Skywatcher evostar v Altair

[Dave1964]

Evening all,

I was have narrowed down my search of refractors down from starwave, skywatcher and Altair. To the following for astro photography.

Skywatcher evostar 100ed ds pro first choice followed by the 80mm version and finally Altair wave 80mm f6 super ed triplet .

Which is best for astrophotography?

Many thanks

Dave

[Earl]

Not the SW 100ed as its a slow scope even with the matched reducer, the SW 80ED with reducer is a good starter though.

[nightfisher]

with the amount of people using the skywatcher 80ED, thats the one i would go for

[Dave1964]

Hi.

That's interesting as I was going for the 80mm ds pro but for long term swung to the 100 .

Dave

[baggywrinkle]

SW 80ED would be my choice....I have one great scope that punches above it's weight.

[lensman57]

Evening all,

I was have narrowed down my search of refractors down from starwave, skywatcher and Altair. To the following for astro photography.

Skywatcher evostar 100ed ds pro first choice followed by the 80mm version and finally Altair wave 80mm f6 super ed triplet .

Which is best for astrophotography?

Many thanks

Dave

Hi Dave,

You have not mentioned what mount you are using. The order of proiority in any imaging set up is first and foremost the mount, then the mount and then the mount. You could buy

a Takahashi FSQ85 APO and put it on an unsuitable  mount and your images will be a lot worst than a budget ED such as the ones you have mentioned if they were imaging on a stable mount. As to the answer to your Question, there is no best or perfect scope for imaging , I have all the scopes that you have mentioned and each one has its use and purpose. The SW 80 ED will be of no use imaging very small distant galaxies if that is what you wish to do but is pretty good in imaging moderately wide angle shots of the nebulea with a suitable camera.  It all depends on what you want to image, what camera or CCD you'd be using and what final image scale is required. The SW ED80 is popular because it thicks a lot of boxes for a lot of folks and it is also quite well corrected for an ED doublet at  its price range but it is still a doublet, a scope with a properly corrected triplet design  ( true APO )  will knock it for six. You will also have to consider the mechanical bits and pieces of the telescope. The budget SW range of scopes, in particular the ones with the FPL53 glass have very good optics but the focusers and the mounting rings are not so hot, people have spent almost as much on replacement focusers as on the scope itself.  So you need to make a few decisions for yourself and then consider your budget. Good Luck.

A.G

[Dave1964]

Hi a g,

I am generally looking at dso, such as messiers, Etc. Not too much on the planetary side of things perhaps saturn as that was the first planet I did see once I worked out how to set up the sw130p. So it's completely new set up I am working on for imagine. I wasn't an area I was going for. However since taken pictures of the moon with a bridge camera I've been hooked.

I cannot recall if the faster the scope say f6 is shorter exposures and slower the scope say f9 is longer exposures for imaging.

For mounts at present I have the alt az mount. I was going for the neq pro 6 but understand there is am issue with guide bolts. So I asks now looking at neq pro 5 or the ioptron-zeq25gt-portable-astrophotography scope. Haven't decided which is best for portability

Dave

[Dave1964]

Imagine means images, sorry didn't spot the spell check

[Sp@ce_d]

Don't get hung up on the bolts issue with the EQ6. If you're aware & careful it's not a problem to stop you choosing it. It's a good mount.

To return to topic. The SW80ED is a cracking scope to cut your teeth on and can stand up against far more expensive choices.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[lensman57]

Hi a g,

I am generally looking at dso, such as messiers, Etc. Not too much on the planetary side of things perhaps saturn as that was the first planet I did see once I worked out how to set up the sw130p. So it's completely new set up I am working on for imagine. I wasn't an area I was going for. However since taken pictures of the moon with a bridge camera I've been hooked.

I cannot recall if the faster the scope say f6 is shorter exposures and slower the scope say f9 is longer exposures for imaging.

For mounts at present I have the alt az mount. I was going for the neq pro 6 but understand there is am issue with guide bolts. So I asks now looking at neq pro 5 or the ioptron-zeq25gt-portable-astrophotography scope. Haven't decided which is best for portability

Dave

Hi Dave,

You have to decide on the mount first. SW EQ5 PRO, HEQ5 PRO and NEQ6 PRO mounts are all good. There are issues with them but which budget equipment does not have a few bad points. Personally I have no experience of the I-Optron mounts but I believe that the engineering in those mounts are good, are they worth so much difference in money, who knows? The bolt bending issue is real but  so long as you understand why it happenes then you can prevent it. AltAz mount is a none starter for DSO imaging BTW unless you keep your exposures  to a matter of just a few seconds.

A.G

[emadmoussa]

If you're set for imaging, save some money and go for the Skywathcer 80ED, I had this scope for almost 8 months and it's absolutely superb. I have now upgraded to Starwave 102ED, mainly for the larger aperture and the still achievable portability. I'm visual now and I have my weird reasons...