Why I joined

[Derek R]

Hi everyone.

I joined because I decided that the last (however long I have left) will be spent doing some of the things I have wanted to do for many years and have either not been able to due to finances or because of the time required. Having looked at quite a few posts on the site I can see that you are keen to help others with your knowledge, I may well be grabbing some of that. In advance I'd like to thank you for the knowledge I've so far gained and know I will in the future.

I have always been interested in photography and have taken photographs for the last 60 years or so.  What I really want to do is photograph deep space.  The biggest piece of kit I have at the moment is an ancient Russian 1000mm mirror lens (don't ask me the make as I haven't a clue).  I've used it on my Nikon to photograph the moon, but as you will be aware the moon shoots through the shot so fast that the chances of getting a sharp shot (especially with my kit) is nigh on impossible.  As can be seen from the picture attached tracking would make life (and pictures) much better.

I've looked at my finances and what kit is available, (that I can afford) and have decided to get myself kitted out with a Skywatcher 250PDS on a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6GT Computerised Go To Mount + Tripod. 

Now I just have to wait for the shops which sell the kit to have some in stock as the pandemic has caused a reduction in imports.  After that I have to write another 49 items to be able to see what the members are selling that I might need to enhance my system.

[Tiny Clanger]

Welcome , from a fellow lontime Nikon photographer  : I still have a battered F photomic hibernating in the cupboard and only just let go my darlroom kit . I am, however , restraining myself from even thinking about astro photography kit, I'm a simple observer.

I have noted though that Canon cameras are the general favourites for astro DSLRs , so be prepared to go to the dark side 😀

Heather

[Derek R]

Ha ha,

Thanks Heather, I'll keep the light on.

Derek

[Mr Spock]

Hi and welcome to SGL 

The 250 is an excellent scope. I used to have an earlier version. It gave me the best view of Mars I've had. Jupiter was equally impressive, though it was high in the sky back then.

[Derek R]

Thanks Mr. Spock.  I look forward to trying it out - when they become available.

[Paul M]

Welcome to the asylum from another 250PDS owner. 

It's a lot of telescope! Takes a bit of handling but once you get the knack it's not such a big deal.

Be warned though that the eyepiece can end up in some very strage places after a GOTO. I need a step or two to reach it at high veiwing angles. Not a problem if it's a camera up there instead of your eyeball.

[Derek R]

Thanks Paul,

You made me smile with your comment, I can imagine Mr. Bean or some such comedy character straddling the tube to keep an eye on the target as the GOTO sends it across the sky, especially if it ends up upside down and they are dangling with arms and legs wrapped around.

I'll just connect a camera and hope it survives.

[alacant]

18 hours ago, Derek R said:

Skywatcher 250PDS

Hi and welcome

Great choice. We have the old blue tube version. Really sharp and super fast. You'll love it.

Cheers

**EDIT: Here are a couple of dslr images taken with our 250p on a rusty old eq6. With modern versions of the same, I'm certain that the OP will surpass this very soon!

Edited November 16, 2020 by alacant

[happy-kat]

Welcome

I'm intrigued to ask do you have any other lenses from your photography interest. You can use nikon lenses on canon cameras with an adaptor which can be handy. Nikon made so cracking ED lenses in the past that are used today to great effect as some DSOs are huge.

[Derek R]

Thanks Alacant, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on one.

Thank you also Happy-Kat.  I only have a few lenses other than the big Russian thing (which is fixed f10 and the manual focusing ring is smooth and difficult to pull a focus with).  However, none of my lenses are ED and the largest of the others is a 300mm which probably wouldn't be brilliant for too much of what I want to achieve.

 

[Jamgood]

Welcome and good luck. I've only been doing Astrophotography since July and I've already learned how to take images, stack images, track, guide, plate solve. There's loads to learn and it's all real good fun when the weather lets you. 👍

[Sunshine]

Big welcome to SGL!

[rickwayne]

I join my welcome with the others'. Enjoy your plunge down the rabbit hole.

