Telescope Upgrade - Is it worth it?

[Grifflin]

Hi All

I have been using the SW 80 ED DS Pro paired with a ZWO 294MC for the last couple of years and have found it a really good scope to start my astro photography journey and has given me results which, if not necessarily great, have been pleasing to me.

I am now considering upgrading and currently have my eye on the StellaMira 90 ED Triplet from FLO but I guess my question is, will it give me a noticeable improvement in quality?

For context, I use my SW 80 with a 0.85 FR/FF but plan on only using a FF with the StellaMira which means both will have a very similar field of view.

Should also say that I am considering upgrading my camera to a ZWO 2600MC as well!

Grateful for your thoughts or any other recommendations.

Neil

[NGC 1502]

I’m replying because no one else has😊

Best guess to answer your question.  If it were me I’d squeeze everything you can from your current scope before considering an upgrade.  Put the money you save towards your next energy bill……..😳

[Grifflin]

1 hour ago, NGC 1502 said:

I’m replying because no one else has😊

Best guess to answer your question.  If it were me I’d squeeze everything you can from your current scope before considering an upgrade.  Put the money you save towards your next energy bill……..😳

Lol...thank you  Yep, that is kind of what I was thinking.  If the collective wisdom is that it does provide an appreciable improvement (subjective I know|) then I might go for it.  Otherwise, as you say, put it towards the next energy bill  

Neil

[davies07]

Hi Neil,

When you say, my results are not necessarily great, but pleasing to you, I detect some dissatisfaction with your current setup but you don't give any details.

My own move from an ED scopes (SW Equinox ED80 and Equinox ED120 - yes I had one each) to an APM 107 Apo gave me white stars, where previously I had coloured rings around my star images. Blue rings in the case of the ED80 and red rings (horrible) in the case of the ED120. A second noticeable improvement was the R&P focuser over the Crayfords which tended to slip at high elevations with a heavy camera (really annoying). I suspect that you will also see improvements to the quality of star images. I owned an ED80 Pro scope many years ago but only for a few weeks, before I returned it for the Equinox. I had detected a roughness in the star images from the ED Pro where as they were they were perfectly round and smooth in the Equinox - a feature which was confirmed by testing on an artificial star.  

The move to the 2600MC camera will be a definite improvement for all sorts of reasons (16 bit vs 14 bit, amp glow etc). I have a 294MC and I'm impressed by its sensitivity, but the major issue for me is the poor (to me) rendering of reds. I believe this is due to the quite high response of the green filter in the Bayer matrix in the region of 600nm to 700nm (red). This high response of green causes reds to be rendered somewhat orange; I believe the response curves of the 2600MC are better at isolating the individual colours.

The slightly smaller pixels of the 2600MC will be a better match to your focal length.

As you intimate, replacing both scope and camera represents a big outlay. Make sure you won't regret it financially; I don't think you would regret it technically.

David

[Grifflin]

Hi David

Many thanks for the info.  You're right about my comment and it is probably a bit misleading.  I think when I wrote it I was thinking more about the excellent images I see here rather than any specific issue with the quality from the SW 80 ED.  To be honest, I suspect that most of any issues I have (real or perceived) are more about my abilities rather than the scope itself.  In the link below is an example of what I have been getting which to be honest, works for me.  Absolutely agree about the focuser and I also like the idea of the integrated rotator as well.  That said, I'm starting to err more towards getting the 2600MC before upgrading the scope.

Neil