psbenoit2007
02-10-2013, 11:12 AM
Hello all,
I want to get myself into astrophotography. Before spending a fortune on equipment, I want to confirm this new hobby using my existing photo equipment (my longest lens is 600 4, which I can push to 1200mm) and am planning to buy a second hand Canon 60d I could have modified to let the H alpha through.
Now comes the question of the mount. Provided the fairly short focal lengths I am planning on using (for now), I was wondering about the type of mount I should consider acquiring for clean pinpoint stars on up to 15min PEC corrected and-or guided mount shot exposures. I can see a group of mounts (EQ6, CGEM DX, iEQ45, G11, Vixen SXD) in the 1500-2500$ price range that I would be happy to invest in if they are providing good enough tracking accuracy. Now should I consider going one step up and look at more accurate models such as an EQ8, AP Mac1GTO, 10Micron 1000HGS, Bisque Paramount MX, ASA DMM60 or the like, but then we are really not talking about the same budget.
Advise from forum experts much appreciated. Thank you. Paul.
I want to get myself into astrophotography. Before spending a fortune on equipment, I want to confirm this new hobby using my existing photo equipment (my longest lens is 600 4, which I can push to 1200mm) and am planning to buy a second hand Canon 60d I could have modified to let the H alpha through.
Now comes the question of the mount. Provided the fairly short focal lengths I am planning on using (for now), I was wondering about the type of mount I should consider acquiring for clean pinpoint stars on up to 15min PEC corrected and-or guided mount shot exposures. I can see a group of mounts (EQ6, CGEM DX, iEQ45, G11, Vixen SXD) in the 1500-2500$ price range that I would be happy to invest in if they are providing good enough tracking accuracy. Now should I consider going one step up and look at more accurate models such as an EQ8, AP Mac1GTO, 10Micron 1000HGS, Bisque Paramount MX, ASA DMM60 or the like, but then we are really not talking about the same budget.
Advise from forum experts much appreciated. Thank you. Paul.