In my experience, learning deep-sky astro is a bit different from doing it. That is to say, there are so many things to learn that it can be immensely frustrating, and it's good to minimize the challenges when you're starting so that you can get results pleasing enough to keep you going. The dimmer the object, the more exposure time it needs; the more exposure, the more chance that some tiny wobble in your mount will make the stars dance a merry little dance* across your sensor during it, and long focal lengths only magnify that.

I'd counsel you to do two things: Start with something shorter and faster while you're building up your game, and take the time to read a well-rounded introduction to the art and science. It's not like terrestrial photography, and in fact many of the lessons and habits we learn for that are exactly backwards for deep-sky.

There are some nice big targets which are also bright enough to not require eons of capture time, such as the Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades, and the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. Those are amenable to lenses as short as 50mm for the latter. You can mount your Nikon with one of your lenses on your AZ-EQ6GT and have a solid base from which to learn polar alignment, pointing, focusing, and processing. You will need to be proficient at all those to run a 1200mm scope on deep sky.

I am a huge fan of Charles Bracken's The Deep-Sky Imaging Primer, while this forum's perennial favorite seems to be Making Every Photon Count. You will get a lot of great advice here, but what these books will do for you is give you a good general grounding from which you can move forward with fewer "unknown unknowns".

Of course, you could just bung your Nikon onto your 250 PDS and start shooting, too. Some folk learn better that way.

*Lest you think I'm kidding, allow me to point out that I've been doing deep-sky for a good five or six years, everything's computer-driven, autoguiding, autofocus, yada yada yada, and I'm running a mere 362mm of focal length. This is from the night before last, with the Andromeda Galaxy and its pals doing the cha-cha. Or perhaps it's more of a samba.

[R26 oldtimer]

A warm welcome from me too. My only advice is to start with something smaller and lighter like an 80-100 F/5-F/7 doublet or triplet refractor or a fast & wide lens as the samyang 135 f/2.

The main thing with astrophotography is how accurate you can track your target, and while you have no astrophotography background, you seem pretty seasoned photographer to understand that you'll get a worst photography with a 300mm telephoto lens than with an 85 when hand held.

[Derek R]

Thanks Jamgood.  I hope I manage to pick up as much information and enjoyment as you appear to have garnered.

 

Thanks Sunshine, I've been to Ontario a few years ago and watched the ISS fly over - you have beautiful, crisp, clear skies.

 

Thank you for the warning Rickwayne, I thought your picture had been taken through a car window in the middle of a storm, but I appreciate exactly what you are talking about.  I've done a few star trails and know what happens if you get movement in the shot.

 

Thank you also R26 Oldtimer, again, yes movement will kill any shot so I'll need to make sure that my equipment is solid.

[Sunshine]

2 hours ago, rickwayne said:

Enjoy your plunge down the rabbit hole.

I liken astrophotography more to a supermassive wallet sucking black hole but, rabbit hole sounds friendlier.

[rickwayne]

Hey, it beats aviation, which was like standing in front of a giant noisy fan holding out hundred-dollar bills and releasing them to be confettied, one by one. BVVVT! BVVVT!

[wuthton]

Derek, great choice of mount but if your scope choice is primarily for astrophotography then I'd highly recommended that you cancel your order and choose something else. The elephant in the room is pixel scale, the 250pds and a DLSR will give a scale between 0.7 and 0.8 arcseconds per pixel which simply means it's impossible to take a "good" image unless you setup at the top of Everest. The focal length is also against you, it's not a matter of beginner vs advanced it's just more difficult, more time wasted.

As suggested above an 80mm F5-F6 ish refractor or camera lenses will give you much more satisfying results, cross my heart and hope to die.

Attached is one of mine through a 135mm Samyang with an Atik 314L on a NEQ6 and there's many more superior efforts in the thread below. 

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by wuthton

[bottletopburly]

Welcome , out of interest what Nikon are you using , I’m using a Nikon D5300 and that’s an excellent camera for Astrophotography 👍 the 250pds is a big sail though I have the 200pds it’s going to be a heavy piece of kit personally I wouldn’t get the 250pds unless I could keep it mounted in an observatory , I hope your feeling fit.

Edited November 16, 2020 by bottletopburly

[Astrid]

14 hours ago, Derek R said:

Hi everyone.

