A good start..

[Richy P]

Hi folks, I hope you are all doing very well.

I'm looking to start my journey into astrophotography, I have a little experience with photography in general and up until recently ran a small drone photography business. I have always been fascinated by the night sky and I'm lucky enough to live in an area with relatively low light pollution. I have been able to capture some fairly decent shots of the moon using my DSLR and a basic tripod. But I've always wanted to head deeper into space and look at Nebula and Galaxies etc.

Doing some research, I've landed on a HEQ5 Pro mount as it seems to come highly recommended and it looks like the mount is key to all this. I just need to figure out scopes now and whether or not I can use my existing DSLR (Nikon D3300). I have been looking at the Skywatcher Explorer 200p or Evostar 72ed to start out with but wondered if you had any advice to help me out? As I know these are two completely different scopes.

My camera won't allow for automation like APT but I think I can work the exposures using a remote instead.

Thanks in advance and clear skies to all

[MarkAR]

The Evostar is a doublet so you will need the 0.85 reducer for photography. That will give it a pretty good FOV for nebulae and larger galaxies.

The 200P-ds would need the coma corrector and will have a good focal length for galaxies and small nebulae.

[Richy P]

7 hours ago, MarkAR said:

The Evostar is a doublet so you will need the 0.85 reducer for photography. That will give it a pretty good FOV for nebulae and larger galaxies.

The 200P-ds would need the coma corrector and will have a good focal length for galaxies and small nebulae.

Thanks for the advice mate.. Am I right in thinking the refractors are a little easier to live with? 

[jonathan]

Refractors are usually smaller and maybe lighter than reflectors so perhaps tax the mount a little less, and when it comes to astrophotography with guided long exposures light gathering is less important than it is for visual.  There are quite a few specialist refractors aimed at imagers and a few reflectors too, I haven't delved that far into it (I bought the Altair Astro 102 APO as a starting point, have yet to start, it makes an excellent visual tool though).  Serious imagers will likely use a small refractor (60 - 80mm) as a guide scope.

Certainly I think the HEQ5 Pro is the minimum serious starting point for imaging, it will easily manage a refractor for imaging purposes and shouldn't be affected by small gusts of wind.  When it comes to size, a good refractor should come with a case and fitted foam, it won't have the bulk of an equivalent reflector so should be easier and safer to store when not in use.  My Altair Astro 102 takes up about the same amount of space in it's case as my 150P reflector without a case.

If I was inclined to and experienced enough, I could probably get some decent images out of my 70mm refractor travel scope; like the Hubble deep field, there's a lot to be seen with long exposure (and stacking, post processing, etc) vs visual alone.

Edited May 16, 2020 by jonathan

[MarkAR]

For ease of use I would say refractor to start with.

Reflectors are wider and will catch the breeze more easily ruining images and throwing guiding off. They can also suffer from having too short a focus tube or one that protrudes inside and affects roundness or stars. They also have to be collimated.

 

[jambouk]

The 200 reflector is a bit big for the HEQ5; if that is the mount, defo go for a small semi-app refractor.