Complete setup for picture taking?

[mrstraighty]

Trying to figure out exactly what all I need. Is there an out of the box setup? Willing to spend around $2200. Beyond a scope and goto mount, DSLR camera, auto guider, filters, laptop, and power source what else might I need. I plan on buying a scope and mount and have seen a couple on Orions site that look like what I'm needing. What other processing software do I need. Will a 10" newtonian be better over the 4-6" refractors or any of the Cassegrains? I am afraid of putting this much money in the wrong direction or on items not needed. Any recommended literature also would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Ulysses]

Hi, I would recommend a small apochromatic refractor to start with. They are excellent visually and certainly easier when starting astrophotography. Also, I would invest a large proportion of your budget on the mount. You will need the capacity to take all the additional items such as a dual mounting plate for the guidescope and guide cam. I would recommend you checked out Jerry Lodriguss' site and CDROM books. http://www.astropix.com/. They go through everything you will need to know. Good luck, Paul

[mrstraighty]

Hi, I would recommend a small apochromatic refractor to start with. They are excellent visually and certainly easier when starting astrophotography. Also, I would invest a large proportion of your budget on the mount. You will need the capacity to take all the additional items such as a dual mounting plate for the guidescope and guide cam. I would recommend you checked out Jerry Lodriguss' site and CDROM books. http://www.astropix.com/. They go through everything you will need to know. Good luck, Paul

http://www.telescope.com/Astrophotography/Astrophotography-Telescopes/Orion-Stars-amp-Solar-System-Astrophotography-Telescope-Bundle/pc/-1/c/4/sc/57/p/27156.uts

Was looking at this one but was worried it was too small for deeper objects.

[Ulysses]

That looks interesting. You'll still need to add the DSLR, but other than that this looks like a complete setup. Even an 80mm scope will pick up deep sky objects photographically, and you will certainly find the learning curve less steep with a shorter focal length. With this scope, you should have a very wide field of view with a DSLR, which will work well for extended objects. Obviously if you are looking to image distant galaxies then you may be disappointed! The scope specs look very good though and should be very nice visually also. The autoguider is set off-axis so you should not need a separate guidescope. Looking at the mount specs, it has a 20lb capacity. For imaging, you generally half that figure to ensure the mount isn't overloaded. That gives you about 10lb capacity for imaging, which is plenty for the 80mm scope, DSLR and guidescope. If you get the opportunity, go an have a look at one of these before buying. Check how sturdy the mount is so that it doesn't move in a light breeze! Also, see if they will throw in the polar scope to speed up an accurate polar alignment, which is a must. Good luck, Paul

[mrstraighty]

Thanks for the input. Ive not found any scope shops intown so I might have to upgrade at some point.

[swag72]

If you want to take DSO images, the very best bit of money you can spend is buying the book 'Making Every Photon Count' which is available in the book section of the FLO website (Sponsor banner at top of page) - This really is an imagers bible and will lay everything out in clear and consise terms so that you can avoid making mistakes with purchases along the way. I would say to buy this book before buying anything else.

From there, the general recommended kit for DSO imaging (very different to planetary or lunar imaging) is an HEQ5 mount, and an ED80 refractor. There are a number of clones of scopes out there, from Orion to Skywatcher. The mount is THE single most important part of your setup for imaging, I know that sounds strange when you start out. You need to take long exposures for DSO imaging, often running into 10-20 minutes or more even. For that you need a mount that will track and that also has the capability to be guided (by another scope and camera) - It needs to be rock solid for this and so then people often use a small refractor as it's light, easy to use and places the least amount of strain on the mount with regards weight and focal length.

You can get the adaptors to connect your DSLR to the telescope and from there you would need a field flattener, as the DSLR chip is so large that the natural field curvature of the cope will affect your corners and edges. If you are looking at getting long exposures (maybe that's a little way down the list!) you'll need another scope, often people use an ST80 or an adapted finder scope, another camera that is capable of being a guide camera and a laptop (or stand alone guider, such as a synguider).

You will be taking many hours of data for a decent image and you can realistically expect to spend many hours processing it as well. There's free programmes for stacking your images (Deep Sky Stacker) and many people use either PixInsight or Adobe Photoshop for their processing.

I hope that helps. It may all go over your head at the moment, but buy Steve's book and it will all become clear why you need what you do and how it all fits together to get you the very best DSO imaging kit. If you can it would be good to join a local astro club as they will no doubt have imagers there that can help you with kit ideas etc. Also buying second hand is a good way to maximise your kit.

[Astrosurf]

Great post Swag72!

I have an HEQ5 Pro which is great. I do use an 8" scope but want an ED80 for DSOs, so, as has been said, this would be a good start.

For guiding I use a finder-guider set-up with a Skywatcher 9x50 finderscope and a QHY5 mono guidecam. It's the top one on this site plus has a disc of the software you need and cables:

http://www.modernastronomy.com/camerasGuider.html

You would also need a Finder/Guider Adapter (lower down the page) to attach the cam to the finderscope. If you were interested, I don't know how much Modern Astronomy would charge for shipping but you should be able to buy what you need closer to home!

Good luck!

Alexxx