celestron or skywatcher

[erasmus666]

I'm a complete novice at astronomy and I'm looking for a telescope which will ideally connect to my Nikon D300 SLR. Initially, I'm planning to buy a basic 'scope and then upgrade once a) I'm certain that I want to progress the hobby further and know what I'm doing! I've seen a couple for sale in my current price range and would like opinions please as to which to go for if no-one has other suggestions. The two I'm considering are the Celestron 70AZ and the Skywatcher SK607. Your advice / comments would be most welcome. Thanks

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The Celestron one has 10mm more aperture. No contest, go for the bigger one, I would say. In terms of quality, both scopes are similar. They may even be made in the same factory (by Synta)

[NGC 1502]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

I agree with going with a bit more aperture as suggested.

However, you mention connecting your Nikon SLR to the telescope.  Are you hoping to do imaging of the night sky ?  The last thing folk on here would want to do is dampen your enthusiasm, but neither of the two telescopes would be up to the task of that, apart from (perhaps) a few pics of the moon, if you are lucky.

It's often recommended to start with binoculars. You may already have some ?  If not, 10x50 binos are a good buy, and it's worth paying a bit more than the cheapest, if you can.  If you combine binos and a planisphere or basic star chart, a lot of fun can be had.   Have some sessions with the binos. If you later get a telescope, the bins would definitely not be made redundant.

I'd try to find a local astronomy society/club.  Most are friendly and helpful, and would give you a good start together with advice, and if you are lucky, you may get a clear sky at an observing event, and get a feel for what telescope would be good for you.

But don't just take my advice, see what others say.

Best regards, Ed.

[ronin]

I would get a scope in preference to binoculars but for imaging neither of the ones you list are any good. Imaging/AP is somewhat of a specialised area of astronomy, the equipment need to get going starts at a higher level then it does for visual.

It is also to an extent a different take on the equipment. For visual it is "normal" to get the biggest aperture on whatever mount will get by, for imaging you need to consider a smaller scope (high spec) on a larger mount.

Look up "fedastro" and locate a club in your area.

[BlueMystery57]

Not forgetting you might already have some decent lenses for your camera, so you could consider adding something like  an  AstroTrac TT320 to your camera kit.

I'm literally just starting out myself, and as I have decent lenses for my camera, I have decided to give this a shot after hearing many good things about it.

 

[Dalai]

Of the 2 brands mentioned I'd be inclined to go with skywatcher. However as mentioned those scopes aren't what you'd be looking for to do astrophotography with. Have a read through the forums there's lots of reviews on here to guide you.

[shirva]

Half decent set of bino,s and just look up and if you like what you see,,get a planisphere and the book by steve richards...making every photon count...available from first light optics...if astrophotography is what intrests you..davy

[TenBears]

Don't mean to sound... well....  You have a D300, which is by all regards is a Very NICE camera (I use a D40, which is awesome)... and you're considering a Celestron 70AZ?

This doesn't make sense to me.  With all else you probably have with your camera kit, why the cheap budget for a scope?

If you want to do AP - on a limited budget, at least get something like a Celestron Omni XLT 102, and get an RA motor for it.

If a D300 is your fancy, I'm afraid something like a Celestron 70AZ will HIGHLY disappoint you.

You will - at least need an EQ mount - if you want to take any exposures longer than a few seconds.  I'm pretty sure anyone here is going to tell you this.

Myself, I am getting started in the hobby with a Dob.  Providing I get into this hobby - by next spring, I should have the wife greased up enough to let me buy a rig for AP.  I've already blown 10+ grand on toys and whatnots this year, so I'd get stabbed in the eye with a pencil if I bought anything else, right now.  LOL

Consider your budget, and your motives.

As others have said, I'd get into observing before trying to tackle AP. If you can't get into observing, I'm afraid taking pictures isn't going to hold you very...  At least that's my theory.

Good luck.

[shirva]

Buy whats in your budget mate,,if its two glass milk bottles taped together ,,so what,,,if we had a massive budget we could all chip in for the hubble when flo gets a hold of it...davy

[nytecam]

If you've got a DSLR and some longer lenses even a Barn Door/Scotch Mount will allow you to image the brighter deep sky objects :-)