Skywatcher 80ED pro or Skywatcher 150PDS?

[idigitize]

Thanks, I definitely think this is way to go for me. It's a good excuse to just buy a couple of things rather than diving in at the deep end, and like you say I'm sure it will be a good way to learn the basics too.

I did this to get me started and to give me chance to shop around on a scope. I bought the mount (avx) and an St80 from FLO, i have just bought a 2nd hand synguider that came with a modded 9x50 finder scope too. Im just playing with shots from my 300mm and the st80 as i learn more. 

My scope choices are also ed80, 150/130 pds. then a 2nd hand equinox ed came up, then i thought the 120ed might  be nice. Then a mak150, 180, the list goes on. We've had tonnes of cloud, but I'm impressed with the st80. Im sure it will give me years of use, as is a very multifunctional.

[ianpwilliams]

I take it you're not taking shots through the ST80? Because surely that wouldn't work (as has been mentioned here) as you would need an ED80 instead?

I'm still trying to decide whether to just get the 150PDS and 1100D and take shots through the 150PDS, or maybe get a 300mm lens or a prewoned ED80 (both of which should theoretically sllow gor eadier unfuided imaging) as well to give an extra option. It would seem like going for the ED80 would be planning for the future (as a guide scope), whereas I could see the 300mm becoming redundant later on (although it does look like a tasty piece of kit).

[idigitize]

I guess if budget allows, the ed80 would be nice, but i wanted a more portable setup, so the synguider was my favoured option, and the st80 better than the 9x50 for the synguder. 

Yes I'm taking shots through it, or was before the clouds. But only really to practice. (I did own the 300mm before any astro kit too though) 

I don't think you can go far wrong with any of these decisions really, Get the decent mount up front, and then choose the scopes after. If you go wrong with a scope, and have a good reason to change it later, its cheapish compared to upgrading a mount.

I think if guiding early on with a laptop, the finder guider maybe the better option. So the st80 may get redundant quicker.   (I'm keeping my eye on a 2nd hand equinox 120ed )

[idigitize]

I know thats far from a 'wow' picture on here. but i was happy to get it on my 2nd/3rd time out with a £97 scope with less than 30 mins.

[ianpwilliams]

That's a good photo! And it's nice to see that imaging is seemingly possible with pretty much anything, as long as you have a decent mount, and some patience! I bet you could do some processing on that photo too if you wanted to and make it even better (having seen plenty of before and after processing shots on this forum).

I won't be guiding straight away, not least because I don't have a laptop, so it's huge jump for a guidescope or finderguider, guidecam, laptop and so on and so on.

Tempted to go for the 300mm now it's down to £100.

[ianpwilliams]

In fact it's actually as low as £75 in some places online.

Can I just check, I'd be looking at the "Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III", correct? Because there's also things like the "Canon EF Telephoto zoom lens - 75 mm - 300 mm - F/4.0-5.6 - Canon EF", and I can't help but wonder if there are different versions/models with subtle differences (although they still look the same), like the fact that the "Canon EF Telephoto zoom lens - 75 mm - 300 mm - F/4.0-5.6 - Canon EF" doesn't have "III" in it.

[Thalestris24]

This one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Canon-EF-75-300mm-f-4-5-6-III-ZOOM-LENS-75-300mm-/150845840098

Looks like a good price!

[ianpwilliams]

Yeah it was links like those that I was looking at, and I was wondering if it was too good be true and that maybe they were an inferior older model or something, but it's seems like they are the real deal. Good to know.

[MND]

Zoom lenses can be a lot cheaper than fixed lenses. You can get them really cheap on ebay.

[ianpwilliams]

Is it fair to say that typically the quality of images produces from worst to best would be ST80 > 300mm > 150PDS, and that that would also be the order from least to most in terms of imaging difficulty without guiding?

[idigitize]

I think the difference between the st80 and 300mm would not be so black and white in any order of difficulty or quality.

300mm lenses vary hugely, and I have no experience of the exact model you linked to, but being fair, it is the cheapest zoom lens around pretty much which you will be using at its worse setting, ie, wide open at 300mm.

You may have other issues, lens creep, not sure how bad with that lens but probably exists. CA is probably quite bad at 300mm too.

As far as guiding, not sure 300 to 400mm is gonna make much difference, but the lens is a lot lighter and smaller.

I'd probably decide more on the following - you can't use a lens as a grab and go scope, and you can't use a scope easily as a lens for terrestrial photography. But you won't be able to zoom out to 75mm with the scope to take wider field shots either. I'm probably not helping . Isn't there a 2nd hand 150pds on here at the moment for not much more too?

[ianpwilliams]

I'd rather go new with the scope, but the 150PDS OTA isn't hugely expensive.

Think I'll keep it simple and get the 150PDS and 1100D camera, see what I can manage unguided with stacked subs, and then take it from there.

