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Hi from Saudi Arabia! My name is Omar and I am an amatuer photographer. I used to take photos of the Moon using a telephoto lens (70-200) handheld. I read some articles about Astrophotography and I am really interested in exploring that wide, limitless sky. That been said, I came across the below equipment for Astrophotography, my budget is limited for now. Please be so kind and tell me what you think about the below, for Lunar, Solar and deep sky photography. I have a Canon T1i (500D).

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Omar :)

Orion Apex 102mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope - Orion

Orion Adventures in Astrophotography Bundle - Orion

1.25" Orion 13% Transmission Moon Filter - Orion

10mm Orion Sirius Plossl Telescope Eyepiece - Orion

1.25" Orion Universal Camera Adapter - Orion

Orion T-ring for Canon EOS Camera - Orion

4.57" ID Orion Full Aperture Solar Filter - Orion

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Welcome to the forum Omar!

I'm sure you will find the help you need :)

Tim

Thank you Tim, I am sure I came to the right place :(

I forgot to mention that I will be using the scope for long exposures.

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Hi Omar, welcome to the forum, you seem to have a comprehensive kit. :)

Hi Telead, thank you :( do you have any other recommendations? Like upgrading the finder scope or buy different eyepieces.

Btw, the mount is equipped with a motor. Is it essential for long exposures? Or mani better off with a steady tripod which can be used for normal photography?

Thank you..

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I would say that if you're satisfied with your images but feel that the addition of more equipment, such as a new EP or Finderscope would compliment your work and enhance your working practice then go for it. :( Personally, I would research further, read more threads and gather more info from the forum, prehaps ask more questions concerning what you want to achieve before you purchase more equipment. IMO ATB :)

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Hi Omar, welcome to SGL.

I think your Mak would be good for lunar, planetary and solar imaging (I see youhave a full apperture solar filter, well done!) I think that the focal ratio of small Mak would mean very long exposures for deep sky objects. This would need some heavy duty mounting and autoguiding.

Have a play with the Moon etc. with the kit you have first and see which direction your interest takes you.

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I would say that if you're satisfied with your images but feel that the addition of more equipment, such as a new EP or Finderscope would compliment your work and enhance your working practice then go for it. :( Personally, I would research further, read more threads and gather more info from the forum, prehaps ask more questions concerning what you want to achieve before you purchase more equipment. IMO ATB :)

This forum is rich and full of info. I don't know where to start haha..

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Hi Omar, welcome to SGL.

What is the mount ? I'm not familiar with the Orion stuff...

The Mak scope will produce nice results with the SLR and the moon. You may find, that mounting the camera and lenses to the mount (when driven) will allow you to get some lovely widefield stuff.

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Hi Omar, welcome to SGL.

I think your Mak would be good for lunar, planetary and solar imaging (I see youhave a full apperture solar filter, well done!) I think that the focal ratio of small Mak would mean very long exposures for deep sky objects. This would need some heavy duty mounting and autoguiding.

Have a play with the Moon etc. with the kit you have first and see which direction your interest takes you.

Hi Rik, thank you for passing by. I am still gathering more info about the differences between scopes. Telrad thankfully recommended a Schmidt-Cassegrain scope. I have to find out the differences between Maksutov-Cassegrain and Schmidt-Cassegrain.

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Hi Omar, welcome to SGL.

What is the mount ? I'm not familiar with the Orion stuff...

The Mak scope will produce nice results with the SLR and the moon. You may find, that mounting the camera and lenses to the mount (when driven) will allow you to get some lovely widefield stuff.

Hi John, please find below a link to the mount. It has a motor and weights. Thank you for the advice :)

Orion Adventures in Astrophotography Bundle | Orion Telescopes

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I'm no expert on the mounts, but it looks like an EQ1 or EQ2.. if you can sort out a way to polar align it (both myself and Steppenwolf have modded EQ1's with threads posted about them) you'll be able to get some good results on wide field imaging at shorter focal lengths (camera lenses). I do not believe you'll have the tracking accuracy to be able to do deep sky with the Mak, I'm afraid to say. If you get a webcam or something of similar ilk (high frame rate, small sensor) the Mak'll work quite nicely for Lunar and Planetary imaging.

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Hi Omar, welcome to SGL, have a search for "Polar Aligning" you will need to master this to take long exposures.
I'm no expert on the mounts, but it looks like an EQ1 or EQ2.. if you can sort out a way to polar align it (both myself and Steppenwolf have modded EQ1's with threads posted about them) you'll be able to get some good results on wide field imaging at shorter focal lengths (camera lenses). I do not believe you'll have the tracking accuracy to be able to do deep sky with the Mak, I'm afraid to say. If you get a webcam or something of similar ilk (high frame rate, small sensor) the Mak'll work quite nicely for Lunar and Planetary imaging.

I hope I got you mean; using a camera lens instead of telescope for long exposures?

Yes John its a EQ1 with a motor. I found another Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a mount and a motor I assume.

NexStar 6SE GoTo Schmidt-Cass Telescope | Telescope.com: Celestron

NexStar 8SE GoTo Schmidt-Cass Telescope | Telescope.com: Celestron

I just want to narrow down my research to the type of telescope I need.

Thank you all..I really do appreciate your help..

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The NexStar SE mounts are Alt Az so not ideal for Deep Sky, long exposures. I think they have a wedge (adjusts the mount to run in EQ mode, tracks the night sky) but I don't know how good it is.

If you're wanting to get into Deep Sky, then I'd suggest your first purchase should be

First Light Optics - Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards

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The NexStar SE mounts are Alt Az so not ideal for Deep Sky, long exposures. I think they have a wedge (adjusts the mount to run in EQ mode, tracks the night sky) but I don't know how good it is.

