Which mount for dslr imaging - star adventurer / eq3 pro / da motor eq5 ?

[Question mark]

Could do with some advice please, I'm currently looking to buy a tracking mount for imaging with my dslr using normal lenses.

Max budget is £400 and I had decided on the skywatcher star adventurer which seems to be the better option against the vixen polarie and ioptron skytracker and at £278 from tring it's hard to say no to one.

But, I could get a skywatcher eq5 and add the dual motor kit and then have the option to add an astroEQ and a proper scope later on if I wanted.

Or I could get an EQ3 PRO goto mount.

What I'm stuck on is whether the synscan on the EQ3 will be more accurate/reliable for imaging than the EQ5 with the normal dual motor kit and how they would both compare to the star adventurer for imaging?

Cost wise-

star adventurer £278

EQ3 pro £370

EQ5 + motors + polar scope £335

So what do you lot think, where should I spend my money?

[D4N]

What focal length lenses are you using? Longer focal lengths require a sturdier mount. Longer focal lengths will also make goto more important as you will start to find it difficult to find things.

Will you just be photographing from your garden or do you need portability?

If you plan to use it on the go I would suggest one with built in power supply like the ioptron smart eq.

Telescope mounts don't all connect directly to a DSLR, have you factored in an adaptor?

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[swag72]

How far off your budget is a second hand HEQ5? I bet that you could sneak one in at that price. 

That would be where I'd be putting my money

[fwm891]

+1 for the S/H HEQ5 you can do so much more with it. As you are already 'thinking' about later putting a scope on board get a mount you wont be thinking about upgrading for a long time perhaps never.

Look at the HEQ5 specs and compare against your shortlist.

[Question mark]

Just to update on this, I had a look at the HEQ5 but it was too expensive, However I then spotted a celestron CG5-GT mount which I managed to get for what I think was good price at £180.

Haven't been able to test it yet due to weather but it seems to run ok and I have totally stripped, cleaned and re-greased it so it runs nice and smooth now

It does have a crack in the base of the mount which isn't ideal but so long as I don't drop it or over stress it using the azimuth bolts it should be ok.

It's a bit windy but looks like being nice and clear for tonight so will hopefully find out how it performs shortly.