Starting Out

[slackologist]

Hi All,

I have an interest in terrestrial photography that has recently extended to the night sky.. I have a canon eos 400d with 75-300mm lens.

Attached is a pic i took last night with my camera.. a bit out of focus but about as good as i can get it.

I'm thinking about buying this;

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220421717268



Objective diameter : 90mm
Focal Length: 1200mm (F13)
Faintest discernable stars: 11.7M!
Dawes Limit: 1.3 arc-seconds
Eyepieces: 16mm 1.25” (31.7mm)
Magnification: PL 16mm/75-fold
Weight: ca. 2.5kg

Approx $400

it appears to be a scope that attaches onto the EF mount. I like the fact this could be used for terrestrial also.

Anyone have experience with this type of thing?
Is it worth it?
Any other suggestions in this price range?

Cheers!

[multiweb]

Looks too good to be true. :confuse3: I'd assume you would need a basic way to collimate this thing if it's got some kind of mirror in it + coma. I'd like to see the field on this thing. Ask a few questions before you buy.

[mldee]

It looks like a 90mm Maksutov, similar to the Meade ETX90.

I bought a cheap500mm camera "mirror lens" a few years ago for terrestrial, it was f8. Terrestrial was OK, a bit slow, but lotsof coma on night skies.

For $400, you could pick up a used ETX90, I'd investigate that as the optics would be far better.

I'd also check some of the Andrews 80mm refractors, on a simple az-el tripod for a start, which would be a lot faster.

If you have room at home, investigate 6" and 8" newt OTA's, fast and long FL too.

And as the final piece of advice all the 'experts' will give, the mount is the most important item for satisfying astro work. Perhaps invest in that and keep using your present zoom for a while. Lots of great widefield photo opportunities with it during the winter months from the Milky way being overhead.

[adman]

if you desperately want a scope then $400 will get you a good condition used skywatcher ED80 refractor. Much better optics/faster than the ebay one, and better for astrophotography, or even to use as a guide scope down the track. BUt of course at some point you are going to need a mount to put it on....

So, probably the best advice is to use your $400 as a good start towards saving for a decent mount that will serve you for many years. By this I mean something like an EQ6 or maybe a Losmandy G8 or G11. Once you have got your mount, you can stick the camera plus telephoto on it and do wide field stuff until you can afford an imaging scope (plus all the other inevitable bits and bobs that you will find you need....)

I followed a different path, and now own an EQ5 which I picked up (2nd hand)for $250, and an 8" reflector that cost me $280 - also 2nd hand. If I had my time again, I would have got a bigger mount and a smaller scope - rather than the other way around - much easier to learn when you are not at the limits of what the mount can handle weight-wise.

Bottom line - try to purchase things that are good quality, and are adaptable to a couple of different jobs - like the ED80 doubling as an imaging or guide scope. It is a false economy to buy cheap stuff that you will regret buying in a couple of months - ask just about anyone on this site....!

If you spend the money on decent gear, you will also be able to sell it easily if you find that imaging or astronomy in general is not for you, and not be too far out of pocket.

Good Luck
Adam

[jjjnettie]

Yep, what they said.

[slackologist]

Thanks a lot for the info!

The EQ6 mount looks to be going for around $1500. It looks fantastic but perhaps a little more than I'd like to spend in one hit.

I have a Manfrotto 190XB tripod. Is this going to be of any use to me or should i really be looking at getting an EQ mount?

Also, can anyone suggest some places to look for this kind of gear, second hand?

[jjjnettie]

:) Yep, right here in the IceInSpace classifieds.

[adman]

Yep - thats exactly where the problem starts! The thing that you really want to buy or should buy is a little too much, so you end up getting the cheaper compromise item, and its not till 6 months down the track, you realise that it doesn't really do what you wanted, and you are stuck with something you wish you didn't buy, and you also realise that you should have saved just that bit longer, and got the right one in the first place!:P



Looks like a nice tripod, but you would be limited to very short exposures, or star trails. Much better to get the right mount first, and don't waste your money.

For example. EQ6 Synscan Goto - $1899 at Andrews Communications. If you bought this, did some widefield shots with your camera on top, then maybe buy a cheap refractor/reflector, and try some unguided shots through that....then say you decide that you really don't like this astrophotography lark after all. You can sell the mount for $1500-1600, and it has cost you less than buying the ebay lens all up. Money spent on good gear is almost never wasted.

Adam

[slackologist]

Some good advice for sure, Adam. Thanks.

I'd love to find a second hand EQ6. Any idea what they would go for? I'm guessing not many want to offload them once they have them.

[adman]

they come up from time to time - just keep a close eye on all the classifieds - they tend to go quickly once they are listed.

Heres on from not that long ago:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=59628

Someone got a good deal!

Adam

[bmitchell82]

the other tried and true method is go along to a group. there are bucketloads of them around, sit with some of the astrophotographers and see what they are doing how they are doing it and ask some questions.

as a minimum if you do want to get into astrophotography a EQ6 or at a real bare bare minimum HEQ5. they allow connectivity to a PC which is what you need (guiding, capture, focusing ect all go though).

also as a starter a little ED80+ conversion of the finder into a guider is a unreal setup. youll spend more time taking images and processing decent data than you will smashing your face into a wall in desperation!