Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX Dobsonian

[Mud5870]

hi guy. Im still debating which scope to get after a week or so of reading on here all the great comments and advice. but i still have a burning question. Would the Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX Dobsonian be ok for astro photgraphy with a dslr?

At the moment i'm just using my canon 550d on a normal tripod.

[RikM]

Do you mean the Auto / GoTo flextube dobs or the solid tube? The auto versions can be used with a webcam to get great planetary shots. The undriven solid tube 250PX could possibly be used with a DSLR to get single shots of the moon, but that's about it.

If you are looking to do deep sky astrophotography a small ED refractor on a driven equatorial mount is the way to go.

Not as much fun for looking through though

[Tinker1947]

Astro Photography requires a Equatorial mount a 250mm reflector would need a NEQ6 mount, cutting down the size, a 200mm would need a HEQ5, its not cheap part of the hobby...

[Mud5870]

I ws thinking the solid tube. But i suppose im asking to much from one scope. Maybe i should get a smaller dob for viewing. What would be the cheapest for deep sky perhaps just tracking, Not worried about goto.

[Mud5870]

Thanks Tinker. maybe i could use the DSLR on the mount as well. do i need tracking to start with?

[RikM]

For deep sky astrophotography you really need a driven equatorial mount. Rather than an altaz like a Dob.

The mount is the most important part of any deep sky imaging system, not the scope. In fact a small light telescope or good camera lens will in most cases outperform a big scope on a mount that is not up to the job.

Are you only interested in imaging or visual observing as well?

[Mud5870]

Both Rik. If i can get away with it.

I Tried the moon last break in the clouds with just the camera and a tripod with a 300mm zoom lense. Mind it didnt come out to sharp.

no processing, just cropped.

[SeedyF]

For excellent views with tracking in dob format I doubt you could go wrong with a skywatcher 200. You can get it in flextube version, not sure about solid tube.

As others have said dobs on alt az mounts aren't really what you want for astrophotography, although I know some people on here and facebook who have been quite successful with the goto dobs.

[RikM]

If you want to have a go at both then your best bet would be a small Newtonian on the biggest mount you can afford. Tracking motors are essential! You don't need GoTo, but it is nice to have. This will be a compomise though and effort will be required to make it work for you.

The problem is that most of the 'bundles' you get from suppliers are set up for visual observing and the mount is simply not up to the job for good astrophotography.

You should be able to get some nice starter images but it will be hard work. If you take a look at my deep sky album, all my images up to and including the Andromeda galaxy image were taken with a 150P on a driven EQ3-2. All the better ones from then on were the same scope on an NEQ6 so you can see the sort of improvement a proper mount makes.

The best thing you could do is to get a copy of Steve Richards book First Light Optics - Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards this sets out everything you need to know and will stop you wasting money on too big a scope on too small a mount. The initial rush of getting something on (digital) film soon wears off.

Don't let any of this put you off though, it's a great hobby and you can get some fantastic images.

[Mud5870]

Some reall great pics Rik. So its a deffo for an EQ mount. best i can afford then, think about wich scope i can aafford to put on it Thx for the advice.

I suspect you can buy a motor drive wich tracks without the goto?

[Mud5870]

makes note to oneself to use speel checker

[RikM]

Bolt on tracking motors for the smaller visual mounts are avaialable separately, but you only have GoTo options for the bigger mounts. If you can afford it, the HEQ5 is the mount you want to be aiming for.

[Mud5870]

First Light Optics - Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO Synscan

bit pricey.

may have to go for the First Light Optics - Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO Synscan on a normal eq5

goto

[Mud5870]

looks like im going down this rout thaks again guys.

Shopping BasketPremium Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece1Skywatcher DSLR-M48 Ring Adapter1

Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ51

Skywatcher Dual LED1

Dual-Axis D.C. Motor Drive for EQ51

StarSharp Bahtinov Focus Masks1

[RikM]

That is a good set up for visual use but for astrophotography, the scope is too big and the mount too small to get really good images. It will get you started though and will allow you to learn the ropes while you save up for a smaller scope and a better mount.

Have fun with it

[Mud5870]

If i went for th Skywatcher Explorer-150P DS instead of the 200p would this be ok on the eq5 mount or would you still go for the HEQ5?

sorry for being a pain. but i want the best i can afford.

[RikM]

150PDS and HEQ5 with a finderguider is a great astrophotography set-up but it really comes down to your own priorities.

Visually, the 200P has more aperture than the 150P and this actually makes quite a significant difference...visually! For astrophotography, the difference in aperture is irrelevant because they are both f/5 so give the same image brightness on the chip. The difference will be that the 150P will give a wider field of view, be easier to mount and more forgiving of tracking inaccuracies. (because of it's shorter focal length).

Either scope would be better on the HEQ5 than the EQ5. The 150PDS better for imaging and the 200P better for visual use. Performance wise a 200P on an HEQ5 would probably be the best compromise if you want to do both only one scope but it's a fair bit of faffing about for visual use and still not very stable for AP.

My thought process when I started was that I wasn't sure if I wanted to image or not so I bought the cheapest combo available that would let me try. 150P / EQ3-2. I knew at the outset this was not much good for either but entry level for both visual and imaging. I decided I did like both and couldn't decide between them so I bought a bigger mount for the 150P to image with and a larger dobsonian for visual use. I don't think any one scope/mount can really do both visual and imaging well unless you spend big bucks.

[Mud5870]

Thanks again for your thoughts Rik. I think in the long run i'll probs be doing more AP than Visual. I'm not sure about going down the route of adding guiding so i think the 150 setup will suffice for a while to come. I suspect i'll add a web cam at a later date to try planets. But for now. DSO AP is my main target espesially with all the images i have already seen on SGL. I still may go down the route with my DSLR on the HEQ5 with my 300mm lense and get a scope to add later.

[RikM]

I still may go down the route with my DSLR on the HEQ5 with my 300mm lense and get a scope to add later.

Not a bad plan. For DSO imaging it's all in the mount! Proper imaging mounts start with the HEQ5. The EQ3-2 & EQ5 will get you started but are only for playing really.