8" versus motorised 5"

[Scott]

sorry if the questions i'm asking seem stupid but i'm an extreme newbie. i'm trying to decide between a skywatcher 8" dob and a 5" skywatcher explorer 130p az goto. i know the 8" is more powerful but i'm wondering if you need a motorised scope for photography?

[Capricorn]

You need a motor for photography.

Alt/Az will handle web cam imaging that performs short exposure imaging and then you stack the resultant avi.

If you intend to go for the DSO aspects then you need a decent motorised EQ mount.

[assasincz]

I would go for 8" now and bother with motorised mount for astrophotography later, when I would get a hang of it

[Moonshane]

for photography (unless you mean webcam images of moon and planets) you really need a heavy duty equatorial mount. the cost of the OTA will then become relatively insignificant.

visually a 5" scope will give far less satisfactory views than an 8" scope - an 8" scope gathers 2.36x more light.

[Mr Spock]

The difference between 8" and 5" visually is the difference between serious observation and casual observation.

Photography can get very expensive, unless it's a few snaps of the moon you want.

[Scott]

ok i'm starting to get an idea of whats required. can you tell me if webcam imaging is possible with the 8" dob plz. thanks in advance.

[Moonshane]

it is possible, certainly with the motorised version but with skill and careful hand tracking some do it with manual dobs too. I have never tried to be honest - I'd sooner observe.