6" SGT or 8" SGT

[dknt]

Hey guys,

I'm currently looking into various telescopes and I'm just wondering is the price increase from a 6" to 8" worth it? I'm hoping to do casual gazing, but also astrophotography every so often; planets, DSOs and the like.

P.S. That's supposed to be sct.. not sgt, sorry!

[Ags]

Aperture is always good from the point of visual observing -as long as you can cope with the increased size and weight. Also bear in mind that as aperture goes up your field of view tends to go down so a large scope will show less sky than a small scope (assuming they have the same focal ratio). Aperture does not play such a big role in DSO astrophtography, where imaging is much more difficult with a larger scope. Aperture is important for planetary astrophotography.

Before embarking on any astrophotography purchases, perhaps look at a book like "Making every photon count" by our forum's steppenwolf.

[red dwalf]

books are a great idea, i sold my 6" sct which i imaged with which worked well with a 6.3 focal reducer to increase the filed of view when imaging DSO`s, and with a focal length of 1500mm adding a barlow makes them great for planets, but i sold it and went for the best all rounder for me which was an 8" sct, 2000mm focal length which when used with a barlow makes it great for planet imaging, true the filed of view is smaller but the image scale is better, and i have imaged M13 and M51 with it using a 6,3 reducer which worrked well but the image filled the screen of the laptop so i`m currently looking for a 3.3 reducer and an st 80 to guide with and use them both on a duel bar which should be good

[riklaunim]

C8 is one of the best size/aperture/performance/mobility scope. It has quite high planetary capabilities and it can use those f/6.3 and for small cameras f/3.3 reducers. It's small and lightweight so easy for the mount to guide (althoug it's still a long focal length scope).

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I just love my C8 to bits. It is compact, a real all-rounder visually, and with the 2" visual back you get 1.38 deg FOV with my Paragon 40mm. Wide enough for most DSOs. I am actually pondering getting a 6" as well, as a large aperture travel scope. The C8 is a bit big to take along on holidays now we have kids (before it was fine). The C8 is also quite light, at 4.7 kg for the OTA. If I had to choose a single scope, the C8 wins clearly over the C6.