Do you think this is sensible?

[Malcnascar]

Hello, I have just retired (ill health, not wealth) and want to develop my interest in photography to the sky. It looks like my new passtime could take a good bit of cash. I have decided, therefore, to take things a bit slowly at first.

I was thinking of getting some serious kit like SkyWatcher Explorer 200 PDS HEQ5 Pro and mating it to a Canon EOS 550D. However, in looking on Ebay there are a lot of listings for virtually unused telescopes and it occurs that it might be best to try at a more modest level and then move on as my interest develops or dare I say does not.

I think that a visit to a local astronomic society and the purchase of a second hand starter scope for under £100 is the way to go. Do you think this would be a good starter Celestron astromaster 130 eq md, and strategy?

[Ganymede12]

When you say develop do you mean that you have already taken some? Are you new to Astronomy or just astrophotography?

[Jessun]

So many routes to take... One way could be to start off with the trusted Skywatcher ED80 or similar. It has a wide enough field - especially when focal reduced - to image nicely for shorter unguided subs. If you get the bug and upgrade this scope can serve as a visual grab and go, a travel scope, a guide scope mated to this upgrade or indeed still do cracking 'wide-ish field' imaging. The HEQ5 you mentioned can in my experience cope with an 8" scope PLUS the ED80.

But you'll get loads of ideas from this thread I'd imagine!

Good luck and welcome to SGL!

[The Sailor]

First of all welcome, and secondly, take it slow and easy. I say that as first you said you are not well, telescope mounts are heavy and could take a toll on your body moving it around, also it costs a lot of money if you have not got the money to layout. Yes, go to a local society and check out what is the best way forward, you may be able to pick up some cheap bits of kit. I am sure you will get a lot of advice from the members here, a lot well informed.

Jim

[Naemeth]

First of all welcome, and secondly, take it slow and easy. I say that as first you said you are not well, telescope mounts are heavy and could take a toll on your body moving it around, also it costs a lot of money if you have not got the money to layout. Yes, go to a local society and check out what is the best way forward, you may be able to pick up some cheap bits of kit. I am sure you will get a lot of advice from the members here, a lot well informed.

Jim

+1

Visit a local astronomical society so you can get an idea of how heavy these telescopes are. Even my (small) 130P Heritage is 7kg, and that is considered mini. Mounts you need for imaging tend to either be HEQ5s or NEQ6, which are over 10kg, and over 15kg I think. The 200P on top of that might make it 25kg of gear not including eyepieces, counterweights, cameras etc. No-one would want you to hurt yourself, so just take some time to get to know the scopes in person, and even email some suppliers or retailers to help you. First Light Optics would be a very good place to continue for some advice, in addition using the search tool should yield useful information about the weight of the accessories you will need.

[cantab]

want to develop my interest in photography to the sky.

The meaning I'm taking from this is that you already have experience in terrestrial photography. If you already have a DSLR, you can get started right away with the camera on a fixed tripod for widefield shots and star trails. Then I believe for astrophotography the mount is the most important thing, so get the most robust that you can afford - and physically manage!

[faulksy]

quite hard what to tell you of what direction to go in due to everyone being different. if you have always been interested in the heavens then thats a good start and you could stay with this great hobby of ours or you might not like it.i started of with a cheap tasco reflector and loved it even though i couldnt see sod all realy i knew if i upgraded i would see more so i did several times untill i got the scope thats in my signature, but so many pepole start out with a scope that cost around a £100 and are disapointed and sell up and never return to this great hobby all because there out fit wasnt capable or they thought they would see more, best bet is to go to a astro club and have a look through there kit or ask on here some one local to you then you know its for you and you can then spend all you want, hope this helps. and sorry to woffle

[UnderTheRain]

Having recently started in astronomy with my main goal being astrophotography I went for a 250pds on an eq6 the scope is absolutely fantastic having said that my advice would me to go for a refractor to start with only because setup is easier and quicker. With the bad weather and work commitments this year I've not had much time at all to play with my system and the one thing thats been frustrating is by the time I've setup everything the clouds have blown over and or it's started raining. Get a smalled scope and try things out to see if you like it for me personally even though I haven't used my kit much I plan on building and obsy/shed to house it in which will massively increase my usage.

To begin with get a small dob or refractor as you will use them more (although these scopes wont be a great setup for photography the 550d though is an awesome camera I would heartily recommend it) and if you like the hobby then get the 200 and eq5 later. I have an st80 which is very cheap which purchased as a guide scope that I have found I use as a grab and go as much as anything. The st80 is a great little scope but it does suffer from some chromatic abberation which means its not great for photography but it will definately give you some great views whilst you're starting out and if you get into ap more seriously later as I said its a fantastic guide scope. Everyone I'm sure will recommend a book called Making every photon count get it and have a read it might seem a little technical if you're new but it will explain everything you need to know about taking photos of space.

