Astrophotography - What is the best mount on a budget?

[mutley365]

Hello I am new to this forum, so apologies if I am creating a similar thread to an almost identical one.

I have been using telescopes for a few years, but when I bought a Pentax K-5 with an O-GPS1 unit with an incorporated astrotracer function, I became interested in astrophotography. This allows the GPS to manipulate the in-built shake reduction system in the camera allowing exposures of up to 5 minutes (depending on the focal length of the lens, the longer the focal length, the shorter the exposure). Although I got some splendid results from it, I wanted to delve deeper into it and get shots of nebulas and galaxies and other planets (obviously with plenty of stacking). 

I already owned a telescope before my Pentax, but I knew that the mount was useless for astrophotography. My telescope is an astromaster 130 with an eq 3 mount with a single axis (RA) motor drive (MD). I have seen various other mounts that are dual axis eq 3 and eq 4 mounts, but they seem to lack a polar scope for precise alignment. So I decided that the best mount would be an eq 5, but I am torn between two mounts, one is a Skywatcher eq 5 PRO Synscan GOTO mount, the other one is a Celestron CG-5 GT GOTO. I want the mount to be able to take heavier and larger scopes in the future, so an eq 5 seems the best choice. 

I would appreciate some input from experienced astronomers/astrophotographers as to which one is the best, or whether there are better alternative mounts for the same price or cheaper. My budget is in the £500 region.

[johnrt]

Aim for an HEQ5 minimum. The HEQ5 is a different beast to the EQ5, think of it as a lighter version of an EQ6. Much more stable and accurate. Your £500 budget will pick you up a second hand one no problem.

Don't get me wrong deep sky imaging is possible on the EQ5, but take it from someone who tried it, sold it and bought an HEQ5 life will be so much easier with that extra under your scope.

[mutley365]

Thanks I'll look into it.

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