Astrophotography

[flaresnslippers]

Afternoon All,

Just signed up to ask a question you must get quite a lot this time of year.  Basically I am going to get a telescope for xmas.  I have around £150 to play with.  Was looking at the Skywatcher Explorer 130P, however have read about focusing issues when connecting a DSLR. 

Just looking for suggestions for a good starter telescope for Astrophotography.

Thanks and look forward to posting on here more often.

Dan

[smudgeball]

Hi Dan

Welcome to SGL.

I'll be honest with you, please don't rush out an buy a scope with £150 IF you are seriously thinking about astrophotography.

I don't think it's a realistic budget if you are serious about this part of astronomy?

Wait until people jump in and reply here (and they will, SGL is really good).

You can easily waste money before you are fully informed.

I don't want to put you off but I would like to see you gaining the correct info.

I've spent around four years getting to a point where I'm starting to do astro photography seriously (and I know I've wasted some money along the way)

Regards

Neil

[smudgeball]

I should add it will depend on the type of photography you are interested in doing.

Some people just do wide field imaging with a quality lens and don't even buy a telescope.

Others get a good mount and just put the camera on that.

Are you interested in planets, deep sky targets etc?

There are some good books on the subject, a favourite here is "Making Every Photon Count"

Have a look for that.

Neil

[flaresnslippers]

A bit of everything really.  Like I want something capable of capturing good shots of planets, but also nebulae and what not.  Need to read up a bit more about astronomy in general as well so going to be looking at a few books as I only really have basic knowledge. 

[swag72]

Welcome to SGL Dan - Imaging is great fun, but can be the most frustrating hobby in the world!! Before you part with any cash, get hold of the book 'Making every photon count' from the book section of the FLO website. It will really help you and read it twice before making a single AP purchase.

I know that it sounds silly, but you don't need a scope for DSO imaging at least. Many DSO's are rather on the large side. What you will benefit from is a stable, sturdy mount. The HEQ5 is generally considered the minimum for imaging, but it is way above your budget sadly. With one of these mounts and a DSLR you will get some great shots. If you have a wide field lens you can always use a normal tripod, but you will be limited to very short exposures. Take loads of them and stack them using free software (DSS).

Buy the book, it will save you money in the long run!

Hope that helps.

[Viewmaster]

Why not knock yourself up a cheap wooden barn door tracker?

Plenty of info on the net.  Just Google it.

This is the cheapest entry to astro photography that there is.