sure but your better off doing the planets with a webcam. Planets are closer to us and using a webcam is the best way to capture them I intend to get a webcam in the future to do just the planets. I suggest you start with a webcam then go on to deep sky objects you can do both with the 200p I have never regretted buying the skywatcher 200p. Dont rush into it take your time and read everything you can until you are sure of what you want. I am happy to answer any questions you may have based on the set up I use but many others on the forums will help you out as well with lots of good advice.

[RikM]

Wow thanks I've looked at getting the skywatcher 200p I could stretch to £300 so this is still prob a little too expensive. Although I have seen similar but cheaper specifications one made by seben and the other made by zenith. The seben is on an eq3 and the zenith on eq4 the zenith has a smaller focal length at 750mm with the seben at 1400mm although it has a smaller apature of 150mm with the zenith having 203mm would you say they're worth a look or not?

Stay well clear of Seben reflectors. They have a built in barlow and don't perform well at all. Don't know the Zenith at all I am afraid.

To get decent images of the planets you will pushed with your budget but it is possible. Something like a SkyWatcher Skymax 127 on a Supatrak Auto mount with a Philips webcam will give you a good starting setup.

Quite a nice scope for looking through as well. For planetary imaging you need a long focal length and a high frame rate camera to take short video clips. Then using Registax, you combine the avi frames into a finished composite.

[RikM]

The 200P on a driven EQ5 with a 5x barlow would probably do a good job as well and would be even better for looking through. You are talking £500 though.

[Quatermass]

This is a picture of the moon taken with the 200p and an SLR camera using a 2 x barlow.

[RikM]

Very nicely done.

Using a webcam allows you to take loads more pictures and combine them to get a sharper result than single shots.

[Jmemila]

Haha I've just said to my fiancé I think I'll go for the skywatcher 150p to start with then I see these pictures and doubt has crept back in. Is there much difference? Or am I better off saving the extra £100 or even more for a motorised mount or just getting the 150p? Thanks for your help btw

[Walky]

I may be intruding... I don't own a telescope and I am interested in photography. I cannot buy an expensive telescope or would not buy one if that scope is some day be parked in the garage, so I have opted to perfect the skill of photographing to what I can see with my camera, leaving my dream for later when I have more knowledge.

http://stargazerslounge.com/members/walky-albums-stars-landscapes-picture15301-i-used-8-10-images-stacked-them-using-lynkeos-program-mac-second-trial-looks-more-natural.jpg

I am still learning and that keeps my creative juices flowing. Look at what Ben Canales (google him) can do and you will be surprised by the beauty. He is my inspiration and though I am millions of light years away from him, I am having fun in the learning process. It is astrophotography anyway and all the good pictures have already been taken. It is about the fun.

Some day I may purchase a scope for viewing and that should also be fun.

I will read the replies posted here to see if one of the suggestions fit my budget, because I also have lots of questions and don't know what to decide.

This other picture of the moon was taken with a point and shoot. Although not as good as the one posted before, it gives me pride to say I took it. No telescope, just a camera with 45X zoom and a tripod.

[Quatermass]

When your first starting off its very confusing as there are many choices you can make, you may want to just do some casual observing of the planets and a few of the more popular deep sky objects, you may want to combine that with doing some astrophotography. That is possible with the 150p but if your serious about astronomy and are sure your going to use your telescope a great deal then going for a better one makes sense. I started off with the skywatcher 130p a great little telescope for casual observing and easy to use. But after only 3 weeks I knew I had made the wrong choice because I really wanted a set up to do astrophotography with and with my budget the Skywatcher 200p on the EQ5 mount was the choice for me. So I took the 130p back and upgraded to the 200p and the EQ5 mount. A year later with much more knowledge under my belt I still think I made a good choice given my budget. You would be better off saving up for 200p I feel. But with the 150p and a webcam you could still have a lot of fun and its a good way to get into it all. See how you feel about it but if you gave me the choice I would rather have the 200p any day of the week.

There is allways lots of questions from people just starting off I have been working on my blog recently to try and answer as many questions that people may have if thinking of getting the Skywatcher 200p for astrophotography that was my last blog entry done today. But the rest of it covers a year of learning the ropes so may help you out. Best advice I can offer is take your time take your time and do not rush into it, the stars will still be there waiting for you.

[Walky]

There seems to be two schools of thought. You will not get a good mount and good optics for that kind of money, a goto mount is out of the question. I personally see the challenge of astronomy in finding the DSO's, a goto makes that too easy. I bought a Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonion for £200. The optics are great, 6" parabolic primary so fairly good at picking up the low light from DSO's. The mount is the most basic available, but it is stable and well made.

