Zowlyfon

Hi, I've been using a star adventurer pro or a while, with the following gear: WO Redcat 51 Canon 650d astromodded / Nikon D500 stock WO Uniguide 32 with ZWO ASI 120mm guide camera iOptron field tripod I have been looking at a proper astrophotography mount for around £1000 in the UK, and am aware of both the HEQ5 and GEM28 in this price range. I'm looking for something that would also be able to handle a slightly larger scope, I'm planning on getting a small reflector such as a skywatcher 130PDS in the future, so ideally it would be able to handle something like that too. I'd really appreciate any thoughts on this

Hi, I've been looking at modifying my Canon EOS 650D for astrophotography. I started this hobby a few months ago and have a basic setup including a Redcat 51 v1.5 as my telescope, a star adventurer pro and an Optolong L-Enhance filter as well as a ZWO ASI 120mm and a William Optics Uniguide 32mm for guiding. I've seen that there seem to be 3 types of modification for this camera, a full spectrum modification replacing both internal filters with a piece of Astronomik MC Clear Glass, removal of the rear IR filter and replacement of the rear IR filter with a baader BCF-1 glass. Can anyone advise me on which would give the better Hydrogen Alpha response while keeping the camera useable for daylight photography too. I do plan to purchase a dedicated astronomy camera in the future, however I believe upgrading to a better mount will likely take precedence due to the advantage of being able to guide on the Dec axis which the star adventurer cannot do. I've looked at the procedure for the modification and I feel comfortable doing it myself, however I'm not certain on which modification would be best, as I've heard that the baader glass can have optical imperfections, so I'm wondering if just removing the rear filter and using a clip in filter, such as one of the Astronomik Luminance filters, when doing daytime photography would a better option. Keeping autofocus is not a requirement for me as I do not own any autofocus lenses, around 80% of my use for the camera is Astrophotography. I've attatched my latest image of the Heart and Soul nebula using my current setup and unmodified camera. It's 50 * 180s @ ISO 1600, stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop. Thanks, Zowlyfon

Thanks for the replies, that's a great photo @Victor Boesen The SW ED72 looks like a solid option then. My main concern with it from reading other posts is it's focal length and weight might be quite hard to get accurate tracking with, but that seems to not be the case? I'm currently living under Bortle 4 skies (Will be Bortle 6 when I go back to University). I was able to take the following using 800 x 1 second exposures with my EOS 650D and a vintage 135mm lens. Can't wait till I get the star adventurer and a telescope

Hi, I've been looking for a telescope for a star adventurer pro mount. I've been doing a lot of research into this over the past couple of weeks and the following seem to be the best options: Skywatcher EvoStar 72ED William Optics Z61 There's also the WO RedCat, however it would be a big stretch with my budget of around £500 - £600 for a telescope and accessories (Not including the mount). I would like to be able to use the telescope visually too along with my 7x50 binoculars, which is why the EvoStar 72ED stands out to me, however there seems to be some controversy in the other posts I've read whether this would be suitable with the star adventurer without guiding. Also I've seen that skywatcher may have some quality control issues with their field flattener for the 72ED. Any advice or input would be highly appreciated, Thanks