Hi, I am new to this group but less new to astrophotography.
Despite the overwhelming number of cloudy nights, I am trying to dive a bit deeper into astrophotography. Currently using Nikon cameras (d7100 and z6) with Nikon lenses (various, but my goto for AP is a 200-500mm, f5.6) on an iOptron Skyguide mount 3550). I've gotten OK images of m31, m42, and some poor images of bode's galaxy among many others. I have excellent experience with the Skyguide mount, taking images for 120 seconds, and getting round stars at full magnification.
I rate my images as "OK" (even when I am thrilled with them) because they lack detail & color. Longer exposures lead to bleached images b/c of light pollution although I am lucky to have a Bortle 4 sky. Sometimes I venture to dark sky sites such as Utah.
Maybe I should replace the 200-500mm lens with a telescope. But I cannot find info comparing what I'd get with a 95mm triplet to the images I am getting with the setup described above.
What would I need to get better detail. saturation & color in m31 for example?