£450 to spend on scope What to get?

[Russell21]

Hi Just looking to get my first scope, I am looking at getting some advice being a newbe I have not got much of a clue.

I have done a lot of reading, and I think for the money this is what I came up with : Celestron Omni XLT 150 Newtonian Reflector, £369 with mount, Vixen VMC110L Reflector Telescope Optical Tube only, £199 I could look out for a used mount, Vixen R130Sf 5 inch Newtonian Reflector with mount £459, Altair Astro GSO 6" F9 Ritchey Chretien Astrograph tube only £399, or the Celestron Omni XLT 127 SCT Reflector Telescope with mount £475 that's s much as I would want to spend. I would like to use the scope for photography I already have canon 600d which I would like to use. What would rey help me to choose one of these or one other you could recommend would be to see some photo samples.

Intend to spend some time though just enjoying this new hobby and getting to know my way round using a scope before I get into the Astrophotography side of things.

It would a big help I someone could give some advice. Thanks for reading.

Warm regards Russ.

[RikM]

Astrophotography is a broad subject needing different equipment depending what types of objects you wish to image. Planets need a long focal length and reasonable aperture to get the detail, DSLR's are not usually the best camera choice here.

Deep sky objects need a fast focal ratio most of all; these things are faint. Focal length is only important in that, together with your camera sensor size, it sets the field of view you will get. Nebulae tend to be large and galaxies, apart from a couple of whoppers, tend to be quite small.

If deep sky is you main interest, the mount is the number one priority. But before anything else, buy and read http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html as this will explain what you need and why. It could save you a small fortune.

The last thing you want is to 'get to know your way round your scope' only to find it unsuitable for what you really want to do.

[Dave1964]

Hi Russ,

The best value for money is the book making every photon count. It will answer a lot of question but raise a few more.

Like you I have an interest in astrophotography but I am still very very new to this. However you do need a good mount. Which I am waiting feedback on. Astrographs I have been advised against.

I hope that helps.

Dave

[Stargazer33]

Hi Russ, Welcome to SGL.

You really do need to decide what you want to use your scope for. I bought my first scope about 18 months ago. A second hand Skywatcher Skymax 102. It came with camera tripod which was really no good, so I quickly bought a second hand Skywatcher EQ 3-2 mount. I used this for a while before getting aperture fever and selling that set-up and buying, again second hand, a Celestron C8 and a CG-5 GT mount. I am really getting into astro-photography now and the equipment I am using is way too heavy for the poor mount to cope with. So now I am going to have to upgrade the mount to at least an HEQ5.

Do you see where I am going with this? I didn't really have a plan at the start. To be honest I didn't realise what amateurs could achieve with imaging and so it never entered my initial criteria. Now with only 18 months since buying my first scope I will have bought two scopes and three mounts. Get it right at the start and save yourself a lot of time and money.

Good luck and sorry I haven't given you any real answers but at the end of the day it is down to personal choice!

[Daniel-K]

the 6" RC is very slow i had one and was using it with a modded 550d it really does need a reducer or a CCD to do it any justice. with that budget though  im going to be honest you aint getting much quality wise for astrophotography unless you just buy a mount and use some lenses for wide field work like a 2nd hand astro track. your best option could be something like this http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-ds-eq3-pro-goto.html or http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-ds-ota.html and buy a 2nd hand EQ5 with motors drives which will enable you to track for 2-3 mins, the thing with astrophotography is MONEY is god damn expensive but thats not to say it cant be done on a budget there are few members on here who have done some great images with simple kit. good luck with your hunt for a scope

[ronin]

If possible get to and visit a club and see what is around and used.

Visual and imaging require a different approach - do not buy a visual setup then expect it to do imaging overly well. In some instances do not expect a visual setup to do imaging at all.

[Russell21]

Thanks everyone" good advice".

[Helen]

Hi Russ,

I'll try and drop off my copy of Making Every Photon Count for you tomorrow ....

Helen

[Daniel-K]

With your sky quality down there you won't need anything complex to get a decent Image

[Herbig]

Hi, as others have said AP is very expensive to get into properly.

If you are serious then I suggest the following, get a second hand EQ5 with motors or better still an HEQ5 and a small refractor

The William Optics ZS66 is a very good starter scope and can be picked up for about £150-200.

But these 2 items will use up all of your budget and more if you go for an HEQ5. These mounts don't come with a power supply so you need to budget for one as well.