Upgrade for beginner

[mrwhippy99]

I know this may have been covered before but I'm struggling to find the answers I'd like.

I picked up a basic Celestron Newtonian 750mm (i think) scope a few months back really cheap. totally manual control.

I've had a tinker and play, can find planets and viewing the moon is great but onwards and upwards.

I grabbed a camera mount for my canon dslr and realised quickly that this is the wrong scope for photography.

I've been searching but i'm unsure of what to get.

i don't want to spend mega money.

i'd like something that tracks and can take the weight of the canon camera without too much issue.

I've spottted these 2:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-LCM-114-Computerised-Telescope/dp/tech-data/B0036GNNCC/ref=de_a_smtd

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-31145-Newtonian-Reflector-Telescope/dp/tech-data/B0007UQNNQ/ref=de_a_smtd

LCM 114 and Nexstar 130 SLT.

They're both around the price i'd like to spend.

I take these would help with their tracking ability?

I'm assuming the 130 is worth the extra £100+

or is there something else i should be looking at?

thanks for looking.

Around the right price i'd like to spend.

[Carbon Brush]

I would forget the Amazon offerings.

For long exposure photography you need an equatorial mount.

Why not look around for a 2nd hand mount (EQ5 and upwards) and hang your existing newt on there?

[mrwhippy99]

Would something like the old 130EQ with motor control be better?

But this doesn't have the goto type feature i waas after too.

I can figure out most objects with some apps but it'd be handy to just punch and go.

[Carbon Brush]

As a general rule, when a manufacturer packages a scope and mount together, he uses the smallest (cheapest) mount that he can. For visual use, this is OK. But when you look to photography, you need something a bit more rigid and a bit more accurate. Various people have quoted 1/2 to 2/3 of (visual) rated weight as a limit for using a mount photographically.

I suggested an EQ5 mount because this is generally considered good for an 8" newt visually and 6" photographically. I think your old Celestron is probably a 6" and you can buy this sort of size mount fairly easily 2nd hand. Having said that. I have used my CG5 with an SW200 and managed minute or two exposures. But it gets difficult. Replacing the scope by something smaller, or even DSLR & long lens, and everything gets easier.

When you have a good solid foundation (mount) you can start to think about the optics. No amount of spending on goto electronics or superb optics will get you past a wobbly or overloaded mount.

Hope this is useful.

David.

[JamesM]

If you are turning your attention towards imaging, may I suggest that you get hold of a copy of Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95) a sit will tell you what kit to buy and why you need it it to achieve the level of imaging that you are after. As David has already confirmed, imaging starts with the mount and this book will help provide you with a detailed overview that will help you formulate a realistic budget. Remember that although your focus might be on the collecting of date through the scope/mount, that is only one half of producing the final image, the remaining half is the processing. There are many great pieces of software that are free (thankfully) that will help you get started but equally there will be other software that will need to be paid for. Many manufacturers supply adapters with their scopes in the hope that they can encourage people to believe that they can simply attach their DSLR camera and click away to get a celestial image. Personally I think this is a little unfair and certainly misleading.

As an alternative, have you considered the idea of using a webcam. This type of imaging is of course limited to solar system objects (planets & moon). Being so much brighter when compared to deep sky objects (DSO's - galaxies and nebulae), tracking accuracy is not required to capture them. The best 'frames' are then selected from the video yo be stacked on top of each other using the free Registax programme to be able to construct the final composite image. It's the imaging of DSO's that requires greater tracking accuracy and the resulting expense of a very good mount.

Imaging is meant to be fun rather than frustrating and the way to secure this is, is to start with a good detailed overview that will allow you to decide how far you want to go - they don't call it the "dark art" for nothing and we don't want to see your first image of a black hole being the one in your wallet.

James

[mrwhippy99]

thanks for the info.

it's helped a lot.

I already have the mount for the camera and have snapped away with it but the results on anything over a fast shot are, lets be honest, pants.

shooting the moon is no problem but i'd like to venture further out so a new mount it is.

I'm already up to speed on the software, i think. just need to have a play on a good night.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for an eq5 up.