Telescope/Mount for Photography

[atomicrobokid]

Hi all,

I've just signed up and I'm going to be one of those annoying people who asks for advice straight away!

I need a mount and scope

Basically I've got an idea in my head of what I want but no idea what to get. I love my photography (canon 600d) and would love to start Photographing the night sky, especially galaxies, nebulae etc.

It's got to be a GoTo type mount so I can track over long exposures, and be steady.

As for the scope itself I'm thinking of a reflector but no idea what one. Dobsonians are too large and I'd like to pick it up and take it out of the house into the country.

Ideally it'd be an all in one scope/mount package but not against buying them separately!

What do I need to connect the 600d and get started?

I've not mentioned budget yet, I'm a bit flexible (I can save for longerif necessary) but around £1k or less ideally.

I'm definitely an amateur (hence the GoTo!) but I want to see Saturns rings, Andromeda etc in detail at decent magnification.

Am I asking/expecting too much?

Thanks guys,

Ryan

[Carl83]

I'm not going to answer the photography question as I'm too inexperienced.

I will say, however, that I've had a bad experience with auto goto. I had a skywatcher 127 mak with autogoto and found myself wasting time trying to set the auto goto up and spent less time enjoying myself observing. I then traded it in for a 200p on an eq5 without any motors. I am so pleased I did! Ive spent more time looking at the sky and less time swearing at a goto mount.

Cheers

Carl

[littlebeagle]

Dobsonian isn't suitable for astrophotgraphy other than the moon and planets. Whatever you get will need to be on a eq mount.

[Jon Sales]

Depends on your budget really.

How much do you want to spend?

You need a tracking mount, the more you spend on one the better. Either a Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro or Celestron CG5 at the very least. HEQ6 if you can afford it.

These at high quality tracking eq mounts which are computerised.

Then you need to look at which scopes you want. Most wide field AP is done with an 80mm refractor, preferably an ED of some sort. You will then need a guidescope and an Autoguider which plugs in to your mount and is controlled by a laptop.

The Autoguider locks onto a guide star and makes all the adjustments to the mount to keep everything on target to avoid star trails. Any AP over a couple of minutes at most will need to be guided.

Look at spending in the region of £1600 and you will have an excellent set up.

Hope this helps

[E621Keith]

Basic AP package appears to be:

HEQ5 £750

ED80 £400

ST80 guide scope + QHY5 autoguider + dual mount bar £350

I'm sure the imagers here will tell you, you can't cut corners on the mount.

[DOBBY]

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 200P HEQ5 PRO

would give you a good visual set-up & is highly useable as a starter for astro-photography for under a grand...add guide-scope etc as funds allow.

as above tho...it's all in the mount..an NEQ6 would be the one to aim for..but heavy & expensive

[swag72]

This book First Light Optics - Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards is an excellent read and is something of the imagers bible. It will give you a real feel for astrophotography and what it entails. Will probably answer loads of questions as well. A good investment that could save you a lot of money and hassle if you get the wrong stuff!

[atomicrobokid]

Thanks guys that's been a great help so far!

Short term i was looking at getting a 200p on the EQ5 mount as a cheapy just for getting back into astronomy (it's been 10 years since I was last into it!)

My long term goal is the 300p on HEQ5 Pro Synscan mount.

I suppose my final question is is the 300p that much better than the 200p to justify the cost? I know it's an extra 100mm wider, so can capture more light. Are reflectors ideal for Astrophotography? I know one of you mentioned 80mm refractors are generally used for AP, but would a 200mm or 300mm reflector be just as good/better?

@swag72, i'll check that book out thanks!

Thanks

Ry

[eddy]

As far as i know, it boils down to focal ratio (focal length) and weight, hence why the small 80mm refractors are very popular with AP, they have a good wide field view, and generally are very light weight

[pel]

I've got the SW 200p/eq5/Canon 350d as a starter setup for AP.

My goal is an ED80 refractor on an NEQ6.

You don't neccessarily need Goto for AP, guiding is another option. It makes finding the cataloged objects a lot easier to find though especially if you have moderate to high Light polution.

[DOBBY]

the HEQ5 Pro won't take the 300 for A/P... you'll need a minimum of NEQ6 for that

[atomicrobokid]

Thanks for the help guys, I'm sure i have more questions when I think of them. I'm just confused with the "refractors better than reflectors" for photography idea. I'm sure i'm missing something from inexperience, but for photography, i'd assume the wider the aperture, the better?

So surely a 80mm ED80 (f/7.5) wouldn't be as good as the f/5 and 200mm of the 200p?

Like i say i'm sure i'm missing something because i'm a relative novice

Thanks

[E621Keith]

The mount is most important.

