ED80 or Meade LXD 6 inch Newt for imaging

[davewaldo]

Hi Everyone,

I may soon be purchasing an EQ5 mount with dual motors. I'm looking at doing basic widefield imaging. Mostly unguided or manually guided.

For my imaging scope I am trying to decide between the SW ED80 ($599) or the Meade LXD 6 inch Newtonian ($399).

I'm leaning towards the Meade as it is f5 and also cheaper.

Whatever I buy will also be my little grab and go scope.

I have seen great pics from people using the ED80 and heard good things about the Meade (but no pics). I like the idea of imaging at f5 (and viewing) as I won't need to expose for as long.

There are other money considerations (which I know little about): I'm thinking the ED80 would do best with a focal reducer and the newt would be best with a coma corrector ($$$), would that be correct?

I'm guessing both would track with similar accuracy?

What do all you "wise imagers" think? :P

Cheers,

Dave.

[monoxide]

Hi Dave,

i've only had mine a short time but i've been very impressed with it, its certainly a nicely made ota.
instead of telling you whats great about it i think ill tell you what i think could be improved.

well, the focuser is the only thing i can really fault..
not that i have any real problem getting focused, the problem is more with the screw on fittings and the danger of dropping your camera or cross threading in the dark. the problem could easily be solved with a low profile 10:1 focuser but if your serious about imaging you'd probably get one anyway.

as for the coma corrector ive seen a lot of imagers using the baader mpcc and they look like they do just fine to me, the paracorr might be better for visual (i know they sell an imaging one) but the mpcc is in front for me because its cheaper and doesn't affect the focal length.
although i cant see coma overwhelming my images, i think my poorly framed omega cent image would show just how much coma there was.
when it comes to it though i wont buy one unless i see that i need it, no point having one in there if you don't really need it, not saying they are a bad idea but i wont spend the money unless i really have to.

also the ota is fantastic for visual observing too, especially with my 24mm Panoptic, huge field and the thick 3 vane spider gives excellent diffraction spikes, i wasn't a huge fan of open clusters before but i think i've changed my mind.

i've posted a few pictures but since i havent been using an eq mount for long (matter of fact my image of omega cent was actually the first time id ever set one up) i wouldnt use them to compare quality too much.

just to save you digging around ill attach the images ive taken so far, but by no means are they pushing the equipment to the limit, think of them more as short exposure happy snaps :)
im still not great at drift alignment so theres a small amount of trailing :whistle:

the lagoon was i think 3x30s iso800 (clouds cut me short)
omega cent was 11x13s iso800 (my first image with a dslr/eq mount)
acrux was 1x30s iso800

this ota seems to be very capable for imaging and gives a nice wide fov,
those 3 images are the only 3 times i have actually set up and used the imaging setup so im sure its capable of much more once i get a bit more seasoned. once i master the equipment i have now ill be looking into piggybacking an ed80 for guiding and an alternate imaging scope, best of both worlds i guess.


hope that helps,
Tj

[davewaldo]

Thanks TJ!

Those images are great considering they are your first go with an GEM!

I would be very happy if I could do similar.

The Meade scope sounds exactly what I am looking for, a great little imaging scope and quite good for visual observations. If I get this ota I am considering making a small Dob mount (maybe for on a table-top) for it so I can use it as a grab and go.

I will be very keen to see how you go with your new setup in the coming months.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experiences. :)

Dave.