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I've spent most of the last few days in the "search" tool... but I'm still undecided/unclear :p on what to pick as my first telescope (well, second as the first one was probably over 20 years ago....).

In a nutshell, this is what I'm after.

_must be small and easy to carry around

_good for general astro photography

_planets/moon, general DSO's and general sky observation

with a budget of up to £500(ish) :eek:

Narrowed it down to the following ones

Maksutov-Cassegrains

Skywatcher Skymax 127

SkyWatcher Skymax 150 PRO

Refractor

SkyWatcher Evostar-80ED

Skywatcher Startravel series 80 to 150

I know you can't have a all-around scope in my budget ;) but out my list which one do you think is the most suitable please?

If you think they are other scopes similar to my list which would match what I'm after, please do let me know.

Gonzo

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You can't have an all-around scope in any budget. The laws of physics work against you on that one :p For example, good AP rigs involve heavy mounts which are not "small and easy to carry around." Telescopes on lighter mounts will shake too much for good AP but will be easier to use.

I'm confused as to what you're after, though. Some of those which you've listed are over 400 quid for the optical tube alone. With a good mount for astro-photography you will be pushing a grand. Well above budget. I see that the Skywatcher 120 on an EQ3-2 mount is within your budget, however. I have no idea of its suitability for AP.

Of the things you list, what are your priorities? You just need to keep in mind that with a small budget the astro-photography will be of the "basic" variety and you won't be producing those stunning photos you see in the magazines. If you're OK with that, then a good refractor may be your best bet.

One option is to buy a nice refractor now and mount on an alt/az mount. Save up and buy a good heavy equatorial mount in the future. That way you have both "grab and go" and imaging options.

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You can't have an all-around scope in any budget. The laws of physics work against you on that one :p For example, good AP rigs involve heavy mounts which are not "small and easy to carry around." Telescopes on lighter mounts will shake too much for good AP but will be easier to use.

I'm confused as to what you're after, though. Some of those which you've listed are over 400 quid for the optical tube alone. With a good mount for astro-photography you will be pushing a grand. Well above budget. I see that the Skywatcher 120 on an EQ3-2 mount is within your budget, however. I have no idea of its suitability for AP.

Of the things you list, what are your priorities? You just need to keep in mind that with a small budget the astro-photography will be of the "basic" variety and you won't be producing those stunning photos you see in the magazines. If you're OK with that, then a good refractor may be your best bet.

One option is to buy a nice refractor now and mount on an alt/az mount. Save up and buy a good heavy equatorial mount in the future. That way you have both "grab and go" and imaging options.

Skywatcher 120 you can get the EQ5 mount for not much more, then add the Synscan later (a little bit more than waiting and buying it with it prefitted in the GOTOPRO version).

I wouldn't recommend the 3-2 considering the EQ5 mount is only a "little" bit more.

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umadog,

I'm aware I won't be taking picture like Hubble can, but you got to start somewhere :p Planning to attach my Lumix GF1 to it.

I agree that the mount can be as equally important as the scope you attach to it, saw some at untouchable prices...

Will be scouring fleebay for some bargain price on mounts.

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The 127 is great for lunar and planetary but no good really for dsos

Cheers

That's what I've found out on this forum.

This might of a newbie question and probably very stupid, but with your SW127 when you point it at the sky, what do you see?

Do you have any pictures you took with it please?

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You do, indeed, have to start somewhere. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise :p I was just asking what your priorities were because if you're really set on AP then the refractors people are talking about are probably a good starting point. However, as people say, the DSO visual views won't be so hot and perhaps you don't want to make that compromise. Aperture is important but don't forget that for AP the image brightness depends strongly on the focal ratio. IIRC, brightness (and therefore exposure time) depends directly on the angular diameter subtended by the objective as viewed from the image plane (1 focal length). This is the equivilent of eyepiece exit pupil when visual observing. Magnification depends on the focal length. The size of the point-spread function depends on aperture and so resolution depends on aperture. Faster scopes are more expensive because optical aberrations become harder to control when you're bending light more strongly. High refractive index glass is more expensive, too. Perhaps a good starting point would be a good AP book, such as "making every photon count"?

Here is a gallery showing images taken with the sort of scopes were talking about: Wolf123 personal photo gallery on ScopeTrader.com Some of those images are pretty good! The devil's in the details, of course. You also need to know how the OTA is mounted, what the detector is, how the images were taken, how experienced the photographer is, etc. A particular OTA can produce bad or good results depending on those things.

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I was wondering why your shortlist didn't include any newtonians as they make great all-round value-for money scopes. You could get a cheapie to get some experience on and buy a more expensive type in a year or two when you have a better idea what you want to concentrate on.

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That's what I've found out on this forum.

This might of a newbie question and probably very stupid, but with your SW127 when you point it at the sky, what do you see?

Do you have any pictures you took with it please?

Trouble is what the eye sees is generally nothing like the pictures taken through scopes - imaging (as it's called) uses data capture and processing techniques that our eyes just can't compete with.

To see examples of what you see visually though scopes have a look at some of the posts in the Sketching section of the forum. Bear in mind though that the artists are experienced observers but it should give you some idea.

Welcome to the forum by the way :p

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The Skywatcher 80ED is a benchmark scope for AP however you might find the aperture a bit limiting for visual then again it will do all you ask to varying degrees and is portable. It wouldn't be a bad first scope that's for sure!

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if I were you, and assuming that imaging will be your main focus eventually, I'd buy the best mount I could justify / afford. I'd then start with some wide field shots with my camera attached.

after that and once I knew a bit more about what imaging involves, I'd give up and sell the mount and buy a large dobsonian and some good quality eyepieces. but that's me, a visual only observer :p

seriously though, I feel my first option might be a good start.

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Well, the more I looked the more I was getting annoyed with not being able to pick one. Until today, I picked up a bargain William Optics Megrez 72mm.

As I'm planning to do more astrophotography than just watching, a refractor is the right one for me I believe.

Will post pictures of the scope and my first views on it when I get it.

Gonzo

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