[ianpwilliams]

Does anyone know if would be possible/worth trying to use a 2x Barlow with the 80ED Pro when imaging the smaller DSO's?

[ianpwilliams]

Damn, didn't know a reducer/flattener for the ED80 is £159. Add that to the £350 for the scope, and you're looking at over twice the price of the 150PDS OTA.

[tingting44]

Damn, didn't know a reducer/flattener for the ED80 is £159. Add that to the £350 for the scope, and you're looking at over twice the price of the 150PDS OTA.

least you wont have the head ache of having to collimate the ED80, id pay the price just for that over a newt lol, im looking to sell my 130pds to get an 80ED

[ianpwilliams]

Yeah I know, and no cooldown period either Besides, it sounds like I could start without the reducer/flattener, and maybe just crop the images, seeing as it's a wide FOV anyway.

[tingting44]

thats it mate, ive still not got the coma corrector for my 130-pds and guess i wont either now as im getting the 80ED my choice.....its a no brainer

[Thalestris24]

Damn, didn't know a reducer/flattener for the ED80 is £159. Add that to the £350 for the scope, and you're looking at over twice the price of the 150PDS OTA.

Hi

Similarly, the 150pds needs a coma corrector... However, you can do without coma correctors and field flatteners until you reach a stage when you want to produce much better images.

Louise

[ianpwilliams]

Yeah that's what I was thinking

[ianpwilliams]

Would everyone agree that it's worth the extra £100 to get the "Outfit" version of the ED80 Pro, which seems to also come with a diagonal (a high quality one I believe), a 9x50 finderscope, a 28mm eyepiece (does the none "outfit" version really not come with an eyepiece?), and an aluminium case?

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-ds-pro-ota.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-ds-pro-outfit.html

I would buy the aluminium case anyway, so buying that separately would reduce the price difference to £50. And presumably the 5x50 finderscope could be converted to a finderguider later on?

[Lonestar70]

Yes... it is well worth the extra money... the diagonal alone would cost you £89.00 and the finderscope would be another £45.00... the ali case would be £49.00 and the eyepiece around £30.00... you also get a few other adaptors for connecting things without the diagonal.

As you say, the Finder can easily be converted to a finder/guider using a readily available adaptor.

All in ALL a very good deal... put the money saved towards a FF/FR.

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

Sandy.

[ianpwilliams]

Sounds good, thanks!

[wxsatuser]

Yes... it is well worth the extra money... the diagonal alone would cost you £89.00 and the finderscope would be another £45.00... the ali case would be £49.00 and the eyepiece around £30.00... you also get a few other adaptors for connecting things without the diagonal.

As you say, the Finder can easily be converted to a finder/guider using a readily available adaptor.

All in ALL a very good deal... put the money saved towards a FF/FR.

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

Sandy.

I bought the outfit 80ED, it really is worth the money.

IMO it is a very good starting setup to learn AP plus it can be used for general observing.

Honestly it won't disappoint, yes it won't be great on some objects but no scope is good at everything.

With our skies you will find plenty to do with it.

Get the reducer a 48mm t-ring, fit a cheap guide camera.......stick a dslr on the reducer and away you go.

With a HEQ5 upto 20minute subs are easily obtainable, more than enough for the average UK skies.

[IanL]

Would everyone agree that it's worth the extra £100 to get the "Outfit" version of the ED80 Pro, which seems to also come with a diagonal (a high quality one I believe), a 9x50 finderscope, a 28mm eyepiece (does the none "outfit" version really not come with an eyepiece?), and an aluminium case?

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-ds-pro-ota.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-ds-pro-outfit.html

I would buy the aluminium case anyway, so buying that separately would reduce the price difference to £50. And presumably the 5x50 finderscope could be converted to a finderguider later on?

I went for the OTA only because I was only planning to use the scope for imaging and not visual.  The diagonal and eyepiece are not needed for imaging, I already had an ST80 for guiding (plus a spare finder from an older scope) and I don't need to transport my gear as I image from the back garden so a case was not essential.

The saving of a £100 for the OTA only version meant that I could get the flattener/reducer for a net increase of £50 over the price of the full kit so it was a no brainer for me.  So it's horses for courses really.  In my view the reducer/fattener is essential if you are using a DSLR to get good star shapes across the whole frame,  You can crop the image to remove the worst of it, but it defeats the object of the setup.  You're not going to compete with a long focal length scope for detail on galaxies, etc. so you should make the most of the wider field for a different take on the subject.

[ianpwilliams]

Ok, both sides of the argument there. I'm sure I would want to look through the scope a little bit (I couldn't start out by just doing imaging and never looking through it at all), so the diagonal and eyepiece would be good for that. And I like the idea of the aluminium case for preventing dust from gathering when in storage during the inevitable cloudy spells. So I think I'll go for the outfit version.