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Which to purchase first; astromod or coma corrector?


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Current equipment is: Explorer 150pds, EQ5 pro, Canon 600D (stock), and the EvoGuige 50ED and 120mm mini for guiding. I'm looking at getting the camera astromodifed (~£100) and also a coma corrector (~£130). I only have the budget for one right now, so I was wondering if anyone had any advice on which to purchase first?

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Hi, and welcome to the forum:)


I'm no expert, but i believe there is no "correct" answer to this. 
It's kind of like: I need new sunglasses, and i also need a new backpack - what should i get first?
I dont think that a coma corrector gives you technical advantages that makes it smart to buy first, or vica versa.
I have got a astro dedicated camera myself, and havent owned a astro-mod so i cant say this with 100% certainty though.

Only advice I have in general on buying astro-equipment is to get it right the first time. By that I mean not to buy anything which is half of what you want/need, because you're in a hurry to get started. I did that myself. The "I'll just buy this crap in the meantime to get things to work, then i will buy the real deal later" - mentality can get very expensive down the line:)

I have the 150PDS myself and have the TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField Newtonian Coma Corrector which i think does its job well. 
I know alot of people have the Baader MkIII MPCC corrector as well.

This is on the edge of off-topic, but still:
My experience is also that in MANY of the  "Scope and mount"-packages, the mount is underdimentioned for astrophotorgaphy.  
I sold the EQ5 and bought the EQ6 after 6 months or so because of this. I'm not saying its pointless to do AP with the EQ5, but i would argue that a bigger mount (starting at HEQ-5 as the smallest) would be the right place to put your money first. Remember that if your getting serious with AP, the equipment starts to build up and you reach that weight limit before you know it.

Edited by masjstovel
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Hello and Welcome to SGL.

As masjstovel has said, there is not really a correct answer. Personally I would by the CC first and then modify the camera for two reasons. Firstly there are quite a few targets that will not need to pick up the extra Ha data and secondly, the coma will be evident in all your pictures unless very heavily cropped. You can still image DSO's without the modification, you might just need a little longer. Also, you can always add more data to your images later - you won't be able to do this if you buy the CC second as the star shapes will not match.

With regards to the mount, what has been said is also true. However, if you have an EQ5 this is what you will need to use. You might need to keep your subs slightly shorter than ideal, but this should not be a major show-stopper. I just hope you don't live anywhere too windy!

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On 04/03/2021 at 05:02, Cw-runks said:

any advice

With most targets which would benefit from modification of a DSLR -I think maybe at your latitude until autumn (?)- sinking rapidly in the west after sunset, the CC.

Cheers and HTH.

Edited by alacant
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