reducer corrector for SCT

[Luna-tic]

Reading about image size in a given telescope at a given magnification, the literature says I may not get the entire solar image  when shooting the upcoming eclipse. I plan to use the C6 as a prime focus telephoto, filtered for pre- and post- totality, and remove the filter for the 2 minutes of totality I'll get at the location I plan to visit (and only hope the weather cooperates). I definitely want the entire disc and corona in my shots. I was reading about the corrector/ reducer lens that fits at the rear of the telescope in the eyepiece tube and how it decreases the focal length. I also like that it "opens" the scope from f/10 to f/6.5, which will almost halve my exposure time, allowing me to bracket the exposures for more shots. What I read also says these lenses flatten the image.

The camera I'm using is a D3400 Nikon (26MP); I'll shoot RAW, and crop and hopefully stack some images in post processing, along with some image cropping.

What are the downsides to these lenses?

[Peter Drew]

I think you may struggle to do this, the corona can be 3 times the size of the solar disc overall. Might be worth trying the system out by imaging the Moon, it has pretty much the same angular diameter or you wouldn't get a total eclipse.    Welcome to this forum.

[newbie alert]

Using the astromany tools on the first light optics site will give you an idea of size of potential targets..load up with your equipment and see what you will get in the frame..

https://astronomy.tools/

[Luna-tic]

The last telescope I had was back when I was 12-13 and was an inexpensive refractor, maybe a 2-1/2 inch objective. Objects in it were pretty small. I can't get my head wrapped around what a nice scope will show me. I'm thinking along the lines you mention, and my plan is just what you suggest: set the thing up and look, see what I have, then do what I need to deal with it. I have a good 300mm telephoto lens for my camera, I may end up just using it, piggybacked on the scope mount so the RA drive keeps it centered.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.