starting with imaging?

[Wattsy]

I've got a DSLR and would love to get into imaging. As I understand it the best telescopes for it are low focal ratio refractors (correct me if I'm wrong). I'd also need a tracking mount (HEQ5 gets mentioned a lot). Would I be better off saving for the mount first, then the telescope?

Cheers

Matt

(P.S. any recommendations would be lovely I'm on a pretty tight budget though)

[Ganymede12]

What have you already got?

You could try afocal imaging if you already have a camera and scope.

[RogerTheDodger]

This book is a good place to start http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html written by Steppenwolf from this forum

[Wattsy]

3 inch skywatcher heritage dob and an unbranded 6 inch newtonian my nan bought me (not up to much, loses collimation every 10 minutes pretty much).

[Arushin]

3 inch skywatcher heritage dob and an unbranded 6 inch newtonian my nan bought me (not up to much, loses collimation every 10 minutes pretty much).

Hi

What are you looking to image? Are you thinking about planetary or Deep Sky? Before you buy anything in the way of equipment spend a few quid on the book linked by RogertheDodger, This is pretty much the imagers bible and will explain, in plain and clear English, the dark road you are thinking of going down and how best to travel it.

Good luck

[Wattsy]

mainly deep sky and widefield just clicked buy on the book too

[Arushin]

mainly deep sky and widefield just clicked buy on the book too

Hi again,

OK, so the first thing that the book will stress is that the mount is the most important part of the setup. Yes, this is an expensive hobby but don't be put off. Imaging can be started on a reasonably small budget. Glad you've bought the book! I have read this from cover to cover at least four times and I still keep it to hand for reference. I am in the early stages myself, but the book has taken a huge amount of the pain out of the learning process. The good people on this forum will be here to help and advise you along the way. i am really pleased for you.

Regards Tony

[JamesF]

Yes. Read the book. Understand what can be achieved and get some idea of what kit you might want/need/be able to afford, then look at what options there are for mounts that will do what you need. Unless you're buying a CCD, it'll probably be the most expensive part of the system, but if you don't get one that's good enough, you'll never get results you're happy with.

James

[steppenwolf]

Definitely save up for the best equatorial mount you can afford first - the HEQ5 with SynScan GoTo is an excellent buy. Crazy though it may seem, once you've got the mount you can start taking good widefield deep sky images immediately with your DSLR camera and a camera lens. That 6" Newtonian may well be playing its part too, mounted on an HEQ5 mount.

[Wattsy]

Ok just bought myself an EQ5 mount and will be getting the twin motor upgrade on payday. Is this good enough for imaging with good polar alignment? (With a reasonable sized scope of course I won't be slapping a huge Newt on it.) If not I'll probably keep it just for observing.