Skywatcher Skyliner 300P FlexTube Dobsonian

[asteele3]

Would this telescope be any good for good visual views and equally good imaging?

[swamp thing]

Hi there

Great/superb for visual.

For imaging it can do webcam stuff but deep sky......forget it.

[asteele3]

that's answered my question!

They'll probably get fed up with me by all the threads I'm making!

I was 90% certain on buying the ED80 Pro but I just think the views won't be much better than my previous 1145p SkyHawk scope! I really want to get a telescope where I get better views but I can also take good images and I'm not sure whether or not the ED80 will allow me to do this because it's only 80mm! My spotting scope is 80mm!

[ccbmedic]

Your spotting scope is just that though!! The ED80 is a different ball game altogther. Obviously its all budget dependant so if aperature is your thing then look at the ED100's at FLO for 250 quid cheaper than the flextube, which you could then put towards something else.

[sgazer]

viewing scopes generally have different requirements to imaging scopes, however something like a 150pds has an aperture which will give reasonable views, but is light, compact, cheap and fast enough for imaging on a HEQ5 which is also light, compact and reasonably priced.

I found the 150 to be a reasonable cross over point. Anything bigger favours visual, but is heavier, longer focal length, requiring a better mount, better tracking and is more difficult to handle. Anything smaller is no good for visual (I mean DSOs, you can do planets and moon with a 80mm ED frac and it will be wonderful). Even in a 150, dso will be faint smudges. They'll be brighter smudges in a 300 dob, but useless for imaging DSOs.

[Moonshane]

many people take excellent images with 6" newtonians and a relatively inexpensive mount (e.g. RikM) and they do give pretty decent views for their aperture but make no mistake, visually there's a world of difference between a 6" and a 12" scope. there is also a HUGE difference in size too and I'd recommend you see a big dob in the flesh before you buy. Personally, although I liked the nice wide views of a 90mm f5.5 refractor I had recently, I quickly got bored of them from my light polluted site. if you live in a dark place then it would be much better. my 16" dob works superbly wherever it is.

the 100mm frac mentioned might be a bit less than the dob mentioned (I have not checked prices) but surely you'd need a good mount on that and mounting a 100mm frac for imaging is not cheap.

personally, I'd buy a good used mount and then try your current scope on that for some basic imaging. if you get the bug then you can upgrade and concentrate on AP. if like many you find it sucks up too much time and effort then sell the lot, probably for the same money, and buy a big dob for visual.

I am purely visual so may not appreciate some of the finder points of AP.