Rayand

Hello all, As a camera club photographer with 20 years of dabbling in almost every genre, and after spending half a dozen nights imaging and then processing Milky Way and star trails with a full frame DSLR and decided that in my retirement I was going to become better acquainted with the rest of the universe. Well, if only it were that simple....... I've now spent a week or more over the last couple of months watching numerous you tube vids and loving the wonders that are captured by talented individuals who generously share their experience with the uninitiated. On the basis that I don't want to spend more than is necessary, but don't want spend too little buying equipment that isn't going to give me acceptable results any guidance would be welcome. So far I think I need an equatorial goto mount, a triplet refractor, a mono camera , a filter wheel and filters and a guide scope. The six million dollar question I suppose, is what do I want to image, and the answer is I don't know yet. I am attracted to galaxies, and nebulae, but I suppose that it would be remiss not to look at other objects as well. Presumably with the right mount and connectors and perhaps a second shorter focal length scope, wider field images could also be taken. I am not averse to buying used if that helps me achieve more versatility for my budget which is around £3.5k I understand I've a long way to go from novice to achieving results that I will be happy with, but we all have to start somewhere. Oh and I realise that there will be many frustrations of user error to encounter and also other accessories that I am blissfully unaware of that will become the next must have in search of Nirvana, but how else would I spend my retirement? So I know one day clouds will be my problem, as well as light pollution, but for now not knowing what to buy is what I'm finding insurmountable. Your suggestions are eagerly awaited