6SE to start then upgrade mount in future?

[Albaba]

Hi all!

Am just about to buy my first scope and have kinda got my heart set on a 6SE, seems like a sweet spot with regards to price/performance/portability. Im a semi-pro photographer and as such i have no doubt i will be itching to stick my 5D mk2 onto the scope....

I am aware of the limitations of this setup/mount with regards to astrophotog but would you seasoned pro's think it a good idea to buy this as a start point; get used to the whole stargazing thing, then in the future swap the mount out for a GEM and do some more advanced astrophotog stuff? TBH i think for the first few months i will be mainly doing visual stuff but 25% of the time messing on with the camera attached just to see how the whole thing works....

Any advice much appreciated

Ali

[baggywrinkle]

You can still do lunar & planetary photo work with the 6SE along with visual. For lunar & solar work you might want to invest in a field flattener  as without and using a directly attached camera the image is larger than the camera view can handle and gets cropped. The field flattener will ensure it is a complete image.

The 6SE is a good scope but the dovetail is fixed so mounting on a CGM would mean it would be turned through a further 90 Deg and maybe the finderscope mount is in the wrong position.

The goto set up on the Celestron is easier than Skywatcher allows you to select the stars which means no lists to go through to find  the chosen stars (Skywatcher)

[Albaba]

Thanks for the reply,

Will i still need a field flattener with a full frame camera? For general lunar/planet stuff? I think the 6SE does sound like a good deal for a start point, i was originally just gonna get the 4SE but i think i would have instantly been wanting the bigger aperture...

Ali

[baggywrinkle]

Not sure for a full frame, I am using Canon 650D and an older 400D.

Agree on the 4SE, nice wee scope but  limited light grabbing power.