Lampertron

15 minutes ago, scitmon said:

Firsty, I would recommend buying the book "Making Every Photon Count" before spending significant money.  However I will summarise as best I can....

• Astrophotgraphy is a money pitt.  Hence read the above book before getting into it.
• Photographing DSO's and Bright Objects (Moon and Planets) are very different disciplines.  DSO's require equatorial tracking GOTO mounts and long exposure photographs.  Planets/Moon benefit from high frame rate video captures.
• With your Canon DSLR, that is an ideal starter camera for DSO's.
• With Astrophotgraphy, the mount is everything.  You'll want an equatorial mount which can comfortably cope with your payload.
• Telescope wise... Reflectors offer the best 'bang for buck' in terms of aperture, but big aperture is not required and adds weight and surface area that wind can disturb your tracking.  Small refractors are generally the goto starter scopes for astrophotography, but can be a little more money if your budget is tight.  
• Maksutov scopes like the nexstar are not suitable for DSO's (wrong mount type, and focal length is too long), but are good for planets and moon.  I presume your Canon will have a video mode which might work well.
• Consider that planets can go for long periods below the equator.

If you ask me, I would recommend saving for something like https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-pro-heq5-pro.html for DSO stuff.  I'm not experienced enough in planet photography yet to recommend anything in that area.

 

Planet photograph

Hi Scitmon,

Thanks for your quick reply.

I sort of guessed money pit bit looking at some of the things that are available.  All things being considered, and keeping in mind my hard budget of around £600, what will allow me to get reasonable results and help me build confidence before stepping up to spending the sort of money for the EvoStar 80?

Mike

Hi Everyone!

Great forum and very help, but the gear lust is almost overwhelming!

I and looking for a first time telescope and have about £600 to spend.  This is going to be a new hobby so ideally I would like something that would allow me to observe and photograph the planets and the if possible some DSOs like the M41 and the Crab.

My DSLR is a Cannon 5DMK3, which I am wondering might be a too heavy for this at 800g, but I could/would consider buying a dedicated camera a little later when I am more confident.

So in summary, what would you suggest as a good starting scope and mount, but also has the ability to grow with, so that I don't feel I have to replace or upgrade immediately.

Having looked on First Light Optics, I have seen the following....

Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL EQ3 PRO GOTO
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150pl-eq-3-pro-goto.html

Sky-Watcher Explorer 150P-DS EQ3 PRO GOTO
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-ds-eq3-2-eq3-pro-goto.html

Celestron NexStar 4SE
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/se-series/celestron-nexstar-4se.html

Celestron 22096 NexStar 102 SLT Computerised Telescope
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-22096-NexStar-Computerised-Telescope/dp/B0007UQNN6

Celestron Nexstar 5 SLT
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/slt-series/celestron-nexstar-5-slt.html

What would you suggest based on these choices?

Thank you in advance