Just acquired: Celestron C8 S-GT XLT with CG-5 GT mount (Astrophotography recommendations?)

[cheekygeek]

Greetings good people.
I've recently acquired a Celestron C8 S-GT XLT & CG-5 GT mount for $525. It seemed like a pretty decent price and the seller was a gentleman in his 80s so I bought it sight unseen. When I picked it up, I found that it included (among other extras) a TeleVue 19mm Panoptic eyepiece (which, considering that I am a bottom feeder, will instantly be the best eyepiece in my collection).  I'm happy to report that the kit is in flawless condition.

This scope seems to have gotten good reviews, although it will be my first experience with an SCT (my other scope is an Orion XT-8 dob and my astrophotography has been done, up to this point, only using DSLR & DSLR lenses.  (example attached that was taken with a Pentax DSLR & 90mm f2.5 macro lens on a Vixen Polarie mount- no telescope. Short exposures stacked.)

My question is: for astrophotography, would you recommend the C8 S-GT and the CG-5 GT mount for prime focus astrophotography (if I added the f6.3 reducer)? Or would it be better to piggyback a DSLR on the scope. Or possibly to mount a RedCat and CCD to the scope? Just wondering what your personal recommendations might be for rewarding astrophotography with this modest set-up, as is or with some additions.

TIA

Darren Addy
Kearney, NE

[Cosmic Geoff]

This would be a good outfit for planetary imaging.  For deep-space imaging I have found my cheap Startravel 102 f5 achro refractor to be much more useful than my C8.

You could leave off the C8 and put a camera or small refractor + camera on the CG-5 GT mount.