Skywatcher skymax 127

[Bavchouhan]

Hi all

I'm a complete newbie to stargazing and want to buy a scope for astrophotography. Started off by looking at the skywatcher 150p. But now l

[Bavchouhan]

Sorry typing on iPhone far too small

Hi all

I'm a complete newbie to stargazing and want to buy a scope for astrophotography. Started off by looking at the skywatcher 150p. But now looking at a skymax 127. Was wondering would this be any good for astro photography. Or should I be looking at something else??? Look forward to replies. Thanks

Bhav

[damnut]

Hi There,

The skymax is a great scope but has a long focal length and a narrow field of view, great for the planets and lunar, but not ideal for faint fuzzies!.

Be aware that you will need a substantial guided mount to reproduce some of the excellent pics on this forum. I would recommend you get a copy of making every photon count. This will point you in the right direction and save you time and cash in the long run.

Cheers

[Bavchouhan]

Cheers damnut. I would like to do planetary photography but also deep space galaxy nebulae etc. gonna order the book before I blow s load of cash. Want to get a scope before the comet due at the end of feb early march

Thanks again

Bhav

[damnut]

Hi Bhav,

You are more than welcome. We have a local goup to you called east midlands stargazers. Couple of dark sites one in wymeswold and one in belper. We can be found here :--

http://www.eastmidlandsstargazers.org.uk/

Drop in!.

Cheers

Damian

[Baz Pearce]

Hi Bhav,

I got a run with a friend's Skymax 127 OTA last year. Slightly missed the focus being my 1st go with it. Still got pleasing results.

Stored on Photobucket here:-

http://s1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee414/BazPearce/Maksutov%20127mm/

All captured with my SPC900.

Baz.

[RikM]

They've come out very nicely Baz. Did you use a barlow for those?

[Bavchouhan]

Thanks guys for the info. Baz images look great did you get t&cs chance to do any nebulae /star photography with it?.

[Baz Pearce]

The Philips is only suited to Solar system objects Bhav. For Deep space objects you would need a bigger scope and a DSLR, and a very sore wallet result! . Yes Rik i used an Astro Engineering APO 2X Barlow and a Baader IR cut filter.

Baz.

[Bavchouhan]

Hi have a 24mp dslr just lacking a scope. There's so much out there just want to get a good all rounder for planet and space in general any suggestions?

[RikM]

For planetary imaging the Skymax is a good choice.

For deep sky imaging you need a fast focal ratio. Ideally less than f/7. The Skymax is almost f/12 so really too slow to collect enough light from the faint targets. The focal length of 1500mm is also a huge challenge for the mount. You would need a rock solid mount and good autoguiding system. You would get better results and it would cost less to get a small ED refractor and HEQ5 mount instead.

[damnut]

Hi Bav,

You can do lots with an st80!! But you will need a solid mount,a modded dslr, lots of time and some clear skies. AP scopes range from short apo's to astrographs.. Do some research, take your time and drop in on a meet with a local astro group ....

Cheers

[swag72]

Hi have a 24mp dslr just lacking a scope. There's so much out there just want to get a good all rounder for planet and space in general any suggestions?

Unfortunately planets and deep space are not mutually compatible as far as telescopes go. You will not get a good all rounder for them both.

[naxos10]

There is a Celestron Omni 127 XLT on a CG4 mount on FLO this may be beon a better option regarding stability.