Advice on Skywatcher 150P + EQ3-2 mount

[Richard 68]

Hi, I am new to telescopes and all it entails, I am looking at a 150P on an EQ3 mount, my question is, is this setup not good for dslr astrophotography, and if not why not ? I would be using a Nikon D5000 or 7000 for the camera probably the 5000 as it’s lighter. 

Any and all help and advice is very welcome 

[vlaiv]

It's no good for long exposure / deep sky astrophotography. It is quite ok for planetary imaging.

These two (DSO and planetary AP) are quite different in gear requirements.

With deep sky AP you want following:

- very good mount that means stability / carry capacity / good and smooth tracking and precision. Also ability to be guided well (unless you have encoders but that is much more money than this whole setup)

- suitable telescope with suitable focal length and good corrected field. Good focuser that will hold your camera without any sort of movement / tilting

EQ3 mount is very basic mount. It is light weight and not stable platform for such imaging, tracking is adequate for observing but not for AP with telescope. It is good for mounting only camera and short focal length lens on it and doing wide field AP. 150P telescope is again not the best option for DSO AP - it is long focal length which requires precision. It's got basic 1.25" focuser that won't be able to properly hold your camera, ....

In principle, one can do DSO AP with such setup, but it takes a lot of experience to do so. It is by no means something that would be recommended to beginner.

Planetary ap is quite different, and I would say it's quite ok, and even very good combination for that. It does not need perfect tracking, scope is well suited because field of view when capturing planets is very small. Only thing that I would recommend for planetary AP is skipping DSLR type camera and getting dedicated planetary camera for this role. In that combination it can provide very good results.

[Peco4321]

I disagree, yes ok it is not the best, but if like me, budget, experience and dedication to this fantastic hobby are in limited supply, great results are achievable. I have managed 60 seconds exposures when everything goes well, polar alignment, balance, focus and objects in a favourable position. It has brought to me objects that are invisible to the naked eye and very difficult to even see through the scope. Here’s just a sample of what I’ve imaged with this set up using a non modded canon 1100d, no filters.

If like me, you have set your expectations at an achievable level, this set up is great. I love it. 

[Ships and Stars]

Holy smokes Peco, wonderful photos! 

[Peco4321]

2 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

Holy smokes Peco, wonderful photos! 

Thanks. I’m totally self taught as well, with loads of help from this site in the early days obviously. There is nothing more satisfying than trying to star hop to where you think a dim DSO is located, hope for the best and start imaging. I’ve been at this hobby for 4 years now, just wish the skies were darker in my town. 

So to anyone getting into this, I again stress that expectations are the key, you get what you pay for but that doesn’t mean entry level equipment cannot bring great enjoyment. 

[Ships and Stars]

I'll say! Excellent work. I agree this forum has been wonderful the short time I've been here, about six months, I've tried to learn as much as I can. I have a 130PDS, quite 'cheap' in astronomy terms, and was admiring the photos other owners have made with it. Keep the excellent images coming!

[wookie1965]

you can fill the legs with sand to make it more stable or buy a HEQ5 tripod which fits the EQ3-2 mount. This will make it a lot more stable and I believe there are a few astro photographers  on here who use the EQ3-2 mount.

[Richard 68]

Thanks for all of your input guys, I am on a budget at the moment as we are soon to be moving from the UK to southern Spain (even less LP than where I am now). 

Peco, if  I manage to get captures like those you have then I will be a happy man, even just observing planets and stars would make me happy.

[AstroMuni]

Peco, those are lovely pics. Is this with just the SW 150P and Cannon 1100D? What eyepiece do you use (if any)? I am a newbie too so would be interested in viewing these at this level of detail; if not photgraphing them.

Edited August 6, 2019 by M55_uk

[Peco4321]

12 minutes ago, M55_uk said:

Peco, those are lovely pics. Is this with just the SW 150P and Cannon 1100D? What eyepiece do you use (if any)? I am a newbie too so would be interested in viewing these at this level of detail; if not photgraphing them.

Cheers. All deep sky stuff is using the camera attached to the scope at prime focus, no lens or Barlow. Take multiple images with the tracking motors running and stack in DSS. 

[vlaiv]

3 hours ago, Peco4321 said:

I disagree, yes ok it is not the best,

Ah, right, I mixed up 150P with 150PL - second being F/8 scope, quite a bit more demanding...

