Good Visual Scope and some Photography

[alaskacam]

Hello.. I recently went through a divorce and move that found me selling off all my astronomy gear.  I'd like to get a setup again for mainly backyard visual observing and some astrophotography.  I'm looking at a tripod, mount, scope combo, so things are matched up.  I had several scopes in the past, all the way up to a Takahashi TOA-150B, on a pier, in a fixed observatory.  I understand a lot about astrophotography, but this new scope will be 80%-90% visual.  I'm looking at 9-11" SCTs and maybe around a 4" refractor.  I'd be interested in constructive guidance as a lot of the blogs I see are mainly flaming on one company or another for various issues.  Pros and cons on portability, field of view, mount quality, contrast, sharpness, distortions, collimation issues, etc.   As I want to do some photography and don't want to mess with a wedge, I'll likely stick to a GEM style mount.  Thanks in advance...

Rob

[Cornelius Varley]

Moved to more appropriate area

[happy-kat]

Do you have a budget in mind?

Portability is very subjective, I want to carry everything (telescope, mount and eyepieces) in one go under 10kilos, whereas someone else might be happy to make 3 trips with more like 30 kilos.