Did I miss anything?

[dmahon]

I was asked the following question:

My boss wants to buy his wife a telescope. Under £500, with a goto system and it needs to be portable so they can go out in the car with it.

Needs to be able to attach to an SLR camera and be easy to set up and look after.

Are you able to suggest two or three options? There seems to be too much choice out there!

And gave the following advice:

Depends what he wants to take photos of - unfortunately the photography part makes it expensive, as does the GOTO.

"Deep sky" photography (galaxies and nebulas) require a mount that tracks in an equatorial fashion, whereas planets and the moon do not.

Galaxies and planets require a scope that zooms in a lot (long focal length) but the moon and nebulas require the opposite.

You can see why many people have more than one scope!

Please also visit Stargazers Lounge - Astronomy Forum for advice.

Anyway, here are a few options at that price point.

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2 / EQ3 PRO GOTO

(although I would STRONGLY suggest he speaks to them and tries to offer the £100 difference for an EQ5 rather than the EQ3 in the package if he is really interested in any photography).

Best all rounder. Larger, but easily portable in a car. Most commonly recommended.

First Light Optics - SE Series

Largest he can afford - will give best view of planets, highest magnification.

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Startravel 102 SynScan AZ GOTO

(photos will have some colour fringing at the edges, as refractors need to be ED or better, which means expensive, to avoid this).

Easiest to look after and to set up.

Did I miss anything?

[dmahon]

No alternatives?

[Shibby]

The "easy to set up and look after" bit leads me to suggest refractor, particularly if they're gonna be transporting it around in the car, it would probably need regular collimation...

Don't forget the power tank!