Starting equipment - advice

[LegendLeesV2]

OK within the next few months, hopefully by October/November I will be getting my first DSLR and Telescope, I have done some research and I have decided to go with the following choices:

- Nikon D5100

- Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm VR lens

- Slik PRO 700dx complete tripod

- Timer remote for D5100

- Skywatcher explorer 130p

- Moon filter

Now I have heard that connecting any DSLR to the 130p can cause focusing issues so I'm now unsure whether these are the right choices? I am also aware that to connect these pieces of equipment I will need a Nikon T-ring and other various parts. I'm not just doing this for really extravagant photo's because I will also be taking very modest photo's of the moon and other various stars.

My questions are:

- What else do I need to connect the equipment?

- What will I need to be able to make it focus?

- Does the Skywatcher explorer 130p make a good first choice?

My budget is around £1400 and maybe extending to £1500 if I'm able, any advice on this or and changes I should make would be very helpful. Thank you.

[Doc]

What made you pick Nikon?

Most astrophotography is done with Canon equipment as almost all software accept Canon.

[LegendLeesV2]

If I'm honest I started with more interest towards photography so I researched a lot into these types of cameras and Nikon really had me sold, I was looking into Canon EOS 600D which looks brilliant, but I am here for advice.

[RikM]

You will need a barlow lens to achieve focus with a DSLR on a 130P. The SW deluxe barlow has a T-thread at the top and will fit to your camera via a standard T-ring.

Are you primarily interested in normal daytime photography and then the odd snap shot of the moon? This is all you will be able to achieve with your stated equipment. If that is indeed what you are after then fine, but if you are interested more in the astrophotography side I fear you will be mighty dissapointed for a £1400 spend.

[Capricorn]

You don't list a mount for the scope.

The mount will need a set of motors with it to track the object being imaged.

For the weight you are looking at the set up will need an EQ5 as a bare minimum, the HEQ5 would be better.

Unless you are polar aligned and tracking accurately all you will get are star trails as the exposures are over a few minutes which are then stacked on each other to build up the final image.

[Sparrow]

If you are considering astro photgraphy then you will need a mount as stated by Capricorn. The Eq5/Heq5 or Celestron CG5 GT would be good choices.

Camera - if I was purely in to daytime photography, then I may well have opted for a Nikon as I do like them and their results are good. However, for astro work, the Canons are most definately the weapon of choice, there being far more support around for them with astro software etc. Also, The Canons tend to ship with bundled software that will let you control them remotely from a laptop whereas the Nikons require you to buy their software which isn't cheap. Oh - one final point on DSLR's for astro work - more mega pixels are not necessarily a good thing - have a search on here for the thread which contains a link to an article on Astronomiser website about the subject.

Telecope - yes you may well be unable to achieve focus. Using a barlow will solve this but the barlow is magnifying your image so that tracking becomes far more critical and you need longer exposures to get data. The other solution is to get a low profile focusser but I don;t know if they're available for the 130. The other solution is to move the primary mirror up the tube - not something I personally would fancy doing. The low profile focusser I have is for an 8" newt and it may be that they're only made for this size and above.

Hoep this gives a few pointers for you

Regards

John

[JamesM]

For planets and the Moon you only new a webcam on your scope. It will take a number of frames from which you can delete the 'out of focus' ones (earth atmosphere) and stack the remaining good frames in free software that can create a composite image - job done. It's the desire to do deep sky imaging that will become the sticking point as far as kit is concerned. As already mentioned above, the mount is the key consideration with the a basic requirement that it able to carry all the necessary equipment without it effecting its accurate tracking of your chosen object - but this will come at a price. What you will find even then, is that the tracking will still be a little out (precision of the motor gears and general build quality/price) especially over longer periods of tracking and so the solution will be to modify this tracking as you go along. This is done by attaching some sort of guiding mechanism that focuses on a nearby star and relays any misalignment and corrections to the mount's motors. Cheaper mounts have no facility to adjust tracking in this accurate way which is why certain mounts are usually recommended. Webcams can work on bright objects because prolonged exposures are not required. Conversely, deep sky objects (Galaxies, nebula etc) require greater exposure and tracking accuracy because they are faint and are also further away.

You can still do widefield photography of the night sky using a DSLR camera and tripod which can produce great pictures which allow for more personal expression and creativity. From a suitable reference perspective, Steve Richards "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95) will bring you up to speed with kit requirements and technique to produce images that will meet your expectations.

Hope that helps.

James

[Andy38416]

Evening,

I cant comment on the camera as i have very little knowledge, though i can comment(kind of) on the scope.

I own the Heritage 130P (same optics as Explorer 130p) and is a very good starter scope to get into it. The issue i always found was you can basically tell yourself "for a little extra money i can get this". i know someone who owns the 150p who i regulary view with and i must admit i cant really notice much difference between the 130p or 150p.

However though i cant comment on the photo side of things, from what i have read webcams are better but i have zero knowledge on this.

Though the scope i have been very impressed with so far.

Hope some of this is helpful.

Andy

[LegendLeesV2]

Thank you for all the information and tips I appreciate it.

If I'm honest I'm not looking to grab photo's from deep in the space (yet), I do however want to be able to get some specific stars and of the moon. I am going to be using the telescope a lot just in general, using the camera with it is just a bonus to me.

I know with a good tripod and the camera itself I can grab some great images of the night sky and that excites me, I am going to be using the camera a lot for day time photography so I am happy with the Nikon choice.

I am now aware that I'm missing some equipment from the list now also which was helpful, thank you.

[Mike Hackenbacker]

we started out with the skywatcher 130m.then we bought a celestron nexstar 4.due to cloud cover not much chance to get them both out for a good workout and comparison,depending on what you want to do.view or photograph.each type of telescope has its pluses and minuses.consult the SGL gods to see what they say,as my advice is limited..