New Telescope for beginner

[jACK101]

Hi,

I am a complete beginner, but I have been reading seriously for a few  weeks. I am 74 years old and, at present, not in the best of health but I hope to improve.

I would like to buy a telescope/mount combination to allow mw to extend my lifetime photography hobby to astrophotography. I plan to use my Nikon D3200 for this.

I have looked at telescopes and the following look interesting:

Skywatcher Explorer 200PSD HEQ5 Pro Newtonian telescope.  and the

Skywatcher Explorer 250PSD EQ6 Pro Newtonian Telescope.

Would either or both of these fit my requirements?

Arte there any disadvantages for the type of photography I have described, or for any other reason?

What alternative kit would you think would be better for me?

Would the fixed screen on the Nikon D3200 be a problem?

Thanks for all replies

Jack

[happy-kat]

Welcome.

My thought as a casual observer to your thread is the weight of the mounts and telescopes mentioned, the weight of moving depending on storage location to setup position.

[ChrisLX200]

For imaging (photography) you do not need a large aperture instrument - at least to start with. A small refractor of good optical quality (an 80mm apochromat) is more suitable for the majority of celestial targets. What is important is having a good quality mount which is able to accurately track the stars as they appear to move across the sky. This is no easy task and the accuracy demands are very high indeed.

ChrisH

[miafey]

Hi,

I am a complete beginner, but I have been reading seriously for a few  weeks. I am 74 years old and, at present, not in the best of health but I hope to improve.

I would like to buy a telescope/mount combination to allow mw to extend my lifetime photography hobby to astrophotography. I plan to use my Nikon D3200 for this.

I have looked at telescopes and the following look interesting:

Skywatcher Explorer 200PSD HEQ5 Pro Newtonian telescope.  and the

Skywatcher Explorer 250PSD EQ6 Pro Newtonian Telescope.

Would either or both of these fit my requirements?

Arte there any disadvantages for the type of photography I have described, or for any other reason?

What alternative kit would you think would be better for me?

Would the fixed screen on the Nikon D3200 be a problem?

Thanks for all replies

Jack

Welcome Jack. 

For AP there are a lot of things worth considering before you choose a scope and a mount. 

I'm no expert (I am actually a brand new beginner!) but I'll name a few for your consideration:

1) portability. You might think big aperture surely is good. But the larger the aperture is the heavies the scope is and hence the heavier the mount should be. For the two scopes you are looking at, 200PDS weights almost 6kg, on a HEQ5 pro which has a mount weight of around 7kg and a tripod weight of around 4kg is perhaps a little big undermount but doable. Increasing the aperture increases the weight dramatically. 250PDS weights, on its own, 16kg, on a EQ6 which has a mount weight of 16kg and a tripod of 7.5kg. These figures are from internet but you get the idea. If you do not have somewhere to set them up permanently, you will then have to carry the weight around everytime you use your scope+mount. They always say the best scope is the one you use most. So consider whether the combination is manageable for you and choose one which is suitable. 

2) Payload. For astrophotography, the mount is far more important than the scope. a 200PDS on a HEQ5 pro is just doable, a 250PDS on a EQ6 is certainly undermount. When you choose a mount, check the payload capacity of the mount and remember that the payload capacity if for visual only and you could only use 50%, at most 70% of that capacity for imaging, otherwise you may start having problems with tracking. Your payload will include the scope (the tube), adaptors, your DSLR, finderscope and, optionally, guiding device. I'd say add at least 2-3 kgs on top of your tube weight and see whether the mount could cope. EQ6 has a payload capacity of 18kg so you could mount a 250PDS on it for visual, but not for imaging. 

3) target. What you would like to image? The sun, the moon, the planets, or deep sky objects, or widefield (milky way, constellations, etc)? Different targets will require different gear. Of course it is so complicated that you would require a separate combination for each of these different types, but knowing what you are looking for will help you to make the right decision. 

In general, Nikon cameras are not as suitable for AP as Canon cameras. You don't need a super advanced DSLR for astro imaging. You could grab a used astro modded Canon for well under 200. 

These are my opinions and I'm sure other experts will give you other useful information. 

Most important - have fun! 

Mia

[miafey]

Sorry, typo!!!

"Of course it is NOT so complicated that you would require a separate combination for each of these different types, but knowing what you are looking for will help you to make the right decision. "

[Charic]

jack101........welcome to SGL.

Have a peek here matey, this book has all the information and the equipment is similar to your own choices, and surprisingly even less aperture is required for most of the photography you intend to  capture?

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

Should Steppenwolf add anything here, the man himself!

[mcolbert]

yes, as mia writes; what is it that you want to take images of and do you need portability in your set up?

michael

[Stu]

Yep, key question really is are you talking about long exposure, deep sky astrophotography ie images of nebulae and star clusters etc, or are you wanting to target planets and/or the moon which need many short exposure images to 'freeze' the seeing at high magnification.

Very different disciplines needing different kit so that's the first question I would ask.

[brantuk]

The 200 is too big on the HEQ5 for imaging and the 250 is too large for imaging on the EQ6 mount. The 200 on the EQ6 is about the right weight/size ratio which will work for imaging. However - given your age and physical condition I should mention that the EQ6 mount is 16Kgs in weight. It may be a better idea to use an HEQ5 and a smaller lighter scope like the 80mm or 100mm Appo mentioned above - this would suit you (and imaging) a lot more. If you wanted to observe as well you can always get a 6" or 8" newtonian which the HEQ5 will also handle.

It's important you know what's involved in astro imaging - it's not as easy as snapping a camera in daylight - it's very involved and includes a lot of computer and software expertise. You need to have a good read of "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards before embarking on such a learning curve. That said - it's a very rewarding hobby. Hth

[seo]

Hi Jack and welcome aboard.

As others mentioned for AP (AstroPhotography), with the majority of the mounts,  to minimize tracking problems caused by the mount itself its better to stay at 50-60% of the mount total weight capacity.
Of course depending of the mount quality and capabilities the previous percentage can vary.

As brantuk mentioned one other thing you have to consider besides the telescope weight / mount weight capacity is the size/volume (large/big - small) of any given telescope in relation with any given mount. You have to add to this "relation" and take under consideration the dimensions of the mounts base plate/"connector" and its weight capacity compared to the actual telescope + instruments on it "volume". If the actual telescope length (not focal length) and its diameter is significantly bigger than "proper" for your mount then this can cause stability problems even with relatively small air gusts because the air friction is bigger. Also big "volume" telescopes, need more than others big and sturdy connections with the mount base plate/"connector" to avoid flexure and this way you can minimize the "air friction" stability problem too.
IMHO your best bet for AP (at least for starting and learning) is a small good quality refractor lets say from 70mm to 100mm aperture. Also by going this way you signifiacntlly reducing your mount weight capacity, air friction and flecture issues.

[happy-kat]

What about the skywatcher staradventurer.

Small light and can carry a dslr plus lens, some are trying small 70mm refractor.

Lots of threads on this site on that piece of kit and the images members are getting.

[tony210]

Hi -good to start with observing in my view with a largish reflector-no chromatic aberration and a large choice of dramatic targets -large mount as above and then when you start the steep learning curve for imaging it won't be too daunting-however may people get there by many varied routes-good luck and have fun!-Tony

[Alan64]

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/all-mounts-motors/skywatcher-eq3-pro-synscan-goto.html

...and for both visual and solar system/deep-sky imaging... http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3933_Skywatcher-Explorer-130PDS---130mm-f-5-Newtonian---2--Focuser.html