A ED80 on a mount that track well will beat a 200p on one that doesn't. A ED80 is much lighter than a 200p, so it will be less demanding on the mount.

You need to think about the mount before you think about the scope.

[eddy]

With AP its not REALLY about the scope, its more about the camera and the mount

The scope is important though but only really dictates chromatic abberation and field of view more than anything, ie. an SCT @ F12 would be useless for something like the Rosette Nebula since it would just engulf the whole FOV and wouldnt fit in the FOV

Where as, a small 80mm F7 would get it all in. Hope that helps

[Carl M]

Aperture is irrelevant in astrophotography, the faster the f/# the more data you are going to collect. However, fast f/# scopes tend to be reflectors and with that you have to deal with collimation and coma to ensure you keep round star shapes. That is why people tend to go for 80mm apochromat refractors because you don't need to worry about collimation and with a focal reducer they can be made to have a faster f/#, as well as having a wider field of view. Refractors have a lot less maintenance compared to reflectors. An ED80 on an HEQ5 would serve as a good setup.

[ScubaMike]

First things first.

I love my photography (canon 600d) and would love to start Photographing the night sky, especially galaxies, nebulae etc.

for these objects a smaller aperture apo refractor with a fast F ratio (6 or less) is your tool of choice. These would give you the FOV you require. Click on this link (12 Dimensional String) for what the FOV will be for different scopes with the 600D. (I too have a 600D, just been given it for my birthday). Be aware that unless you modify it, it is a little insensitive in the red end of the spectrum, so you will need longer exposures as a result.

It's got to be a GoTo type mount so I can track over long exposures, and be steady.

You're getting mixed up. What you need to track is a motorised EQ mount. GoTo is additional. GoTo takes you to the object, but tracking is via the motorised EQ mount. CGEM or NEQ6 would be your tool of choice here.

As for the scope itself I'm thinking of a reflector but no idea what one. Dobsonians are too large and I'd like to pick it up and take it out of the house into the country.

Dob mounts tend to be lighter than decent EQ mounts (at least those EQ's that are suitable for AP).

Small aperture refractor again. small. light, no collomation issues, and the mount isn't strained.

What do I need to connect the 600d and get started?

DSLR Max - EOS fitting to a 2inch nosepiece.

Try scopes 'n' skies (Ian King has stopped stocking them).

I've not mentioned budget yet, I'm a bit flexible (I can save for longerif necessary) but around £1k or less ideally.

You can spend £1k on a good mount, but it should serve you well for future scopes too.

I'm definitely an amateur (hence the GoTo!) but I want to see Saturns rings, Andromeda etc in detail at decent magnification.

Two different things. For planetary imaging, you need a long focal length (cF20-F30), which is far from ideal for galaxies/nebulae (which require a fast F-ratio which generally means shorter F-ratio.

PS We're all amateurs here

[atomicrobokid]

Thanks for the replies! I've now seen the 190MN which looks superb, which throws a spanner in the works!

Or the 100ED, 200/300p, NEQ6

At some point I'll have to make a decision

Ry

[iwatkins]

Tough call Ry,

I was in the same boat as you starting out. I had a Canon 7D already.

But I took the good advice and went straight for the NEQ6 mount. Its the only powered mount I've owned since, even though I'm onto my fifth telescope tube.

Imaging I started with the mount and 80ED. I'm still imaging with it today for deep sky objects with my 7D.

I put a 180Mak on the mount instead for planetary and lunar imaging. Again with 7D or webcam.

And I put a PST on the mount for solar Ha imaging. Again with the 7D or webcam.

The only common bits? The mount and the cameras, as Eddy pointed out.

So I guess my advice is? Get the best mount you can afford. You might not need it's features or weight capacity now, but you soon will.

Cheers

Ian

[Ags]

Just wondering - what lenses do you have for your 600D? You can take great pics using camera lenses, no need for a scope. If you have great lenses already, maybe spend your money on a good mount and leave the scope for later?

[canadave]

Just wondering - what lenses do you have for your 600D? You can take great pics using camera lenses, no need for a scope. If you have great lenses already, maybe spend your money on a good mount and leave the scope for later?

I highly recommend this route. I'm in the exact same boat...just have a Canon 60D, and looking to get into astrophotography. Since the mount is BY FAR the most important factor in AP, and since you and I are new to the game, I recommend you grab a good mount, use the heck out of it with your camera alone, and once you've learned the vagaries of the mount and what it can/can't do, THEN you can decide what scope you want. That way you'll minimize the early beginner mistakes while you learn. And you can still take some amazing photos with just the camera.

That's my plan, anyway