Suggestions for a scope as basis of photo setup

[Greenhorn]

Hi all,

I'm looking for suggestions regarding a scope which will form the basis of an astrophotography set up for my wife. Her 40th is coming up and she's very into both astronomy and photography. I bought her a Celestron tabletop 76 many years ago, which we've had great fun with, but it's definitely time to move on.

I'm not too bothered right now about the mount as it's also our 10th wedding anniversary next year, so I reckon that can wait until then, and give the bank account a bit of a rest....

Thankfully we also already have a pretty good DSLR.

 

So essentially I'm looking for a telescope around the £700-800 mark, which with the later addition of a beefier mount, would be a good access point into AP. As for what she'd be interested in taking pictures of; I reckon more deep space than planetary.

 

So far I've been impressed with reviews of the Nexstar 6 SE and the Explorer 200 EQ5GOTO. Thoughts on either of these models or suggestions of an alternative would be greatly appreciated.

 

Rich.

[nightfisher]

disregard the 6SE and the 200, the 6se is alt azimuth and not at all best suited to deep sky AP, the 200 is a big scope, it can do AP but  its a lot of scope to set up and will catch the wind causing bounce,

for your budget look at Explorer 130p DS or ED80 refractor, but as lots of people will tell you, the mount is the most important item

sticking my neck on the line i think you could get away with an EQ3 goto and 130p ds

[DaveS]

Not a 'scope but this:

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

Beyond this, don't disregard the mount as it's more important than the 'scope.

BTW Steve is a mod here "steppenwolf".

[DaveS]

OK, sticking *my* neck out, 130P-DS, coma corrector, T-ring and basic Canon DSLR. For AP Canons are prefered due to the software available for control.

[Ikonnikov]

Tricky; as other posters mention the mount is key for deep sky astrophotography. It may be a false economy to start by buying a suitable telescope on an inadequate mount. If your wife wants to get going straight away with astrophotogtahy it may make more sense to go with better mount and cheaper scope then upgrade that later on. The rub is that the minimum mount required for making decent quality images (HEQ5 or similar) will cost your entire budget bought new.

Regarding the scope, for someone new to the area I would definitely suggest a small aperture ED refractor with a matching focal reducer and field flattener especially if you have a large chipped dslr.

Of course to lighten the damage to your wallet you could look at the second hand market, classifieds on here or UK Astronomy Buy and Sell especially. And there is a steady supply of the aforementioned gear on there as people frequently upgrade to more advanced setups.

 

Paul

[Greenhorn]

Ok, sorry. Probably getting a lot of stuff wrong here....

 

So something like the Explorer 130P DS with EQ3 pro mount would be around £530. My budget is a bit more so would I not be better off going for the best I can afford?

Like the 150P DS with the EQ5 pro for £750?

 

That book is already on the "definite purchase" list.

[Stu]

6 minutes ago, Greenhorn said:

Ok, sorry. Probably getting a lot of stuff wrong here....

 

So something like the Explorer 130P DS with EQ3 pro mount would be around £530. My budget is a bit more so would I not be better off going for the best I can afford?

Like the 150P DS with the EQ5 pro for £750?

 

That book is already on the "definite purchase" list.

In terms of the scope, less is more as you don't want to over burden the mount. A 130P-DS on an HEQ5 would be better, but do read the book!  

[DaveS]

Agree with Stu. I should have mentioned the mount. HEQ5 is regarded as the minimum for beginning AP. You *can* get away with an EQ5 but it's a much less capable mount.

[ronin]

The problem is that people look at a scope with visual in mind, nice big scope and a mount that will just handle it. Shake is not really considered as the simple act of looking through a scope and making contact causes a bit of shake and the eye+brain seems to work around it a fair bit.

AP is the other way, to a fair extent a small good scope adn a big mount are required. Will ask as you say it is for your wife - could she pick up and carry an HEQ5 easily? I am happy to say I would not be happy doing it. I have an HEQ5, decided it was over the top and went and bought an EQ5. In all this the HEQ5 nad not been taken out the car boot.

I presume that you and your wife appreiate the diffeence in photography and AP. Using a wildlife shot as an example you take one shot at about 1/100 sec and ISO 100 at say f/8. AP you take a set of 20 shots, each shot being 30 seconds in duration, at ISO 100 and everything is manual aperture is to an extent minor, and this is on a mount that has to be aligned and that tracks what is a slow moving target. To produce an image the 20 shots then need top be stacked adn processed.

How "serious" will she be ? Some time back there was an "introductory" AP setup available that was the iOptron SmartEQ and the WO 71mm Zenithstar scope. That gives an idea of what could be the least expensive option. However it will go no further as a better/bigger scope (80mm or triplet) would immediatly mean a bigger mount.

In terms of mount iOptron produce a CEM25 that is the next one up, it handles 25lbs, likely only 18-20 realistically. That would allow a start with a 70mm ED refractor and either a bigger scope to start with or upgrade to. When it arrives in the UK it is the one I am likely to purchase.

Also find the Bedford club as I believe they have an active imaging group, seeing the actual equipment is a great idea. I also tend to suggest getting your wife to decide. Scopes tend to be personel. If someone bought me a 10" reflector I would thank them and be thinking "Why?", if the bought me a 72mm ED I would be thinking "That is nice", if the turned up with a nice used Megrez 72 I wolud be really happy. So I really suggest that you include her in the purchase decision.

[Greenhorn]

Fantastic help, guys.

 

I don't think I'd really appreciated the different requirements of viewing and AP.

I think that between the two she'd definitely pick viewing. And given the time required for processing AP, and the fact that we have two young kids and that she's the head of science at a big school, AP might be something best left for a time when we're not both so busy.

 

Given that....

Hi, I'm looking for suggestions for a telescope and mount for about £800 to look at stuff through. Lol.