Imaging with EQ5 mount

[Seltaeb]

Hi Guys,

So I recently got my Skywatcher EQ5 mount with SynScan connected to my pc and got it working with EQmod, Cartes Du Ciel. So that's good. But is there sdomeone who can tell me more if astrophotograhpy any good with this mount? Is it even possible to get good results? 

If so, I want to buy this telescope to start imaging. http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p3290_TS-Gro-feld-Achromat-90-500mm---2-5--Crayford---Edles-Design.html

I have an OAG, Canon 650D and an QHY5l-II mono. Would this be a good beginners setup up? For practicing, getting the feel, learn to process photo's and so on..

Thanks in advance!

[ronin]

The EQ5 is a nice sized mount and half of the bits you have will help.

The problem is weight.

The scope is 3.4Kg, the DSLR is a chunk, say 0.8Kg, guide camera and OAG bit no idea, lets round it to 5kg with whatever other bits.

It is really as heavy as you would sensibly want to go.

Now the scope is a fast achro - not ideal you will get CA on anything bright, since stars tend to be somewhere in the field of view then expect CA from them. For AP I would have been tempted by the 80mm ED at €551 but that is a fair increase. It is slowerr but a bit lighter. The 90 will make a good visual scope for when you want to just look.

The 90 will need the flattener, suspect the 80 would as well for best results especially for the DSLR chip = more cost.

With the OAG I think the weight will be OK, but not by a lot.

One aspect is that by adding almost anything you will have to upgrade just about everything, the exception being change DSLR to ccd.

Results should be resonable, but the DSLR is a camera not a dedicated astronomy ccd imager. They produce noise, and the chips get warm/hot (allow them to cool between exposures). What results do you expect? You are not going to match the LRGB cooled ccd images.

Still think the 80mm ED is a better AP scope, less CA and a sharper image. And they count. :grin: :grin:

How well running is the mount?

People will strip, clean lubricate and set the gears up better and find their mount runs a lot better, smoother and more accurate.

[lensman57]

Hi Guys,

So I recently got my Skywatcher EQ5 mount with SynScan connected to my pc and got it working with EQmod, Cartes Du Ciel. So that's good. But is there sdomeone who can tell me more if astrophotograhpy any good with this mount? Is it even possible to get good results? 

If so, I want to buy this telescope to start imaging. http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p3290_TS-Gro-feld-Achromat-90-500mm---2-5--Crayford---Edles-Design.html

I have an OAG, Canon 650D and an QHY5l-II mono. Would this be a good beginners setup up? For practicing, getting the feel, learn to process photo's and so on..

Thanks in advance!

I used to have an EQ5 Synscan and used it with a variety of my scopes including a very heavy Alrair Astro 80mm ED. Just to picture how heavy this scope is that I still own, it has a 3" focuser as standard and the tube was actually designed for a 4" optical cell, 95% of the scopes these days have a  2" focuser. I think it weighed about 5.5Kg. Including the 80mm guider, the guide camera the CCD it weighed near to 9KG and I used to manage 1200s subs with ease guided. The mount is not an issue so long as you learn how to balance the imaging gear properly on the mount and get the PA spot on so to make corrections in guiding as minimal as possible. The choice of your scope for imaging I am afraid is going to present you with more problems than mount ever would, it is simply not suitable for serious RGB imaging. I used to have the same scope but with a different brand name  and although it was nicely made and well put together  ( a lot better than some SW ones ) the optics were just not up to imaging standard.

A.G

[Seltaeb]

Alright, so my conclusion is that the scope is not really suitable for AP. But why does it say in the ad that it's ideal for photography?
 

@ronin: My mount is stripped, got new lubricate and is fine-tuned by a professional, so that's a good start I've got a 100ED, but that's a f/9, so I don't see that really suitable for AP. 

@lensman57: Well, that's good to hear! 9KG is alot for an EQ5, but with good balancing, it is possible. 

I' m just a beginner, and I realize that I can't take top astrophoto's, yet. But I want to get the feel, see if it's something for me. Are there any alternatives for a small scope for AP?


P.S: I can buy the TS 90mm used. But with your advice I probably won't do it.

[Seltaeb]

P.s 2: What about this one: WO ZS 70D

[Seltaeb]

P.S3: The link should be this.. http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p1324_William-ZenithStar71---71mm-F5-9-Apo-Refraktor-mit-Rack-Pinion-Okularauszug.html

[chris_suffolk]

Plenty of people use an EQ5 for AP - so long as you can guide it you should be ok

Look at Mark's site,

http://astrocasto.blogspot.co.uk/

To see what he used to do

[lensman57]

Alright, so my conclusion is that the scope is not really suitable for AP. But why does it say in the ad that it's ideal for photography?

@ronin: My mount is stripped, got new lubricate and is fine-tuned by a professional, so that's a good start I've got a 100ED, but that's a f/9, so I don't see that really suitable for AP. 

