Newbie here !!!

[Fergie62]

Hi Everyone !

I am just about to purchase a Sky Watcher 200 PDS EQ5 Telescope and was wondering if this is a good beginners telescope to buy ?.......I am also looking for some advice as I wish to connect my Nikon D5200 to the telescope via a T- Ring. would this work ?

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice.   am a SPONGE !

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi there and welcome. 

[Matt61]

Hi. No problem with t ring . I nearly got the same scope but transportation led me to the 150 which I'm very pleased  with.  The Sky-Watcher dual speed focusser is very versatile in terms of dslr attachment. 

Edited October 28, 2020 by Matt61

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[Floater]

Welcome. I hope you have lots of fun with your new scope 🙂

[sloz1664]

Hi and a very warm welcome to the Lounge

Steve

[banjaxed]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

[PeterCPC]

Hello and welcome.

[Starwatcher2001]

Welcome aboard SGL. Good to have you with us.

[ollypenrice]

Greetings. The camera will fit the scope but the basic EQ5 would leave you a little 'under-mounted' for an 8 inch scope. Deep sky imaging is all about the mount. It must track with extreme stability and precision over the long exposures needed.

Olly

[Zermelo]

Welcome.

A SW 200 is a very decent scope for a beginner. Many have achieved excellent imaging results with smaller scopes, but as ollypenrice says, with imaging the mount is very important.
You will have a bit of a learning curve if you're starting out with an EQ mount and wanting to go straight into imaging - are you completely new to the hobby? The good news is that there is masses of information in this forum. Have a look at the beginners' imaging section in particular, and check out the sticky threads.

[cletrac1922]

On 29/10/2020 at 07:03, Fergie62 said:

Hi Everyone !

I am just about to purchase a Sky Watcher 200 PDS EQ5 Telescope and was wondering if this is a good beginners telescope to buy ?.......I am also looking for some advice as I wish to connect my Nikon D5200 to the telescope via a T- Ring. would this work ?

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice.   am a SPONGE !

First of all welcome from Land Down Under

I would go for a ED80, 100 or 120 on an EQ5pro mount

Mainly due to the weight of the scope

If you already have the 200PDS, then you are better off going for the HEQ5 mount

There is also a conversion kit from gear to belt for the HEQ5 mount as well

Have enclosed a pic of my ED80 on a EQ5pro mount taken at a club solar field day a while ago 

In background, is a second ED80 on a HEQ5 mount, with a Canon 600D attached using T-ring

I also power my EQ5 mount using a car jump start battery, and the power pack has lasted over a week at astro festivals

Hope have been of assistance

John 

 

 

[Tommohawk]

Hi and welcome! 

I'm in agreement with others re your scope size. The 200pds is a great scope but rather too big for imaging with eq5. 

Maybe go down a size to 150 or even 130pds. Or a refractor of course. 

[Neil H]

Hi the guys are right a 200 is big its like a sail in the wind then if you add a camera it may tip over on the eq5 i have a 200/1200 a bit longer than the SW pds its on an HEQ5 but still moves a tiny amount in wind 

Edited October 30, 2020 by Neil H
Photo added

[Jm1973]

Just to add some balance. I have an EQ5 mount and a skywatcher 200p. I use my dslr to image and have had no issues so far with it being overweight for the mount. I'm going to add a zwoasi120mm mini onto the existing finderscope so as not to add much weight when I start autoguiding.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Jm1973

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