I joined because I decided that the last (however long I have left) will be spent doing some of the things I have wanted to do for many years and have either not been able to due to finances or because of the time required. Having looked at quite a few posts on the site I can see that you are keen to help others with your knowledge, I may well be grabbing some of that. In advance I'd like to thank you for the knowledge I've so far gained and know I will in the future.

I have always been interested in photography and have taken photographs for the last 60 years or so.  What I really want to do is photograph deep space.  The biggest piece of kit I have at the moment is an ancient Russian 1000mm mirror lens (don't ask me the make as I haven't a clue).  I've used it on my Nikon to photograph the moon, but as you will be aware the moon shoots through the shot so fast that the chances of getting a sharp shot (especially with my kit) is nigh on impossible.  As can be seen from the picture attached tracking would make life (and pictures) much better.

I've looked at my finances and what kit is available, (that I can afford) and have decided to get myself kitted out with a Skywatcher 250PDS on a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6GT Computerised Go To Mount + Tripod. 

Now I just have to wait for the shops which sell the kit to have some in stock as the pandemic has caused a reduction in imports.  After that I have to write another 49 items to be able to see what the members are selling that I might need to enhance my system.

I have a 200P and it is huge (8 kg)! I can't imagine myself carrying a 250PDS... but the giant size of it will give you some amazing and sharp details and it would be worth it. Great choice for AP too!

Good luck!

Astrid

[Luke]

That should be a cracker on the moon and planets! And very capable if you want to do some deep sky observing as well.

Yeah I guess it is a heavy piece of kit, I found my C11 11 inch SCT doable but a handful, and if the info I have here is correct, the C11 is 12.47 kg and the 250PDS is 14.4kg. Those weights are not so bad in themselves but when you have to lift them up to the mount on a regular basis, it does take some effort. I always use to grimmace a bit before lifting the C11 up to the mount!

I have had heavier tubes for dobsonian mounts, but those are not too bad for me as the mounts are low down so I don't have to lift the tubes that high. That said, I have eaten far too many Jaffa cakes, so you may find it a snap!

I would say don't be put off of trying to do deep sky imaging with it if you are really set on it, though a short fast refractor like an 80mm F6 or so would be an easier start for deep sky imaging, its shorter focal length would mean you could get away with less accurate tracking/polar alignment (I tried mainly with the C11 and with hindsight wish I had started with my 80mm refractor - I was wanting to chase galaxies but it was not the easiest start). But an 80mm scope is going to give you nothing like the close-up detail the 10 inch scope would do on the moon and planets, and the 10 inch will be much more capable on observing deek sky objects.

I would recommend start with the moon if you go ahead with imaging with the 250, there is plenty to do on the moon with the changing angle of light and the detail you should get from the moon in good conditions with a good 10 inch reflector should blow your socks off! Planets would be lovely too in good conditions.

I am slightly tempted to get a 250PDS myself, if it would be easy enough to use it with my existing GSO 10 inch dobsonian base.

Have fun!

Edited November 16, 2020 by Luke

[Derek R]

Thank you for your kind remarks Astrid, I can't wait to give it a try. 

Thank you also to you Luke. Unfortunately, I'm not a Spring Chicken anymore and don't have the financial resources to buy, try and then move on to the next. It's a case of heading for the goal from the start, then enjoying what I have for as long as I can. I think the kit I'm looking at should give me plenty to occupy me for a few years and will hopefully produce the results I'm aiming for. 

[banjaxed]

Hi Derek, welcome to SGL. I am only in to observing but you will find lots of very knowledgeable and friendly members here who are more than willing to help.

[Derek R]

Thank you for your comprehensive comment Wuthton, when I have the time I'll have a good read of the other thread and see what everybody is saying.  I certainly love the shots I've seen and your picture, in particular, is where I want to get to.

Thank you also Bottletopburly.  I have 2 x D5300, 1 x D5100 and 1 x D3100.  My favourites are the D5300s at 24mpx and brilliant for ISO and low noise.  That's why I want to use those for any kit I can get my hands on.

[Derek R]

Thank you Banjaxed, I had noticed that everyone is very welcoming, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. 

It's good to know that people are keen to help out when blocks are stumbled upon.