@lensman57: Well, that's good to hear! 9KG is alot for an EQ5, but with good balancing, it is possible. 

I' m just a beginner, and I realize that I can't take top astrophoto's, yet. But I want to get the feel, see if it's something for me. Are there any alternatives for a small scope for AP?

P.S: I can buy the TS 90mm used. But with your advice I probably won't do it.

There are two separate issues as far as " weight " is concerned with a mount. A compact scope for imaging can easily approach the max capacity of the mount for imaging so long as balancing is correct and it will do well as it has a lower inertia than a  scope of similar weight but with a long awkward body, such as an imaging NEWT. Keep everything as close to the centre of balance as possible and you should be fine. They say a lot of things about scopes and mounts but you just got to do a bit of research. The scope in discussion is an achromatic doublet which means that it is not well corrected for all three wavelengths most likely the blue will be the worst one. On top of this it has a very fast f5.5 Fratio which makes matters worst. It will have blue fringing for sure and in AP the slightest weakness of the optics is mercilessly shown. Perhaps it will perform better for photographing birds or wild life during the daytime.

A.G

[Seltaeb]

@Chris_suffolk: Interesting! I will read it tomorrow. It's good to know that I can use the EQ5

@lensman: I can see your point.

The only thing now is: Which telecope would be good to start with? Can I use my 100ED (f/9)? Or better sell my 100ED and buy a 80ED? 

[ronin]

The WO 70 is a nice short ED refractor but it will show CA, a few people have found this.

However the size is good as is the weight.

I think the EQ5 will do what you want, it is a fair chunk afterall, and you have to start somewhere and the EQ5 is good for that without getting overly costly.

As you have the mount and the DSLR, the question really is the scope, and it is more the drawbacks of the 90mm achro for imaging then the 90mm for putting on the mount.

One aspect is while the AP rig is doing AP what are you going to be doing?

Thinking get the 90mm, learn then possibly the 80ED or 70ED to improve image quality and drop the 90mm on an inexpensive manual Alt/Az and you can view a bit.

But go with the EQ5 now, if I started any AP it is the one I would use to start with and I would put either an 80mm apo or 90mm ED on, for the simple reason they are the 2 scopes I have and are most suited. So no difference.

Reading you have a 100ED, keep it. You do not want to lose that.

[Seltaeb]

Thanks for your answers!

When I' m starting AP I have my 8" dobson with me, so that's not a problem. I will keep the 100ED. So the quastion is now, which one I' m gonna buy. My budget was around 350/400 euro's max. But I think I have to adjust it, as I see a lot of 80ED's for 600/700 euro's.

The ones I' m currently looking at are:
Williams Optics 71ED f/4.9: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/william-optics/zenithstar-71-ed-f47--incl-flat6a---canon-eos
Scientific Explore 80ED Apo f/6: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/explore-scientific/ed-apo-80mm-f6-triplet

Sky-Watcher Evostar BD 80/600: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/skywatcher/evostar-bd-80-600-apo---fpl53

Starwave 80mm f/7 w/0.8x reducer/flattener: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/altair---starwave/starwave-80mm-f7-ed-w-08x-reducer-flattener

TS 70ED f/6: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/teleskop-service/ed-70mm-f-6---carbon-tube
 

The last one is also the most cheap one. It dazzles me a bit how much there is, so I' ll take it easy. Don't want to buy a "wrong" AP telescope and have a bad start.

[lensman57]

Thanks for your answers!

When I' m starting AP I have my 8" dobson with me, so that's not a problem. I will keep the 100ED. So the quastion is now, which one I' m gonna buy. My budget was around 350/400 euro's max. But I think I have to adjust it, as I see a lot of 80ED's for 600/700 euro's.

The ones I' m currently looking at are:

Williams Optics 71ED f/4.9: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/william-optics/zenithstar-71-ed-f47--incl-flat6a---canon-eos

Scientific Explore 80ED Apo f/6: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/explore-scientific/ed-apo-80mm-f6-triplet

Sky-Watcher Evostar BD 80/600: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/skywatcher/evostar-bd-80-600-apo---fpl53

Starwave 80mm f/7 w/0.8x reducer/flattener: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/altair---starwave/starwave-80mm-f7-ed-w-08x-reducer-flattener

TS 70ED f/6: http://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/teleskop-service/ed-70mm-f-6---carbon-tube

The last one is also the most cheap one. It dazzles me a bit how much there is, so I' ll take it easy. Don't want to buy a "wrong" AP telescope and have a bad start.

The SW 100ED is a decent scope and I used to use it with my old EQ5, it is a bit slow even with the reducer but if you have dark skies it is usable for galaxies and so on. Of the other ones my preference is for the Scientific Explore 80 ED. For a cheap triplet it performs well. The SW 80 ED is tried and tested if not the fastest imaging scope and you do need an FF/FR with all of them.

The WO 71 ZS is very nicely made but it does show a bit of CA, some people do not mind a little CA others hate it.

A.G