Astrophotography

[M L W]

Hi all, again thanks for the warm welcome to the forum.

I'm still pondering over equipment and although at first I was keen to buy my first scope. I am just as happy now to take my time research what's best. Its all part of hobby I suppose! Thanks for some of the tips already given from folks.

Anyhow, I think I'm heading towards astrophotography mainly deep space but also planetary. I'm not sure of my total budget. I did tell my wife about £250, but may have a reserve £150 - 200 to add to this. I don't my taking my time to acquire bits n pieces to get the most out of my setup but would like to buy the best telescope I cab afford at the moment to suit the purpose that can be modified etc as I get more experienced. I have looked at both Celestron and Skywatcher scopes. Should i be going for a scope with tracking abilities. If I'm looking into photography or is this not essential? Do I consider Scopes such as the SW 200-250p reflectors or should I be looking at larger or different types of scopes. I would rather spend the initial money on the right / decent scope and then build it up, than get a all singing and dancing smaller set up and feel the need to upgrade to a bigger set up before long.... or am I going the totally wrong way about this!

If anyone has gone down this path and is now producing there own good images, id be grateful for some advice please.

Regards,

Mario

[cfpendock]

There are many experts here better than I, but I know that to do deep space stuff you do need tracking abilities, simply because the objects are very faint and you need to expose for a certain time - typically up to ten minutes, and with this you will get star trailing. Try Steve Richards book "Making Every Photon Count", and this:

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=85923

Also, I know that at some stage you will inevitably feel the need to upgrade. It's the unfortunate side of this pastime.

Chris

[swag72]

If you are interested in DSO imaging, you will need a mount capable of tracking and being able to follow the Earths rotation. For DSO AP the general minimum considered is an HEQ5, but that is already way over your budget. Oddly enough the mount is THE single most important part in DSO AP as you are ultimately going to be looking at exposures that can last many minutes and you need the mount to solid and free from vibrations.

There's a thread in the imaging thread I think about imaging on a budget - Have a look on the thread and see what the general equipment is used. I would recommend a minimum of an HEQ5 and an ED80 scope, already taking you into the £1000 range so I'm really not a good person to advise when it comes to imaging on a budget. I believe that to get good results you need the right equipment. Equipment that will perform night after night, as the last thing you want in UK and its fickle skies is to waste precious imaging time tinkering with equipment that is below par, but that can be made to work sometimes. For example, with a lesser mount you may lose 50% of your subs due to vibrations and poor tracking, with an HEQ5 you will lose less - If you only get out a couple of times a month those losses will soon add up.

Regarding imaging planets that is an area I know nothing about, so I'll leave that to someone else!

[Spanishfly]

You ever see that movie ¨The Money Pit¨ ?? Well astrophotography is like that. Whatever budget you come up with stick a few noughts on the end - best not tell the wife !!