View Single Post
  #1760  
Old 01-02-2017, 08:29 AM
Poz (Pauline)
Registered User

Poz is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Penrith, Nsw
Posts: 3
Beginner to beginner advice for sam

Hey Sam,

It is a big conundrum to be in, viewing vs photography, for a beginner. I was gifted a 6" newtonian reflector and it had me seeing the planets, orion etc but it was only enough for a few months. During that time I opted for a standard camera mount and dslr which was again fine, until I wanted more than milky way shots and star trails.
I found that my thirst for more, for better quickly surpassed the capability of my equipment and I started researching what I could get for a reasonable budget. I'm still not there yet, but I invested in a 10" dobsonian for viewing purposes only. I've had the dob for a week and it is blowing my mind with the objects im seeing in great detail. I haven't tried mounting the dslr on it yet, I fear it will be too heavy, and probably too large - but I don't know and thats the fun of it.

The fun, yet frustrating part of a non-goto scope is being guided by your own eye and knowledge of the sky. I spent two nights looking for Carina Nebula (got there on night two) and came across a few more on the way (Beehive cluster, diamond cluster and the chicken man). I did wish at times I could just input what I wanted to see, but then i found it myself and it felt like an acheivement.

My advice is a non-goto dob with a pair of binoculars (keeps two kids busy at the one time and you can scan around for the next object) .Don't be afraid to go to a 10" or larger dob either. Im 5'4" female with hip problems and can carry the 10" around with ease. The only problem you might face is that your kids will need something to stand on to see through the eyepiece. And dont forget to include the cost of eyepieces in your budget!

My next part of advice is, regardless of kiddies, look at buying a solid mount like a skywatcher heq5 pro goto mount to stick your dslr onto and start with photographing the sky at night. Once you save your pennies you might be right to buy a decent little scope to sooth your astrophotography needs.

Cheers!
Poz
Reply With Quote