Greetings ya all

[peabrain]

Greetings just wanted to make my presence known to you all.

I am new to the world of photography and even newer to the astro part.
This spring i got my first "real ish" camera Nikon Z50, shortly after a few co workers got me hooked on the whole astrophotography  game.

After a first night wiping dew off my 16-50m Z kit lens (with few partial usable photos) i found my self totaly hooked.
The day after i ordered a Sigma art F1.8 18-35mm lens. and the next weekend i gave it another attempt just to mess around with the new lens, after taking my motorcycle 8-10 miles on loose gravel road and a night of lens wiping later i am now more hooked then before.

I currently have a cheap usb lens heater on my way to combat the dew. And my original tripod i bought of a co worker has been changed since it was kinda shaky and to weak for my future plans.

 it quickly became apparent to me that a tracker would be a good investment.   (also since deep sky is looking very interesting to me)

Currently i am looking at the ioptron skyguider pro with the ipolar bundle on varius sites. (hoping for some sort of summer discount some where)
Also a microsoft surface go 2 or the like to use with the ipolar.

The only restriction i have for my whole setup is being able to have most of it on my back riding a motorcycle or bicycle.

well enough rambling here gonna go back to lurking and read up and learn before the fun begins in august.

Current gear
Nikon z50
Nikon 16-50mm kit Z lens

Nikon 70-300 AF-p F4,5-6,3G ED
Sigma 18-35 F1.8 art DC HSM

Sirui T-005RX tripod 8.8lbs

Tycka "carbon fiber" 65" tripod "33lbs"
KIWIFOTOS DHS-1 Dew Heater Strip USB (on its way in the mail)

 

[Mr Spock]

Hi, welcome to SGL 

[banjaxed]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[Floater]

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun and success with the AP. 🙂

[sloz1664]

Hi and a very warm welcome to the Lounge

Steve

[PXR-5]

Hello and welcome to the forum

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi there, welcome. 

[ronl]

Hello, and welcome to the community, hope you enjoy your time here in SGL,

see you around the forums.

Clear Sky's.

[PeterCPC]

Hello and welcome.

Peter

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Peter in Bedfordshire 🙂

[Dr Strange]

I would suggest the following:

Skywatcher AZ-GTi mount €237

Skywatcher Wedge €56

Skywatcher 72mm Evostar ED refractor €296

T mount for DSLR to Evostar (sorry not sure which one hopefully someone else can say)

Your DSLR. 

That will get you going in terms of astrophotography (AP) and be backpack portable. It will do very well for you and last you a good long time in terms of things to image.  It will also not break the bank. AP is a very expensive part of the hobby and it can run into the tens of thousands of euro's at the high end. A Surface Go will work fine. Go for the higher end one with 8 gigs of ram. It will cost you about €490. In terms of software for image capture BackyardNikon is the gold standard. It will cost you €44. With that setup it is literally is everything you need to capture images. €1,123 is very cheap all things considered. Links below in order that I mentioned them:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi-alt-az-mount-tripod.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-equatorial-wedge-white.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/sky-watcher-evostar-72ed-ds-pro-ota.html

https://www.otelescope.com/store/product/4-backyardnikon-20-premium-edition-otl-byn-p/

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/configure/Surface-Go-2/8PT3S2VJMDR6?crosssellid=fbt-p1c&selectedColor=&preview=&previewModes=

Edited June 27, 2020 by Dr Strange

[peabrain]

thx for the suggestions,
ordered the Ioptron skyguider pro with the ipolar from firlights earlier this week.
defo looking into to that 72mm scope as a next step since my nikon 70-300 might not cut it for some deeper stuff.

the surface go will have to wait to later, in the mean time i just play around with some noctilucent clouds, and some minor star fun since every shot atm is blue and orange at this time.

here are some early attempts of mine after some editing. (am fairly new so not very good yet)

being almost 3 months in to having my first dslr and also gazing at the sky gives so much to learn and pass time with.