Adding a Guider and Light Pollution Filter

[fossiec]

Hi,

First questions so please be gentle.

So just starting out and am planning on trying shooting some nebula etc from my back garden   So I will using an umodded Nikon D750 and D7100, Ioptron Sky Guider Pro and a William Optics Zenithstar 61 and Flat 61 combo. Since getting the telecope I haven't had a chance to use it due to a lack of clear skies

Question 1:

So really after clarification if the following combo would be good to start using as a guidescope.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi120mc-s-usb-3-colour-camera.html

and 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/guide-cameras/astro-essentials-32mm-f4-mini-guide-scope.html

 

Question 2:

So live in Bortle Class 5 area with a mixture of streetlighting LED as well as older lights. What would people recommend as a good light pollution filter to help get some good images. I am thinking - 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/light-pollution-reduction-imaging/idas-p2-light-pollution-suppression-filter.html

 

Any help on either of these questions would be fab.

Thanks,

F

[gilesco]

For guiding you don't need a Colour camera, indeed a colour camera might hinder guiding to some extent.

The ASI120MC-S can guide, it's the entry level for that kind of thing, next steps up are the ASI174MM mini and the ASI290MM mini (which I have on order).

The guide scope, yeah it is OK, it's not plastic, focusing is a pain, but once you have set a general focus point it is OK. I don't use it for guiding as I have an OAG now.

I have the IDAS P2 filter on order, I think it is supposed to be the best for use with a CCD  / CMOS camera, at least that's what they seem to be recommending wherever I look.

[Seelive]

I also have to contend with a bortle 5 sky and since all the local street lighting is now LED and the local sports centre and industrial estates are mainly still HP Sodium I bought the IDAS D2 filter. To be honest, the few times I've actually used it, I haven't seen a great deal of improvement and I've found it much more difficult to create a final image with a colour balance I'm happy with. (Bring back the old LP sodium, they were so easy to filter out!)