UTR

[sologuitarist61]

Hello, I have just retired (ill health, not wealth) and want to develop my interest in photography to the sky. It looks like my new passtime could take a good bit of cash. I have decided, therefore, to take things a bit slowly at first.

I was thinking of getting some serious kit like SkyWatcher Explorer 200 PDS HEQ5 Pro and mating it to a Canon EOS 550D. However, in looking on Ebay there are a lot of listings for virtually unused telescopes and it occurs that it might be best to try at a more modest level and then move on as my interest develops or dare I say does not.

I think that a visit to a local astronomic society and the purchase of a second hand starter scope for under £100 is the way to go. Do you think this would be a good starter Celestron astromaster 130 eq md, and strategy?

All good ideas malcnascar, especially the secondhand telescope bit, there are bargains out there that you can get for a considerable saving over new prices. However I wouldn't buy anything blind unless you know the seller and/or they have a good reputation. If possible look at the scope before purchase (SGL members excepted - we are an honest bunch). It doesn't have to be at night; looking through it in day light will show up obvious faults like mirror misalignment or whatever - if you can get a good sharp view during the daytime then in all probability you will when used under the stars as well. An honest buyer will ne more than happy fpor you to look at the scope before purchase. The same applies to eyepieces which enable to you to buy good EP's for a lot less than over the counter. The most important thing is to get a 'named' telescope, if you don't know of the name then ask on here and you will soon be put straight. Names like Celestron, Skywatcher, Meade are all respected makers of affordable telescope, but there are some foreign products which look good, but should be avoided like the plague. As I say, if in doubt start a thread on here. Good luck and welcome to SGL

[Saleratus]

I would recommend you decide what you want and wait until a good deal comes up on something second hand. Try the U.K. Astro buy sell site. There's an active market in used astronomy equipment and you can always resell your kit again if you decide you want something else.

But I'd visit a local astronomy society first for help deciding what you really want.

[Malcnascar]

When you say develop do you mean that you have already taken some? Are you new to Astronomy or just astrophotography?

Perhaps a wrong choice of word, I am new to astronomy, but did a project on the solar system whilst at primary school, I have a bit of retained knowlege from that project and can point out the planets visible to the naked eye and some of the major constalations but no more than that. I like landscape photography and see the sky as a facinating landscape which is waiting to be explored. However, terestial landscape photography is hard enough to get right and I am lucky enough to be able to chuck some cash at my hobbies but as with most things in life I dont yet know if my interest is a passing whim hence the desire to seek advice before I splash the cash, having wasted cash on a studio lighting set up years ago.

I am sorry to have been unclear in my original post. I regard my self as a landscape photographer looking at a new subject of which my knowledge is very limited. I wouldn't expect to jump straight into astrophotography without basic astronomy knowledge unless I had cash to waste, which I dont. I am keen to learn and thank you for your point which will help me when I seek further help from all of you.

[Malcnascar]

First of all welcome, and secondly, take it slow and easy. I say that as first you said you are not well, telescope mounts are heavy and could take a toll on your body moving it around, also it costs a lot of money if you have not got the money to layout. Yes, go to a local society and check out what is the best way forward, you may be able to pick up some cheap bits of kit. I am sure you will get a lot of advice from the members here, a lot well informed.

Jim

Thanks for this Jim, I can see already that there is so much well informed advice here and I hope over time that I too will be giving the benefit of my experience. On the health side I'm OK my body for some reason has decided not to control its temperature in a normal manner, just means some times I'm to cold and other times too hot seems to baffle the medics. I worked with the public and my employer didnt think a soaking wet employee was a good image and pensioned me off, no big deal really

[Malcnascar]

quite hard what to tell you of what direction to go in due to everyone being different. if you have always been interested in the heavens then thats a good start and you could stay with this great hobby of ours or you might not like it.i started of with a cheap tasco reflector and loved it even though i couldnt see sod all realy i knew if i upgraded i would see more so i did several times untill i got the scope thats in my signature, but so many pepole start out with a scope that cost around a £100 and are disapointed and sell up and never return to this great hobby all because there out fit wasnt capable or they thought they would see more, best bet is to go to a astro club and have a look through there kit or ask on here some one local to you then you know its for you and you can then spend all you want, hope this helps. and sorry to woffle

Thanks for this. This is the main issue I have just now, I am concerned that by spending too little I could be disapointed and the ebay ads seem to fall into 3 camps, dealers, upgraders and little used, suggesting whims or disappointment

[Black Knight]

I am concerned that by spending too little I could be disapointed and the ebay ads seem to fall into 3 camps, dealers, upgraders and little used, suggesting whims or disappointment

I think a healthy dose of expectation setting before purchase could've saved a lot of telescopes from appearing on the bay! Many people see wonderful pictures of deep space objects on the web or in magazines, and may have unrealistic expectations of what any telescope can offer, consequently making dissapointment a near inevitability, unfortunately.

