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Old 19-01-2016, 05:31 AM
konstantinos75
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Vixen VC200L f/6.4 or Orion Optics Ct8 f/4.5 ?

Hello,

Happy New Year 2016 everyone!

I am the owner of the Vixen VC200L f/6.4 telescope which I mainly use for astrophotography of galaxies and planetary nebulae with my CCD camera SBIG ST2000XM with CFW9. After some years of usage, I am thinking to sell this scope and buy the Orion Optics Ct8 from an amateur astrophotographer. The Orion Optics comes with the well known baader steeltrack + baader mpcc mark III corrector.

Here you can find the tech specs of the two telescopes for comparison
http://www.vixenoptics.com/Vixen-VC2...ope-p/2632.htm
http://www.orionoptics.co.uk/CT/ctspecifications.html

The image scale I have with these scopes is 1.19 arcsec/pixel with the VC200L and 1.69 arcsec/pixel with the Orion Optics Ct8.

I would like to hear some expert opinion whether to go with Orion Optics Ct8 or not.
My main concern is which telescope has the best optics for astrophotography? What are the disdvanatages of Orion Optics Ct8 compared to Vixen VC200L?

For your reference the mount I have is Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro.

Thank you
Konstantinos
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Old 19-01-2016, 07:02 AM
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Slawomir (Suavi)
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Hi Konstantionos,

I am no expert, but I feel that with HEQ5 you would be better off with a telescope that is light, fast and gives you more arcseconds per pixel. Both telescopes have a similar mass (maybe CT8 is a tad heavier), but from the stats CT8 should be a nicer match with your camera (wider FOV and shorter exposures) and with your mount (more arcseconds per pixel - somehow easier on guiding).

But frankly speaking, if you are interested in imaging nebulae, I would not pick neither of the scopes with HEQ5, but instead would get a small fast refractor that would give about 2.5 arcseconds per pixel and would implement drizzle in image processing. In that way the FOV would be greater, tracking significantly less demanding of the mount thus images would be sharper and imaging time much shorter.

Kind regards
Suavi
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Old 19-01-2016, 08:41 AM
glend (Glen)
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I would suggest you need more mount imaging capacity with either of those scopes and to 'future proof' you for imaging in years to come. Mount imaging capacity is usually regarded about 2/3s of the rated mount capacity. The Vixen sited weighs 13.2lbs for just the OTA, then add in the camera, guide equipment, finder, etc your at the limit of the mount; also at f9 your going to have to have longer subs to get equivalent results that a 'faster' scope could produce. The Orion weight is 8kg (tube and rings) and then add on the camera etc as above.
IMHO the Orion with its shorter focal length is a better nebula imaging tool.
You can image nebula and other DSOs with a newtonian, and will get true colour rendition and a fast f ratio without the expense of an APO type refractor. A carbon fibre 8" f5 newt would be a good match for the HEQ5, there are plenty of people using that sort fo setup. Good luck.
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