Best budget scope for astrophotography

[nickgt4185]

Hi everyone ,

Would you be able to tell me what my options would be for a scope for astrophotography using my dslr .

I will have  a max budget of around £500 and I don't mind buying a used scope.

 

Thanks for any help in advance. 

 

Nick 

[tooth_dr]

What mount do you current have to put the telescope on?

[nickgt4185]

5 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

What mount do you current have to put the telescope on?

Hi 

All I have been using is a camera tripod for wide photos of the milky way with a skywatcher astro tracker .

But I want to start taking photos of dso's. 

Thanks 

[nickgt4185]

I do have a Meade Polaris 130eq I got a few years ago before I got into astrophotography  but I have heard they are not great for that.

[david_taurus83]

I think you will need a more substantial tracking mount for DSO. For 500 quid you could get a HEQ5 mount second hand maybe..

 

I bought a scope first and ended up working backwards with kit acquisition and it's cost more in the long run.

 

You should buy the astrophotography bible and have a read as it covers almost everything a beginner needs to know! I wish I had read it first!

 

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

[nickgt4185]

3 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

I think you will need a more substantial tracking mount for DSO. For 500 quid you could get a HEQ5 mount second hand maybe..

 

I bought a scope first and ended up working backwards with kit acquisition and it's cost more in the long run.

 

You should buy the astrophotography bible and have a read as it covers almost everything a beginner needs to know! I wish I had read it first!

 

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

Thankyou I will check out that book. 

[tooth_dr]

Sounds like you have a good grounding on the subject.  A decent S/H SW mount would be a good investment.  I find you can pick up telescopes themselve cheap enough second hand, but it's important to get a really good mount to put them on.  A possible suggestion would be to buy an HEQ5 or EQ6 (slightly over budget) and mount the Polaris 130 scope you already have.

 

[alacant]

26 minutes ago, nickgt4185 said:

Meade Polaris 130eq

Hi. Many of us use a similar telescope for imaging dsos. Your main problems will be:

• getting it to focus with a dslr attached
• fitting a coma corrector (which btw will take £100 from your budget)
• finding a mount stable enough within your budget

But hey, all easily doable:)

HTH

[Stub Mandrel]

The 130P-DS with coma corrector is an excellent scope.

While the best mount you can get is advisable, you can use an EQ3, especially if you strengthen the tripod or fit it on a heavyweight one, which is what I did.

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I also got some decent results with an EQ3-2 (although an HEQ5 is certainly advisable). A long telephoto lens can also work well. I got this result with my DSLR and 200 mm F/2.8 both at full aperture and stopped down to F/3.5

[bobro]

6 hours ago, nickgt4185 said:

I do have a Meade Polaris 130eq

That's a reasonable scope and what I use for imaging, but there are a couple of issues as @alacant mentions:

1) Getting a DSLR to focus - a 2x Barlow isn't a great solution as it results in 4x exposure increase and doubles the focal length. As an alternative I cut 40mm from the scope tube.

2) The Meade Polaris 130EQ has a 1.25" focuser and coma correctors aren't readily available at that size. I made one from stock parts - not difficult.

To give you an idea of what the scope can do, here's one of my first images (without coma corrector) taken with the Meade on an EQ2 mount with a simple 'clockwork' motor.

Also a much later image (with coma corrector) where I changed the mirror for a used SkyWatcher 130P mirror (£30 and better quality) and mounted the Meade on an EQ5.

HTH

 

[nickgt4185]

Sorry for not getting back to this sooner . But wow some awesome photos you guys have posted and awesome advice .

Thankyou everyone for helping me.

[tooth_dr]

5 minutes ago, nickgt4185 said:

Sorry for not getting back to this sooner . But wow some awesome photos you guys have posted and awesome advice .

Thankyou everyone for helping me.

 

Please keep us updated on how you get on. ?