Absolute beginner, no equipment yet - what to buy?

[jerodequin]

Hello, please be gentle

My main hobby is photography, but I've always enjoyed taking photos of the moon, night sky, lunar eclipses and Jupiter and moons (although these of course have always been tiny in my images as my longest lens is 600mm FF equivalent!)

I've done quite a bit of reading but don't really feel like I'm understanding the various options that are available.

I'm not looking for state of the art kit for deep space imaging, but understand I need to get something with a motorised mount in order to have some flexibility with my shutter speeds etc, but to be honest I don't even know which telescope would make sense for me.

Many people seem to recommend the Skywatcher Exploer 130 EQ2 and I understand this can be purchased with a motorised mount (seems to be around £180) - is this a good choice? If so, what else would I need to get in order to attach my camera and take some pics?

If not a good choice, I'm 100% open to suggestions. Budget wise, I don't want to spend masses just to dip a toe in - maximum of around £300 for now.

Thank you very much in advance for any advice, if there's anything I need to decide or answer before advice can be given, please let me know!

[spartan2007]

What ever you choose ,your mount is your foundation make sure it is rock solid.my self I have celestron cgem mount it is easy to align which for me was a big plus.do your research mount and ota .cheers

[jonathan]

You could save yourself some research time by investing in a book called 'Making Every Photon Count', this should contain all the information you need to decide what equipment you should buy.  It is available from First Light Optics, their sponsor banner is at the top of this forum page.

As far as stable mounts for photography go, I think I would start at the EQ3-2 / Omni CG-4, cost about £220 and can be motorised for about £100.  They can be purchased individually or as a kit with a scope, personally I prefer the Omni CG-4 because it has better (thicker) tripod legs.  Don't forget you could mount your camera directly onto the mount  (with an appropriate adaptor) for wide field shots.

[rowan46]

frankly its not a good choice if your primary goal is imaging. as a beginners visual  scope its one of the best around for the price.  it suffers from a few problems however for imaging  the mount is too wobbly, the motor is very inaccurate and a dslr will not come to focus unless you move the secondary. you may be able to piggy back some wide field shots off the back of it  but its not much good for anything else. its not a bad scope but its not a good scope and mount for imaging.  actually thinking again you could webcam some planets and the moon on it but it isnt a good fit for dslr prime focus or long exposure imaging  maybe look at these if imaging is what you want to do

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-2-deluxe.html and 

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/enhanced-dual-axis-dc-motor-drive-for-eq3-2.html

good advice from jonathon get the book and read it before you get any equipment you could save yourself some money that way 

I also forgot  nice first post and  welcome to sgl 

[swag72]

As a photographer I'm figuring that you probably have a decent longish lens? While bother with a telescope at this stage? You could buy a second-hand mount and just pop your camera and long lens on the mount it will happily sit there and do the business!

If I was going down any form of astro route, I would suggest an HEQ5 mount - You can pick them up second hand at around the £400-450 mark. A little over your budget but if you don't enjoy it and want to sell, you'll lose very little money on it. 

Here's an example of image image I took with a DSLR at 200mm on an HEQ5 mount. A little different perhaps as I was able to use long exposures as I was guiding the mount, but you get the idea!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/swag72/6155271603/in/set-72157613637893907

If you have a look at this field of view calculator http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fovcalc.php you can put camera lens into it and you will be able to see how large targets are.

Hope that helps.

[Vox45]

If you own a Canon DSLR, have a look at BackyardEOS and Deep Sky Stacker. I started in astrophotography with an old Canon 1000D and those 2 software and I managed to get cool nightsky images.

I also learned a lot by watching Forest Tanaka's youtube channel, I warmly recommend it.

[Blazar]

Welcome to SGL....

The Skywatcher star adventurer is fairly new....fits within your budget and is a 'route' into AP.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html

It fits onto your existing photo tripod (assumes you have one of course). I only post it as an option, and i have never used one. a lot of people used to use the EQ1. a friend of mine still does, and even got his tiny mount guiding. 

SO the above set-up would be good for starting wide field and some lunar work I guess. if you wanted to go in close to image certain features on the lunar surface, then I guess you will need to invest in a scope and mount and all the rest. I am quite happy with my current set-ups at the moment, though I am sure that will change ;-)

Have a look in the imaging section of this forum for lunar and planetary (as well as DSO) work. might show you the equipment being used to obtain relevant results. Good luck and enjoy your stay here.

Regards

[PeterCPC]

Hi and welcome.

