Help astrophotography setup

[justlows]

Hello,

After long times only seeing images of DSO's, i want to start my journey taking the pictures my self.

I'm thinkin about this setup:

TS-Optics 70 mm F6 ED

TS-Optics REFRACTOR 0.8x Reducer Corrector for 80mm f/7 ED

TS Focal Adapter from 2" to T2-thread

TS-Optics Optics T2 Adaptor for NIKON

Explore Scientific iEXOS-100 PMC-Eight WiFi GoTo Mount - up to 7 kg

TS-Optics Dovetail Mounting Bar Vixen style - 100 mm

I have a nikon D3400.

 

So, my questions are:

With 950€ budget, can i get a better setup?

Am i missing something? Are these parts all that i need?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Best Regards,

Fábio

 

[Waldemar]

Besides all of that, you will need a lot of patience and perseverance and a book called 'Making Every Photon Count' by Steve Richards.
And not to forget deep pockets or good saving ability, because you will want to get better equipment after initial results...

Not trying to discourage you, but a warning is in place... Imaging is not as easy as it seems!

Before investing in a telescope and more optical equipment, maybe just use your Nikkon with standard lens on a second hand mount to get started, to check if the bug will bite you...

[FaDG]

As a minimum, for some serious results, you'll also need a guide camera + guide scope or OffAxis guider. 

Not to mention a laptop or ASIAir or similar and maybe light pollution filters depending on your location

Edited April 7, 2020 by FaDG

[carastro]

Looking good so far, but you'll need to guide, so will need a guide scope and guidecamera.  Maybe your finderscope is suitable for conversion. 

Carole 

Edited April 7, 2020 by carastro

[Erling G-P]

Everyone perservering with imaging probably ends up guiding for best results, unless they have so deep pockets as to acquire mounts of such high quality that guiding isn't necessary.  However, it's perfectly possible to get your feet wet without guiding from day 1.  Enough to learn just to get started, so why not keep it as simple as possible initially, and then add stuff and complexity if the bug bites..

Edited April 7, 2020 by Erling G-P

[justlows]

9 hours ago, Waldemar said:

Besides all of that, you will need a lot of patience and perseverance and a book called 'Making Every Photon Count' by Steve Richards.
And not to forget deep pockets or good saving ability, because you will want to get better equipment after initial results...

Not trying to discourage you, but a warning is in place... Imaging is not as easy as it seems!

Before investing in a telescope and more optical equipment, maybe just use your Nikkon with standard lens on a second hand mount to get started, to check if the bug will bite you...

Thank you  I thought about that but here in Portugal it is very hard to find used mounts. Also i only have the kit lens, meaning i have to waste like 300€ in another lens (and not in a good one). It does not seem to be worth it. Or am i missing something?

[justlows]

8 hours ago, FaDG said:

As a minimum, for some serious results, you'll also need a guide camera + guide scope or OffAxis guider. 

Not to mention a laptop or ASIAir or similar and maybe light pollution filters depending on your location

 

8 hours ago, carastro said:

Looking good so far, but you'll need to guide, so will need a guide scope and guidecamera.  Maybe your finderscope is suitable for conversion. 

Carole 

 

6 hours ago, Erling G-P said:

Everyone perservering with imaging probably ends up guiding for best results, unless they have so deep pockets as to acquire mounts of such high quality that guiding isn't necessary.  However, it's perfectly possible to get your feet wet without guiding from day 1.  Enought to learn just to get started, so why not keep it as simple as possible initially, and then add stuff and complexity if the bug bites..

The thing is, i do not want to go all in and spend a ton of money (the setup is posted is kinda expensive already). How long can i expect my exposure time with that setup? Something like two minutes?

[justlows]

With this budget 950/1000€, can i have a better setup? Or this is good enough? Sure, i know i won't get the best results.

Can i expect something like this ?

 

Note: i live in a bortle 5/6 zone

Edited April 7, 2020 by justlows

[Erling G-P]

Not being familiar with your proposed mount, I won't haphazerd a guess to the unguided exposure times possible.  For comparison, I'm imaging with a much bigger scope on a much beefier mount, but still one most here will claim is too small for the scope (SkyWatcher 200PDS on a HEQ5Pro).  Unguided, I had to limit myself to 30-sec exposures, as going higher resulted in far too many wasted subs.  However, I'm at more than twice the focal length of your proposed scope, so maybe 2 minutes isn't unrealistic with your mount / scope combo.  People with experience with the mount, seems to like it:

 

With a little experience, I would think an image like the one of M31 you linked to, should be possible - just don't be disappointed if your first attempt doesn't quite match it

[FaDG]

11 minutes ago, Erling G-P said:

I'm imaging with a much bigger scope on a much beefier mount, but still one most here will claim is too small for the scope (SkyWatcher 200PDS on a HEQ5Pro

🙋‍♂️

The mount is too small for the scope! 🤣 

I bought my HEQ5 used from a guy who wasn't satisfied of how it performed under a 200p. I use it with a 150pds and it works a treat! 

1 hour ago, justlows said:

How long can i expect my exposure time with that setup? Something like two minutes?

I assume that, unguided, you could achieve around 60" exposures with round stars and some rejected frame. 

[Erling G-P]

35 minutes ago, FaDG said:

🙋‍♂️

The mount is too small for the scope! 🤣 

I bought my HEQ5 used from a guy who wasn't satisfied of how it performed under a 200p. I use it with a 150pds and it works a treat! 

 

Yes, the mount is too small for the scope - wasn't that what I said ? 😉

[Waldemar]

On 07/04/2020 at 20:24, justlows said:

Thank you  I thought about that but here in Portugal it is very hard to find used mounts. Also i only have the kit lens, meaning i have to waste like 300€ in another lens (and not in a good one). It does not seem to be worth it. Or am i missing something?

Hi, Maybe you can find a HEQ 5 on the Dutch site: www.te-les-koop.nl

I see them come by regularly...
If you find one and the seller does not want to ship to Portugal, I would not mind helping you out.

 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Waldemar
typo