A beginner wondering how to get set up

[Malang_Darwish]

Hello all!

I'm new to this community, and I'm also relatively new to the hobby of astronomy, as well as that of astrophotography (I've barely dipped my toes in the latter).

Having taken a few photos using my mobile phone of the moon and the night sky, I have really gotten interested in the idea of getting more seriously into astrophotography. My current equipment is listed in my signature; the only thing that is excluded there is the mobile phone that I use, which is a Google Pixel 4XL.

What do I need advice on?

I need some advice on the beginner equipment I've chosen, whether it is appropriate, and whether I should consider other options.

Also, I want to take photos both with and without a telescope, and I am uncertain if what I have been considering would be appropriate for this or allow me to do so.

In particular I am not sure about the telescopes I have listed... I don't know of any alternatives though...

What do I want to photograph?

The night sky, which will be my first port of call using a fixed tripod and DSLR camera, as well as DSOs, which I will want to get into once I learn the ropes.

What equipment have I been considering?

The following is the equipment I am thinking of acquiring in the short to medium term for the purpose of astrophotography. I'm hoping that most of this equipment can grow with me as I get more into the hobby.

Please note that links are just so there's no ambiguity about what I mean, I won't necessarily be purchasing from those sources.

Camera: Nikon D5600 (Twin Lens Kit)

Lenses: Nikon AF 50mm f1.8 D & Samyang 16mm F2.0

Tripod / Ballhead: K&F Concept 62-Inch Compact Travel DSLR Tripod

Tracking Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro Kit 2i

Telescope: 62ED Evolux Refractor OTA or 82ED Evolux Refractor OTA + Optional Field Flattener

Conclusion

Any advice is greatly appreciated, please point me in the right direction!

Best,

Malang

[Rerouter (Ryan)]

as for what you want to shoot, download a program called stellarium, and have a look around, you can add things like your camera and different telescopes / lense focal lengths to get a feel for how big certain things appear to be, to give you some more ideas,

for the starting tripod / dslr, as your focal lengths are really short, you can actually get away with quite long photos, just be aware that the ball head can be a little painful if your hoping to make a panorama with it, horizontal rotation is fine, but vertical requires releasing the ball head which can make a multirow image a little more awquard.

[Malang_Darwish]

Originally Posted by Rerouter

as for what you want to shoot, download a program called stellarium, and have a look around, you can add things like your camera and different telescopes / lense focal lengths to get a feel for how big certain things appear to be, to give you some more ideas,

for the starting tripod / dslr, as your focal lengths are really short, you can actually get away with quite long photos, just be aware that the ball head can be a little painful if your hoping to make a panorama with it, horizontal rotation is fine, but vertical requires releasing the ball head which can make a multirow image a little more awquard.

Thanks Ryan! I've got a more standard type tripod which I can use if I want to do vertical. I've been using Stellarium and SkyView for a while now for visual

[AdamJL]

Good starting list. Just note, that once you get into DSOs, you'll likely want a different camera. Unmodified DSLRs are excellent for many things and they can pick up the faint hydrogen in many nebula but need a LOT more exposure time than dedicated astro-cameras or modified DSLRs.

So just remember to plan for that, because you'll soon look at your nebula pictures and notice that a whole night's shooting in a dark sky doesn't give you what others can get from more polluted skies and an astro-camera

[RyanJones]

You’ve started in the best way possible by getting advice first so you’re off to a great start. Astrophotograpy is a mine field and I’d say most of us could talk for hours about where to start and where that will likely lead you. The equipment You’ve listed is a great start but very quickly you’ll be making the next decision of where to go next. If you’re into nightscapes and as far as you want to go is wide field DSO regions then it will probably serve you well for a while. If you’re interested in going deeper into nebula and can see yourself even eventually going down the avenue of a dedicated Astrocamera then you may want to start with a more capable mount. That doesn’t mean that you have to spend mega bucks but it means looking at a sturdy equatorial mount that can be guided. You can even pick up a good second hand one to use while you cut your teeth. It will be overkill for just a camera and lens but it will at least serve you well for a while. As far as scopes go keep your focal length short and your f ratio at around f/5 or f/6. Fast scopes are great but they create a lot of dramas. Dramas that will only frustrate you out of the hobby.

For the record, this is not the path I took, it’s the one in hindsight I should have taken.

Good luck and keep asking questions

Ryan

[Malang_Darwish]

I'll bear that in mind!! I will probably want to upgrade to a dedicated astro cam, but not until I get a decent telescope

[Malang_Darwish]

Originally Posted by RyanJones

You’ve started in the best way possible by getting advice first so you’re off to a great start. Astrophotograpy is a mine field and I’d say most of us could talk for hours about where to start and where that will likely lead you. The equipment You’ve listed is a great start but very quickly you’ll be making the next decision of where to go next. If you’re into nightscapes and as far as you want to go is wide field DSO regions then it will probably serve you well for a while. If you’re interested in going deeper into nebula and can see yourself even eventually going down the avenue of a dedicated Astrocamera then you may want to start with a more capable mount. That doesn’t mean that you have to spend mega bucks but it means looking at a sturdy equatorial mount that can be guided. You can even pick up a good second hand one to use while you cut your teeth. It will be overkill for just a camera and lens but it will at least serve you well for a while. As far as scopes go keep your focal length short and your f ratio at around f/5 or f/6. Fast scopes are great but they create a lot of dramas. Dramas that will only frustrate you out of the hobby.

For the record, this is not the path I took, it’s the one in hindsight I should have taken.

Good luck and keep asking questions

Ryan

Thank you Ryan! I'll bear that in mind as well. I struggled to find anything telescope related, let alone stand alone tracking mounts, second hand. What is available new, from what I can see, is at around $2000 + for an equatorial tracking mount. I would love to get one of those, but the trouble is I can get a beginner setup for that price. I guess it is something that I will eventually upgrade to. However, I don't want to invest that sort of money before I have cut my teeth as you say, learnt how to shoot, learnt how to edit, learnt how to stack properly, and all the rest of it. I can't wait to get going. I'm already taking moon shots through my telescope using my phone, and that's bringing me a lot of joy. I'm still learning how to best use my phone's camera settings though. What I really want to do in the short term is to be able to get a 'true colour' shot of the moon, that would be amazing!

[RyanJones]

Hi Melang,

You should be able to get a HEQ5 pro which is an equatorial tracking mount for about $1200 brand new. Second hand they tend to go for around $800 when they come up. Maybe $1000 if they’re belt driven. As far as using your phone goes you are limited to single exposures. For stacking purposes you’ll need a camera that can take images in RAW format ( or FITT, TIFF ). A cheap entry level DSLR second hand should only cost you $100-$150 plus T-ring and T-adaptor. It’s a good place to start.

As far as true colour images of the moon. They are difficult because it’s so bright. My advice is to slightly underexpose and lift the colour out in post processing.

Good luck !