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Old 06-02-2011, 05:26 PM
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tlgerdes (Trevor)
Love the moonless nights!

tlgerdes is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Sydney
Posts: 2,284
Hi,

A 1000D is a great little camera and can produce good results without a lot of expense. I use one and control it via a laptop and the included EOS utility software.

To do long exposure astrophotogray though your lightswitch will come up short. It is what is known as an Alt-Az mount and will induce field rotation very quickly in your pictures, which will cause elongated stars and blurred pictures.

Ideally you need what is called an Equatorial Mount. These start at around $1500 for the mount alone and go upwards to 10s of thousands of $$$.

On top of the mount you will then need an optical tube to image through and guidescope and autoguider to track stars.

Basic packages can be had $3k new, HEQ5, ED80 OTA, Guidescope, autoguider and all connectors.

Ask any astrophotographer and you will find that your mount is the most important piece of equipment your will invest in.

Best to go along to your local astro club and talk to the people there and find out how they do it and what they use.

Remember this is slippery slope, $$ can be expensive when you get the bug. Start small, learn and improve your skills before you commit big $$.

There is a good supply of 2nd hand equipment on here, in the way of mounts and telescopes that can cut your costs, and there is a ready turn over of equipment should you want to sell and upgrade or get out.
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