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Mark, in my experience a 8" f5 is a great beginners scope, and frankly, Newts are the best bang for your buck when it comes to cost effective aperture. I would avoid f4 and below, as they can be more difficult to collimated. The shorter focal lengths also limit your sky reach. I have owned, 8", 10", 12", and 16" newts, all f5s. The quests for greater resolving power drives us to bigger scopes, but with bigger scopes comes increased weight, transport and storage issues etc, so think about that before you buy.
For astro photography, you want to ensure you get a Newt which is set up for imaging, ie the camera can achieve focus on the scope. Visual and photographic newts are not the same. You can use an imaging newt visually with a focuser extension tube but you cannot image on a visual Newt with significant optical work.
Have fun.
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