I am absolutely delighted with its performance.

I too had aspirations to image objects but looking at whats involved I've decided to pursue visual observing for now. The idea of astro photography really appeals but for now its out of reach both financially and not enough knowledge. From what Ive seen most people use two scopes, one for the image, one for guiding. It needs a very expensive, stable mount capable of tracking, the camera, filters, laptops, etc etc...

It seems the Dobsonion gives the most aperture per £ and thats the most important factor for light collection. DO NOT buy a scope based on its magnification, that is probably the least important. Aperture IMO is by far the most important for collecting photons from the distant objects.

A wobbly mount that is hard to use combined with mediocre optics will put you off.

My advise would be to buy the Dobsonion, learn how to find your way around up there and you'll get a great grounding in the hobby.

How tall is this Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonion and where is it supposed to stand? A table or floor?

[Quatermass]

I notice you allready have a canon 550d so for 395.00 the skywatcher 200p and with the eq5 mount is a good choice. You will need to add a motor drive to it which for a single axis drive is about 68.oo more but that could be added later. £395.00 the rest can come later. If your not intrested in astrophotography the skywatcher skyliner 150p is a great scope too. ahh choices choices I will shut up now before I steer you down the slippery slope of the dark side..

[RikM]

For visual astronomy you want the biggest aperture you can afford. For astrophotography, stability of the mount is the main thing, you don't need a big scope because the camera is more sensitive than the eye.

The 200P EQ5 is very fine visual instrument but with astrophotography in mind it is too much scope on too little mount. You can get some nice images, but you would be able to do better for deep sky imaging with a smaller scope on that mount because it is more stable and less prone to the wind. The shorter focal length means you can take longer exposures before stars start to trail.

For the moon, you can get decent shots with almost anything. For the planets, you need a long focal length like f/20. So that's a Mak with a 2x or an f/5 Newt with a 5x barlow and a webcam.

[Walky]

Good quality for sure but your better off doing the planets with a webcam. Planets are closer to us and using a webcam is the best way to capture them I intend to get a webcam in the future to do just the planets. I suggest you start with a webcam then go on to deep sky objects you can do both with the 200p I have never regretted buying the skywatcher 200p. Dont rush into it take your time and read everything you can until you are sure of what you want. I am happy to answer any questions you may have based on the set up I use but many others on the forums will help you out as well with lots of good advice.

My congratulations. Your blog is one of the most instructive I have seen on the matter. The lack of pompous technical blabber is great ; just what I needed to start my self education in astronomy. I guess we need first to be a little of an astronomer to be an astrophotographer! - What I learned, for starters, on my first read. Every one talks about "subs" and no one, but no one I have read cared to give a definition. Sure I could guess, but I needed confirmation. It was and will be pleasing to read your blog from now on.; because it has the right stuff.

[RikM]

The Skyliner 150P dob stands on the floor. The eyepiece is about 125cm high when pointing straight up.

[Quatermass]

Rick is right the mount is all important for astrophotography and although I do love my set up if I could afford it I would get the next mount up on the list the HEQ5 having said that though I have had some good results with the 200p and EQ5. Its really hard to give advice as so much is down to what you want to be doing and so much of that comes with the learning process of actually doing it. Have you considered going to a local astronomy group and trying out there telescopes that would really give you a feel for what you wanted. I did not do that but really wish I had done. And with the recent stargazing live there are bound to be lots of chances to join a local group and try a few telescopes yourselfs first.

[Quatermass]

Thank you Walky glad it is helpful to you, I have learned a great deal from the folks on this forum and made many good friends on here as well so keep asking away and get involved with the people on here and I'm sure you will make all the right choices.

[RikM]

The best £20 you could spend on deep sky astrophotography is to get a copy of Steve Richards' book Making Every Photon Count it will save you headaches. It explains the kit you need and the relative importance of each of the components in order of importance: mount first, camera, then optics. If you are really interested in astrophotography. Get the right information from someone who knows what they are talking about. It could stop you making a costly mistake.

Take a look in the imaging section and check out which kit people use to get the really good images. Less scope, more mount.

[Jmemila]

Rik I see youre using a explorer 150p for dso's? Any chance of an example picture from that? I think dso's is where I'd start so the 150p seems to be within my budget and once I'm a bit more experienced ill get the 200p or Skymax 127 For planets and the moon.

[RikM]

All my deep sky images were taken with a 150P. Click on the deep sky album link in my sig or click here.