TogGazer

53 minutes ago, malc-c said:

Personally, if you are going down the imaging road then the mount is the important part more so than the optics.  A DSLR is fairly heavy which also adds to the equation.  Then to do any long exposures you will need to guide the scope, which means a guide camera and either an off axis guider, or seperate guide scope, again adding to the weight.  To save too many headaches you also need a mount with decent proscision which means you are really looking at £790 for the HEQ5 as being the mount.  It has larger weight bearing capacity, higher precision stepper motors, and should you need to upgrade the scope later down the line you don't need to worry about replacing the mount too.

Don't get me wrong, I started with the EQ5 pro goto / 200P combo, but then wanted to venture into imagine and even converting the finder to a guide scope and bolting on my 400D the mount struggled.  So when I had the opportunity to build an observatory several years back I upgraded to the HEQ5 pro and whilst you still get some of "those" nights, it performed really well on most occasions.

There have been posts where people have used mounts and scope combinations that would normally not be recommended (150P / EQ3 for example) for imaging and have shown reasonable results under their rural night skies.  You could find that the EQ5 / Evo 72 works OK for you.  If you can wait until this CV19 lock down is over, go and visit Adam and the crew at Rother Valley Optics (other companies are available) or call them and talk things through.  There are so many variables that each circumstances are different.  Your location, sky quality, interests and subjects to image might mean the EQ5 / Evo 72 will work OK.  Or they may advise using the HEQ5 with a different scope...  One thing for sure, it's not cheap to get into imaging

So I guess I really do need to win the lottery or something? lol

I do always prefer going somewhere to gain advice so maybe I will wait until the CV19 lock down is over and go to Rother Valley Optics.

Being honest with myself I normally take a long period of time before making any significant purchases but I think this time round I did rush in to it all. I am making notes of all recommended kit especially the mounts and I will keep checking prices.

However, to keep my sanity for a while longer what I may do is change which of my DSLR's I'm currently using, at the moment it's the D810 which is 980g and change over to the D500 which is a meager 860g. It may allow me to get some fast shutter photos of the beloved moon.

I'll post any results here tomorrow.

Oh and thanks for the advice

If your ever looking to compare prices on photography equipment in general I recommend using Camera Price Buster, I have often used it when looking for new kit, they also have links to site that deal in used gear as well.

17 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Your choice of EQ3 (the EQ5 Pro would be better) and Evo 72 is far better than your other two option, both the SW114 and Astromaster 130 would most likely not reach focus with a camera and the equatorial mounts supplied with them doesn't have goto and are not ideal for imaging.

ps the links don't work, they just bring you back to this thread.

Thanks for the extra advice on the EQ5 etc.

I'll try and fix the links

*links now fixed

One of the main reasons that I have bought a telescope is to do Astrophotography before buying a telescope I did try to do some research but I guess I just didn't fully understand the different types of telescope and mounts. I also had a budget and I was limited to buying from 1 shop (due to receiving an award voucher from work).

The telescope I went for was a Celestron Explorascope 114AZ.

I bought a T-ring and adapter to connect to my Nikon D810 or Nikon D500 DSLR's so that I could photoghraphy. After just my first attempt of the moon I realised I had made the wrong choice of scope. Unfortunately, I've learned that I am too late to make a return to the original shop so I now have to look into new options. N.B. To do the astrophotography it's really important to myself that I use my DSLR's.

So, I have further read some websites and on here on what I should have. At this moment I have selected 2 telescopes which I believe fit the bill. Need to be under £200.

Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145PS
https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/skywatcher-avant-114mm-telescope.html#SID=1701

Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ-MD
https://www.f1telescopes.co.uk/shop/telescopes/celestron-telescopes/celestron-astromaster/celestron-astromaster-130eq-md-telescope-with-motor-drive/

I have taken into account the requirement for a motorised mount and it being equatorial. The one thing that I'm not sure of is if they are go-to telescopes as I would like to be able to input co-ordinates from time to time, although I think I will be able to continue to locate the moon.

All of the above I did yesterday.

However, after yet again this morning doing more reading I guess that I really need to increase my budget and also what I am looking to buy.

I would take it that in order to have the right type of mount that I may be better off buying the telescope and mount separately. I still need to keep things at a lower end budget so I saw this mount.

Skywatcher EQ3 Pro GOTO Mount & Tripod
https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-eq3-pro-goto-mount-tripod.html

Skywatcher Evostar 72ED DS Pro f/5.8
 https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-evostar-72ed-ds-pro-f58-doublet-apo-refractor-ota-case.html

Not necessarily saying that I am going to get these particular mount and scope but it’s to give myself more of a clearer idea of what to actually get.

If I have done well enough then I guess my next step is to find an online retailer that not just sell the right kit for me but also that accepts trade-in’s and also does finance.

Apologies for the long post, it has taken awhile to prepare lol

Hi

I'm totally new to stargazing and looking to take photos of the planets etc with my DSLR via my telescope.

No doubt at some stage I will have quite a few questions for help lol