Simple deepsky kit.

[happy-kat]

I'm in bortle 5 and 30 seconds is easily attainable if not longer I've used up to 250mm focal length. Do you own any camera lenses currently?

[WilliamAstro]

3 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

I'm in bortle 5 and 30 seconds is easily attainable if not longer I've used up to 250mm focal length. Do you own any camera lenses currently?

I own a canon 75-300 mm lens EF

[WilliamAstro]

39 minutes ago, alacant said:

What is unacceptable for some of us, may well be ok for others. We may have a bad batch of the lens for example. Best to try it first, no?

Cheers

 

45 minutes ago, 900SL said:

Its a funny old hobby is this one

Great expectations, big disappointments.  And dosh. Lots of dosh.

If you are starting off with a Star Adventurer (or Sky guider pro), without guiding, then using a 72mm scope will be frustrating IMO.  You will need a field flattener with this scope to get a flat image on your sensor, and the tracking error in the scope, plus any wobble in your set up, will likely result in star trails and lots of poor frames. The rule is longer scope, longer exposure = better mount.

Maybe look at a Redcat 51, this is a petzval design so you can use it with a camera with no additional glass. Or a shorter prime camera lens, one that is known to have good astro-photography performance.

Bortle 5 will mean lots of short exposures to avoid swamping the sensor with the light pollution. A dual narrowband filter can help in those conditions, but requires much longer exposures because you are only catching a fraction of the light, so I wouldn't start with that. KISS, get to learn how to stack and process using free software, keep it short focal length to start learning the ropes, move up to longer focal lengths when you get a guiding set up.

 

The Witch head example you posted was by Trevor Jones. He mentions the Samyang 135mm at the end, and basically says it blows the Canon Zoom into the weeds. Which is true.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Sky-Watcher EQ3 PRO Go-To Astronomy Mount | First Light Optics i found this which could be good for the 72ed which is a mount

[Elp]

I would stick with the dslr for now if you're just starting out, anything more and it'll become an exercise in frustration especially if you start to add more focal length. Try the lens you have, from experience though fixed focal length prime lenses are the way to go.

[WilliamAstro]

2 minutes ago, Elp said:

I would stick with the dslr for now if you're just starting out, anything more and it'll become an exercise in frustration especially if you start to add more focal length. Try the lens you have, from experience though fixed focal length prime lenses are the way to go.

found another example here of an imager of m42 with the same/similar camera lens

https://www.astrobin.com/zko7fl/?q=canon ef 75-300mm lens

[WilliamAstro]

Everyone who is following and replying to this topic, here is another topic to further the discussion.

 

[happy-kat]

I didn't realise you already owned the lens, nothing lost to actually use and learn with what you already have. Plenty to learn about with camera, lens, mount and software.

The only thing missing to get started with your camera and lens is choosing the mount.

 

[900SL]

14 minutes ago, WilliamAstro said:

Everyone who is following and replying to this topic, here is another topic to further the discussion.

 

There's like a hundred youtube guides for beginners to astrophotography out there, I recommend you do what I did and watch some.

https://astrobackyard.com/beginner-deep-sky-astrophotography/

 

[WilliamAstro]

Since everyone thinks the idea for the two things I suggested is not a good start, I guess It is safe to say I will begin with the DSLR technique. I am just having ambiguity of ideas to try and think outside the box on getting best but wide field results. So here is the kit I will go for as a beginner:

Canon 600D

Skywatcher Star Adventurer Pro

Canon EF 75-300mm Lens 1:4-5.6 III

HP Laptop

AP Tool Software for Previewing the progress.

[WilliamAstro]

When your replying to me about what I am suggesting for my kit (especially disagreeing and agreeing), can you summarise what your saying since I don't understand that much about what your saying and I apologise for the misunderstanding.

[WilliamAstro]

Also, can anyone send me any decent to excellent tripods but with good budgets for the SA Pro?

[Elp]

1 hour ago, WilliamAstro said:

found another example here of an imager of m42 with the same/similar camera lens

https://www.astrobin.com/zko7fl/?q=canon ef 75-300mm lens

Like I said, try the lens you have. You can see from the provided example there is an awful lot of chromatic aberration (stars are bloated/streaked away from the centre of the lens and due to not being able to focus the whole spectrum of light onto one point). It's a decent attempt and the Orion Nebula is a good target to start with as you can keep the exposures very short and get good results (like 5-10 seconds per image). I have a canon kit lens and from experience it doesn't focus well for AP, prime lenses only work at one focal length so are better to focus.

I started with a basic compact camera with built in lens on a normal photo tripod and moved on from there. You want to take your time with this hobby especially when imaging as you WILL encounter issues which you'll have to overcome, but when you do it becomes more rewarding.

[happy-kat]

I just read your signature, you could try imaging now with your camera and lens but using your SLT mount (without telescope). Exposure length will be around 30 seconds (less if target is in the south or north so too late in year for Orion) but possible imaging with an Alt Az just got to work within the limitations. The Star Adventurer is a more suitable mount for imaging but you could practice with what you have.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/228101-the-no-eq-dso-challenge/page/161/

[WilliamAstro]

Well, the moral of this discussion is that practice makes perfect. I could use my 127 SLT for now and then wait for the equipment to my birthday then start practicing with that. a YouTube named 'Nebula Photos' has videos dedicating to doing astrophotography on a budget and also 'Astrobiscuit'.

Edited March 13, 2022 by WilliamAstro

[Swillis]

The lens may not be perfect, but the best gear to get started with would probably be what you have. As mentioned above add a star tracker and off you go!  There is plenty to learn and more cash to invest down the line, but using as much gear that you already have will give you time to learn the basics and let you decide what route you want to go down. 

If your not expecting amazing results at least the pressure will be off using that lens. 

[WilliamAstro]

So I called The Widescreen Centre and they said the canon 75-300 lens if not good for astrophotography, so they recommend me to use an apo refractor. I am going for the SW Evostar 72ED Pro. And is that good in addition to the Star adventurer pro?

[Swillis]

You were asking for a 'simple' deep sky kit, so I would recommend a star adventurer (or similar) and if you have room in your budget go for a samyang 135mm lens to go with your DSLR.  The 72ED will be close to the weight limit of the mount, and the longer focal length will be more demanding on a good polar alignment. This may get very frustrating when your getting started, so I would recommend to keep it simple as there is lots and lots to learn. 

[WilliamAstro]

Alright, I am giving myself a final option for my deepsky kit, and here it is.

Canon EF 75-300mm Lens

Star Adventurer Pro

Horizon 8115 Tripod

Canon 600D

I only expect decent images and not images through your telescope or whatever, I just want detail and decency out of it overall, also I was informed that it is best to keep my focal length at 150mm or lower if optional.