mak 127 or APO ED 80mm Help?!

[h1r00]

Hi people, looks very, very cool here. Well hi girls, boys........

I have a bit of dilemma. I own reflector 130mm f/900mm on EQ 2 mount ( skywatcher) it served me pretty well for the last 4 years and it is amazing scope for the money. I feel I want to step up and do some astro photography and be honest, something more portable. I know the 130mm tube is tiny when you compare with the big guns, but I live in apartment so do not have permanent observation ‘’spot’’ and lift is always broken, so it is no fun to drag the whole gear down ( be honest I use the balcony a lot)

Back to the point, I did loads of research and just need pat on the back/or telling of....... please just let me know if I got it right.

My budget is about £500 if I am very nice to my wife maybe £600 J

I set my heart on TS 80mm apo ed doublet refractor and also some german company is selling unmarked 80mm APO doublet for about £400 they are f/6.5. The mak is ‘’cheap’’ option but the only think that puts me of is the field view, it can by a bit narrow?! And also the APO have 2’’ dual speed focuser, which will be bonus for the photo. I just don’t want cheap option and after 2 months regret.

What about the skywatcher equinox 80mm APO ED f/5?!

Please can you give me some advice, which way to go?

Thank you for any heads up J

[angusb1]

Hi J,

It really depends on what kind of astrophotography you would like to do. If you want to do planetary imaging the Mak 127 will be very good because planetary targets are bright and so a slower scope will be fine as long as it has good contrast. Tracking the object is not as critical as with DSOs because the targets are relatively bright so you need shorter exposure times and therefore any tracking errors show up less.

If you want to image DSOs you will need a mount that can track (and ideally autoguide), and you will need a scope which is fairly fast (low F ratio). This is because the targets are very dim and so you need long exposures. An 80mm apochromat is ideal for this.

If you plan to try DSO imaging you should get a copy of "Making Every Photon Count" and read it. It will give you the information you need to make sure you buy the right equipment and will save you a lot of money and many hours of your time.

Hope this helps.

[damnut]

Hi There,

Good advice from Angus, to be fair you can probably pick up a second hand mak reasonably and a small apo. However as above if you are going to strike out into imaging the mount will eat your budget, if you start out visual only with the apo and mak you can then move to imaging at a later date!. Don't forget to keep some pennies for a couple of good ep's.

I hope I have not added to the confusion!!!.