|
Visual astronomy and photographic astronomy are completely different beasts.
If you're starting out, get an 8" dobsonian -straight up - no fancy star-finding electronics, just a scope you push to point at what you want to see. That way you can get 'lost in the sky' rather than 'lost in equipment manuals'.
You could do some basic astrophotography with eyepiece projection. With a lot of messing around you will get shots of the planets and moon, but anything faint will require rethinking everything.
It's a long journey. Even if you buy all the right gear, there is a learning curve of several months *at the least* to be producing acceptable photos, not to mention the cost of the gear required to take the kinds of photos you probably want to take. I should also add astrophotography is *extremely technical* in both an engineering sense of getting a mount to track the stars sufficiently for long exposures, and also in terms of image processing techniques. You'd want to be okay with both if you're considering 'turning to the dark side'. There are simpler ways of getting involved with a camera, lens and tripod. or even with one of those starwatcher Star Adventurer mounts, but once you start thinking about modding your DSLR, you might as well get an Astro camera, IMO.
So my advice, Spend $600 (or $350 second hand) for a push-to 8" dob and just have fun. Familiarise yourself before deciding if you really want to commit thousands of dollars to astrophotography.
Best
Markus
|