Cosmoman

How about this scope if I can stretch to it. Thoughts appreciated! Celestron ADVANCED VX 8 EDGE HD Telescope - Widescreen Centre (widescreen-centre.co.uk)

Hi Nebula I know this post is very old, just wondered what you went for in the end, as I am in the same boat now as you were then! I'm looking to get into astrophotography (realise an EM is best), and was looking at the 12i and 12g (later with tracking which I would prefer|) v a Celestron 8SE If anyone else has thoughts appreciated too as have seen such varying reports!

Just to add to the above... Of course I realise in an ideal world I need an GEM, trouble is I cannot afford it at this stage. As a beginner to astrophotography (I am an avid DSLR camera user and amateur cosmologist for decades) I was looking at something in my price range that I could later get a GEM but that would satisfy my initial desire to get some half decent deep sky images stacked etc, as well as of course the planets, and saw on this short 5min video that results without a GEM are indeed good enough for the beginner just getting into it. https://youtu.be/6uXbF5hF3rQ I can then source a GEM later for better results when I can afford it and when I then realise I can get even better by upgrading. I have already researched a quite a bit within my budget, and also spoken at length to a the owner of telescopes-direct.com. I need to get a rig within an all in budget of about £2000 $2600, which the 8SE and all the bits can be done, and potentially the Orion's too.

Hi everyone. I am particularly interested in moving up to astrophotography and looking to purchase either a Celestron 8SE (without eq mount as cannot afford) or an Orion SkyQuest XX12i or g (not sure the difference between i and g) or Skyquest XT10G. Portability is not an issue for me and I have mains power supply in my garden for an adaptor power supply. I have a Canon 6D. For sure want to photograph the planets, in particular to get best shots poss of Saturn and moons but for sure want to get deep sky stuff in as much detail and colour as possible. Different mounts won't be an option at this stage re budget for any of these scopes. Appreciate some guidance on which scope to get of these, and benefits of going to the 10G from 8SE and then again re the 12ii or 12g I have the prices for the extra bits I need for the 8SE, T mount, adaptor, reducer, filters etc, but not sure what additional items and rough costs there would be for getting the necessary for the Orion's. Many thanks

OK great many thanks....

Hi...yes will be doing both...

Hi, I am just purchasing a Celestron 8SE and the bits to attach my Canon EOS 6D to start getting into Astrophotopgraphy I will start of with the planets, moons etc but will soon venture into deep sky objects (aware of the limitations with the mount but from this 5 min video Celestron NexStar 8 SE - Astrophotography - YouTube I see the results are good enough when starting out, can always change the mount later) Anyway just after advice of what additional lenses to get...8SE just comes with a 25mm. Read mixed reports, one of which says around 6mm good for Saturn. Others are saying go higher than 25mm. So to cover planets and deep sky what would anyone recommendations be? And also the other option rather than get various lenses, get a zoom such as this: Baader Hyperion Universal Zoom Mark IV 8-24mm Eyepiece (harrisontelescopes.co.uk) Is this a better or worse option? Also does a wifi attachment make a noticeable difference, presume it allows me to control the goto from a tablet, touch screen to an object and off the scope goes rather than punching numbers into the controller.... Finally will a GPS make a noticeable difference to accurate aligning and therefore accurately finding objects and also how much quicker does this make things Appreciate anyone advice.