150P is quite more suitable than 150PL for AP applications - as you've demonstrated.

Btw, did you guide your EQ3?

[Peco4321]

2 hours ago, vlaiv said:

Btw, did you guide your EQ3?

No guiding, that would maybe be my next investment, if my wife lets me 😄

[Alan White]

Peter that is quite stunning, 

Folks spend fortunes on imaging a d here you are, nice Newtonian, small simple mount and well quite frankly amazing me with the results, very pleasant indeed.

I have had two 150p f5 scopes and loved them both, very easy Scope to live with, 

I am a visual only Astronomer, but do have a slight hankering to image, I am a hobby terrestrial photographer, so Images do float my boat, but I have been terrified of trying imaging as it looks to be a time and money pit.

Keep on doing what you do my friend, great results.

 

[Peco4321]

58 minutes ago, Alan White said:

terrified of trying imaging

Thanks for your kind words. It still amazes me that a humble set up, extremely limited photography skills and light polluted skies in East Yorkshire can give me images of things trillions of miles away. 

Don't be terrified, get a t ring for your camera, about £15, attach it, trial and error, you’ll have deep sky images in no time.  

[Peco4321]

And don’t forget all the solar system imaging you can get with this set up. 

[Dragon_Astro]

I started off with the 150P on an Eq3-2, which I didn’t find quite sturdy enough to guide accurately, though to be honest it was early in my AP journey so it could’ve been down to my inexperience with it all.

Now use the 150P on an HEQ5 and it guides like a dream, 5min+ subs when polar aligned well. The 150P does take 2” accessories, the 1.25” part is removable for using it with a DSLR (used a Canon 450D with mine).

Aswell as the familiar targets like above, I’ve captured the deeper space ones like the Abel galaxy clusters and Hickson galaxy groups.

Below is a recent Jupiter capture (stacked subs)....

 

[Peco4321]

1 minute ago, Dragon_Astro said:

5min+ subs

I dream of that one day. Jupiter looks great. 

[Dragon_Astro]

2 minutes ago, Peco4321 said:

I dream of that one day. Jupiter looks great. 

That is with a guide scope + a guide cam too mind you, not just the HEQ5 on its own

[Anthony1979]

Is the eq3-2 suitable for this telescope im just asking because i have the 150p sat on a homemade rocker box 

[Richard 68]

These shots that you have all posted are amazing, thanks for sharing.

The set up I’m looking at has a EQ3 mount (not EQ3-2), can I fit a tracking system to this mount and if so what are my choices (all price ranges)

Thanks

[Peco4321]

21 hours ago, Anthony1979 said:

Is the eq3-2 suitable for this telescope im just asking because i have the 150p sat on a homemade rocker box 

150p sit’s fine on this mount. Maybe not the 150pl though 

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Peco4321

[Anthony1979]

On 06/08/2019 at 13:13, Peco4321 said:

I disagree, yes ok it is not the best, but if like me, budget, experience and dedication to this fantastic hobby are in limited supply, great results are achievable. I have managed 60 seconds exposures when everything goes well, polar alignment, balance, focus and objects in a favourable position. It has brought to me objects that are invisible to the naked eye and very difficult to even see through the scope. Here’s just a sample of what I’ve imaged with this set up using a non modded canon 1100d, no filters.

If like me, you have set your expectations at an achievable level, this set up is great. I love it. 

And were all these taken on the eq3-2 

[AstroMuni]

Peco, I am guessing these images are after stacking etc. from your 60sec clip. Would be useful for beginners like me if you could post one such clip here so we can see the before and after.

Edited August 8, 2019 by M55_uk

[Peco4321]

On 08/08/2019 at 00:56, Anthony1979 said:

And were all these taken on the eq3-2 

Yes all on eq3-2 with 150p

[Peco4321]

20 hours ago, M55_uk said:

Peco, I am guessing these images are after stacking etc. from your 60sec clip. Would be useful for beginners like me if you could post one such clip here so we can see the before and after.

Sure, I’ll do it later when back home. Typically they are 25-45 sec exposures, plus bias frames stacked in DSS and stretched in GIMP. I would say they are only about 30-60 minutes worth, as I've  said I know my limitations so adding hour after hour of data does not make significant differences to my images. 

Its a great feeling when you first start with DSS, moving the sliders to bring out the detail from what at first sight was a picture showing not much at all, gets me every time.