I think the suggestion of getting along to a local club is a great one. Hopefully you'll get a chance to try out a few scopes, and try before you buy, as it were! If you are thinking of going down the astrophotography route, I would recommend Steve Richards book Making Every Photon Count, as a first purchase available from here: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html. Well worth reading for those thinking of taking up AP, and useful to help avoid making expensive mistakes . Forwarned is forearmed, and all that!

[E621Keith]

Hi Malcnascar, welcome to SGL. Going to a local society and buying used equipment is a good idea. If your interest is imaging, you should not save on the mount. HEQ5 seems to be the standard entry level AP mount, but if weight handling is an issue, you should also consider a used Vixen GPDX (D2). Unlike the SW HEQ5 and EQ6, the GPDX's dec axis can be detached easily, which reduces the maximum weight you need to carry at any one time. The load capacity of the GPDX is about the same as an HEQ5. The typical used price for HEQ5 pro is around £550, while GPDX with SS2K is around £100 less (approx £450).

Since you are a photographer, I'd image with your camera lenses and get a separate scope for visual for now. Lenses like Canon 400/5.6L and Nikon 180/2.8 are highly regarded for astrophotography.

[JamesM]

I would certainly endorse Andy's (Black Knight) idea on purchasing "Making Every Photon Count" (£19.95) to supply you with the necessary overview on what can work out to be an expensive interest. There will inevitably be much discussion on the equipment side of things which in our digital age, is all about data collection. However, that is only half the story, the other half being data processing and although there are many free software applications out there that do a great job in getting you started, equally there are also some other very good pieces of software that will need to be paid for, so this book will help provide you with that necessary overview that will help you form a more realistic budget. As the old joke goes, we don't want you first image of a black hole being the one in your wallet! :grin:

Imaging has a steep learning curve which once conquered should provide much enjoyment where there is more fun than frustration. A quick glance within the imaging sections of the kit that is listed below those that post there, will illustrate precisely the typical kit people are using and will go some way to helping you decide what is appropriate - no point in reinventing the wheel. In essence, deep sky imaging (galaxies and nebulae) starts with an accurate mount and as a minimum, you are looking at a HEQ5 Pro. Its load capacity, motor accuracy and a built in facility known as autoguiding (allows tracking of a target to be influenced by a separate scope centering on a nearby star to the the target which as a consequence enables the main imaging scope to consistently remain on its target) makes this mount very desirable for those starting out. DSO's (deep sky objects) are further away and very faint which by necessity requires longer exposures to capture their light ( or data). The more accurate the mount, the more data that can be collected and therefore the more detail the final image will show.

Another route into imaging is the with the use of a simple webcam which can be used on virtually any scope but you will be limited to solar system objects (moon/planets) only. Tracking for long exposures as described above doesn't apply here because the objects are so bright. To avoid the influence of many miles of earth's turbulent atmosphere, a webcam is preferred as it can capture a vast number of 'frames' very quickly from which the best ones (in focus) are selected and stacked on top of each other to construct a good composite final image. There is plenty of free software out there to help you obtain the final image and is fairly straight forward to master.

The knack with any astronomy purchase (particularly with imaging) is to buy wisely and the best you can afford. Not only will this generate good consistent results, should you decide that imaging is not for you and want to resell your kit, you are more likely to regain the majority of your initial investment than if you had purchased cheaper kit which might not be so desirable to others. The same would apply if you found that you wanted to develop this interest further and wanted to upgrade your existing kit, buying a decent brand name will minimise any financial 'hit' and so reduce in real terms the true cost of starting out. Buying second hand can be a good strategy and is certainly the cheapest route but you do need to be informed about your buying so the above book and members advice here will certainly help you. Of course others will have the same idea and so you will need to be vigilant as real bargains are snapped up very quickly. Personally I would always prefer to buy new (especially the mount) to take advantage of warranties etc should anything go wrong. As many have said above, I would take your time and participate in as many public observation nights etc as possible to get some experience of how it all works to enable you to make sense of what all the technical specification really mean, ".....there's no rush, the stars aren't going anywhere"

Hope that helps but please keep posting any questions that come to mind as it will take a while for it all the information to make sense.

Clear skies

James

[Malcnascar]

Once again thanks to all for sharing your views with me. I had not considered attaching my camera onto a mount with a suitable lens, this has some appeal because of the lack of redundancy should looking skywards not be to my liking. I like the suggestion of joining a society of like minded people and opportunity this might provide to try out their setups. Thank you all