If you're wanting to get into Deep Sky, then I'd suggest your first purchase should be

First Light Optics - Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards

This sounds useful, thanks John.

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Which is more important, focal ratio or aperture? I found the below scopes a refractor and a reflector. Almost same specs, but the refractor is double the price! Which one would you recommend?

Orion SpaceProbe 130 EQ Reflector Telescope | Orion Telescopes

SkyView Pro 127mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope | Orion Telescopes

Orion SkyView Pro 120mm EQ Refractor Telescope | Orion Telescopes

Thank you in advance :)

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The focal ratio is more important, but as aperture also defines resolution that's important too. I'm on my phone at the mo so can't see the links, however I think you'll have issues with focus on the reflector (not enough in focus) the mak is great for the moon and planets, but too slow for deep sky. Have you considered the skywatcher 80ed ? It's a great bit of kit, and a shorter refractor makes things easier to operate and control for imaging.

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The focal ratio is more important, but as aperture also defines resolution that's important too. I'm on my phone at the mo so can't see the links, however I think you'll have issues with focus on the reflector (not enough in focus) the mak is great for the moon and planets, but too slow for deep sky. Have you considered the skywatcher 80ed ? It's a great bit of kit, and a shorter refractor makes things easier to operate and control for imaging.

Thank you for the clarification John. I'll check the skywatcher I hope they sell it in Amazon UK or US.

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Why Amazon ?? You'd probably be better off with a specialist... I took a look at the Orion, and I think it's an Achromat (only corrected for 2 colours, you get blue halos) whereas for imaing, you really need an ED or Apo scope.

This is the one I mentioned

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Evostar 80ED DS-Pro Outfit

As you can see it's not as cheap as those you mentioned.

A reflecter will work well and be cheaper than the refractor..

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 150P OTA

You really want something that's designed for imaging, rather than having to modify the scope.

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Why Amazon ?? You'd probably be better off with a specialist... I took a look at the Orion, and I think it's an Achromat (only corrected for 2 colours, you get blue halos) whereas for imaing, you really need an ED or Apo scope.

This is the one I mentioned

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Evostar 80ED DS-Pro Outfit

As you can see it's not as cheap as those you mentioned.

A reflecter will work well and be cheaper than the refractor..

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 150P OTA

You really want something that's designed for imaging, rather than having to modify the scope.

So my research now narrows down to Apochromatic Refractor telescope, which is suitable for DSO and Lunar/solar astrophotography?

That website doesn't ship to Saudi Arabia, most of online shops don't unfortunately. However, Amazon can ship anywhere.

Many thanks John for your assistance :)

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In asking for a scope that will do the moon and planets and deep sky objects you are asking for the almost impossible. Unless you spend thousands of dollars on a mount you will only get a mount capable of tracking accurately enough for short focal lengths, somewhere around a metre to a metre and a half. Sticking well below that is better till you become more expert. These short focal lengths are great for the deep sky and long exposures but are not ideal for the moon and planets. I think you just have to accept this, just as you accept that one camera lens cannot be both fisheye and telephoto.

If you already have long focal length camera lenses then what you might consider would be buying a good mount and using the camera and lenses. Here are two images taken with a Canon EF200L lens and our CCD cameras. Guiding at 200mm is dead easy compared with guiding at a metre.

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Photography/Widefield-images-including/SIMEIS-147-HArgb/1182345194_8j8Pv-X3.jpg

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Photography/Widefield-images-including/CONE-ROSETTE-HARGB/1178011112_8HpnY-X3.jpg

The second of those is a 2 panel mosaic. This next one is a 6 panel mosaic but taken with an 85mm Samyang lens - quite a cheap lens in fact.

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Photography/Widefield-images-including/ORION-FIN-V3-WEB/1169360248_zJFJG-X3.jpg

If you do want a deep sky telescope then the ED80 recomended above is very hard to beat, if it can be beaten at all for the price.

Olly

ollypenrice's Photos

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In asking for a scope that will do the moon and planets and deep sky objects you are asking for the almost impossible. Unless you spend thousands of dollars on a mount you will only get a mount capable of tracking accurately enough for short focal lengths, somewhere around a metre to a metre and a half. Sticking well below that is better till you become more expert. These short focal lengths are great for the deep sky and long exposures but are not ideal for the moon and planets. I think you just have to accept this, just as you accept that one camera lens cannot be both fisheye and telephoto.

If you already have long focal length camera lenses then what you might consider would be buying a good mount and using the camera and lenses. Here are two images taken with a Canon EF200L lens and our CCD cameras. Guiding at 200mm is dead easy compared with guiding at a metre.

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Photography/Widefield-images-including/SIMEIS-147-HArgb/1182345194_8j8Pv-X3.jpg

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Photography/Widefield-images-including/CONE-ROSETTE-HARGB/1178011112_8HpnY-X3.jpg

The second of those is a 2 panel mosaic. This next one is a 6 panel mosaic but taken with an 85mm Samyang lens - quite a cheap lens in fact.

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Photography/Widefield-images-including/ORION-FIN-V3-WEB/1169360248_zJFJG-X3.jpg

If you do want a deep sky telescope then the ED80 recomended above is very hard to beat, if it can be beaten at all for the price.

Olly

ollypenrice's Photos

Olly, these photos are spectacular!! I would need at least 2 yrs to get a shot like this :)

As an experienced Astromonist, do you recommend thatbI start with lunar and planetary photography first until I gain more experience and then involve myself in DSO?

Thank you so much :)

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