secondary setup for mainly planetary but some deep sky

[Iceman120]

Hi guys, 

like the title says, I'm looking at getting a second setup so i can do some planetary imaging and some of the deeper objects. my thoughts are a Skywatcher SkyMax 127 Maksutov and a ZWO ASI 120MC-S.

What's anyone's thought on this?

Thanks Rich

[CraigT82]

To be honest I think a 6" f5 newt would do better on both (with  decent barlow for planetary). What kind of mount would it be on? As for camera the 120 is pretty dated but still capable, if you can stretch the budget a 385c has a larger sensor which would be much better for DSOs. 

[Iceman120]

40 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

To be honest I think a 6" f5 newt would do better on both (with  decent barlow for planetary). What kind of mount would it be on? As for camera the 120 is pretty dated but still capable, if you can stretch the budget a 385c has a larger sensor which would be much better for DSOs. 

Hi thanks for replying, trying to keep the weight down as it will be on my eq5 pro max payload is 9kg,, didnt realise the skymax was f12. would it be ok for planetary imaging

[CraigT82]

Yes the skymax 127 will be a nice little planetary scope but not great on the DSO imaging with such a long focal length. You would be able to go with 150 f5 newt for planetary on a driven eq5 no problem. Long exposures would be more of a challenge but still doable (and certainly easier that a 127 mak with over twice the FL of the newt) especially with these latest CMOS cameras with little read noise, they thrive on short exposures.