Help, choosing the right mount

[hairymunky]

What would be a good mount choice for imaging with a dslr?

At first it will just be the camera and stock lens, but later I hope to

add maybe a small rich-field refractor as my skill progresses.

Found this on FLO:

http://tinyurl.com/29hete

Or should I save a bit more money, and buy something a little bit bigger/sturdier ?

Would also need to be quite portable, as I've a bit of light pollution at home,

and I'd be going off to a dark site out on the moors.

Any help greatly appreciated

Graham

[beamer3.6m]

If you intend to get a scope in the future to go on top and plan using this for photos too then I would recommend that you get the bext mount you can afford.

It is easy to think 'that will do for now, I can always upgrade later' but this is a force economy to be honest.

Depending on your budget then I would recommend the HEQ5 or EQ6 from Skywatcher. These are not cheap but will track accurately and will allow you to add almost any scope at a later date, including a 10" newtonian which are not small in the slightest. Unfortunately they are not cheap.

If this is beyond budget then I would however recommend a mount with a polar scope so you can line up the tracking correctly otherwise anything over 30 seconds will result in star trails.

Top tip - contact Steve at First Light Optics - he will be able to guide you.

Hope this helps some what.

[iancandler]

That mount is no good for a scope.. I have had one but its a great little budget camera mount..

I hate to do this to steve at FLO but telescope house are selling them for £49.99 at present.

They can also be fitted onto an eq 1 tripod with a little work.

If you seriously want to get into astro photography and are only going to use a camera and lens then still get the best driven mount you can afford.

The Kenko skymemo is one of the best out there, along with the astrotrac but both are way more expensive..

[hairymunky]

Thanks guys. Will probably save up some more money and get a proper mount, rather

than buy a small mount, then end up paying more later on for a bigger mount.

So far I'm stuck between the celestron CG5-GT and the skywatcher HEQ5, my poor

wife's going to have a canary when she sees the prices...

[edit] I think the mount from BCF/Telescope house is without the drives, which you buy seperate for another £45 [edit]

[Sam]

Having just been through the same process to get my HEQ5 I used the argument that all the money I've spent so far would be wasted if I didn't get the new mount. You could also say it's the last thing you need to buy to have the perfect system (and in three months time claim technology has moved on).

Good luck

Sam