Beginner astrophotography gear question

[jon2k]

Hey Guys!

I finally convinced myself to take the plunge and give Astrophotography a try. I've been looking around forums and decided on some equipment that should get me started in the right direction. I realize that there is much more to it than buying the equipment but everyone needs to start somewhere. I'd love to hear your opinions and let me know if I'm missing anything or if you'd change something.

Scope - Orion ED80T CF Triplet Apochromatic Refractor Telescope  

Mount - Orion Sirius EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Autoguider - Orion Mini Deluxe Pro Autoguider Packackage

+ t-ring and adapter for my Canon EOS 

+ field flattener

Are there any substitutions you'd make where I could save a little money? Am I missing anything important to get myself started? 

My interests are more into nebulae and galaxies rather than planets.

Much appreciated!

[hjw]

You could always do a step-wise purchase. I am pretty much in the same boat as you. I've got the same mount - just the SW version. I played around with a small Newtonian to learn the ropes and have just ordered the SW 80ED (Doublet) scope which by all accounts is quite good and a lot cheaper than the triplet version. I will hold off a guided system until I have covered all the objects which I can get with ~2 minute subs. I also decided that the flattener can wait until I have the art of astrophotography on a level where it makes a difference. What I would be tempted to get is a modded DSLR and a light pollution/contrast filter even though I live in a reasonably dark area. If you go for guiding you'll need a laptop and if you want to be mobile you will need a power supply.

Good luck and clear skies.

[Grog]

Field flattener? New to me, but I am a newbie to this. I have a DSLR and I am looking to connect my camera. Back to google again. lol

[DaveS]

You *will* need a flattener to cover a DSLR chip, and I'd jump straight in with guiding. Although there are a few stand-alone autoguiding packages the consensus is to go for a dedicated laptop based system. 

A laptop running Cartes du Ciel, as your planetarium software, EQMOD to control the mount, APT to control the camera and PHD2 to guide the whole shebang. APT will also talk to PHD2.

Oh, and get a copy of "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards, steppenwolf of this forum.