Peter

[carastro]

I think Sara is absolutely right.  Get a decent mount like the HEQ5 (2nd hand), and just put your camera on it with a decent lens.  If you're into photography you are bound to want to expand into DSO's at a later date and you'll just have to start again.  Slightly cheaper option would be an EQ5 as I know some people image with these and can guide with them, I have no personal experience of them myself, but this might come in closer to your budget.  

Having bought the right mount, you then have the option of adding an imaging scope at a later date.  Getting the wrong mount will just lead to frustration.

Carole 

[RichM63]

I'm typing softly.....If you already have a 600mm lens, then I would guess that you must have a tripod.

I'm a beginner myself.

As there is so much to learn in Astro Photography with all the software and techniques that are involved, stacking, taking lights, darks, flats, bias, working with layers, different exposure time stacking, even focusing methods, sorting out a workflow with PS CC etc.

You probably don't need to spend any money at all to get started.

Scroll down the main forum page to the Widefield Imaging section, there are some breath taking results from static tripods with simple kit lenses 18-55mm, or even the 50mm. With your 600mm I would have thought that Orion, Andromeda, M45 were achieveable with the correct techniques.

Then as you progress, you'll want/require at least an EQ5 mount or bigger.

One of the great aspects of the forum is that the experts or pro's are more than willing to offer help and advice, even when there is just a vague image of the Moon on offer. 

[bruno]

Hi  you say that your hobby is photograpghy, then why not  try widefield photograpghy ( see sarah's image above ) it most probably won't cost you a penny as you will have all the kit.

 I'm assuming that you have more than a 600mm lens, so use one of your smaller lens  anything from 10mm upwards to 200mm will give you decent shots

As a rough guide  if you divide 400 by your focal length of lens you should get a figure in secs that will give you a picture before you get star tails ( adjust the tim e to the next one down if you are getting trails ).

Also as mentioned above  have a look at byeos & dss to control the camera and stacking .

I have also posted an image in imaging (discussion) of a shot taken with a nifty fifty 1.8 then stacked if you want to look

[Alfian]

Hi,  just to echo the importance of a stable mount. The optical side of things is always the initial draw, but in use if the mount is wobbly or it takes ages to settle down every time you touch the scope its a real pain.

[ronin]

When you say South West England, where in the South West do you mean?

Rather hoping it may be close enough to Sidmouth to suggest you get to the NLO there and look at what they use.

See what range of equipment is used can give you some idea of the many different options and budgets involved.

The EQ2 is too lightweight, suspect someone has said this already.

The basic requirement is:

A motor driven EQ mount,

Small scope - refractor or reflector,

DSLR,

Few attachments to get the DSLR and scope connected,

A remote timer for the DSLR.

Bit by bit:
EQ mount, suggest the EQ5 as the smallest, HEQ5 next, EQ6 next,

Scope, 70mm (ish) ED refractor, or, 130PDS reflector.

DSLR, well many use the Canon's, seems more software and support for them.

Attachments are self explanatory.

Remote Timer, it will allow you to set it to take 10 exposures of say 45 seconds without you having to do much.

The mount will have to have motors, although goto is better. Reason is that it will when set up go to a target and it also goes to it faster then the motor handset does.

Scope is your choice, a 70mm ED refractor is fine and the 130PDS should be fine on an EQ5. You will see 200PDS on an EQ5 adcertised really these are a bit too heavy for the mount, especially when you add bits one like a DSLR.

Budget is the frightening side.

EQ5 with motors say about £300, EQ6 goto say £1000, ED 70 say £300, top end 80mm apo say £4000, DSLR - well you have one, good cooled ccd say £3000, guide system for the EQ6 probably about another £400, or £500, or £600.........

That is the range of equipment in astrophotography.

One aspect I will say is do not think that photography experience covers that much in astrophotography.

Go shooting wildlife and you freeze the image by a fast exposure - cannot do that in AP,

In AP you take a number of exposures 20 perhaps each of 60 seconds of a target that is moving all the time. You take 20 exposures because 1 exposure is simply too dim to get anything from.

Look at it this way consider taking a shot of a flying buzzard for 60 seconds and you have to track the buzzard so it effectively sits absolutely stationary in the view finder and so on the sensor, now do that 20 times in a row for the same buzzard. That is AP. :grin:

[jerodequin]

Many thanks everyone, you've all given me lots to think about and lots of good advice - now I can work on what to add to my Christmas list ;-)

[jerodequin]

When you say South West England, where in the South West do you mean?

Rather hoping it may be close enough to Sidmouth to suggest you get to the NLO there and look at what they use.

See what range of equipment is used can give you some idea of the many different options and budgets involved.

Not that close unfortunately (Wiltshire) but many thanks for all the advice, it is much appreciated.