Is a Meade ETX 90 AT a Good begginers scope

[djeuro1981]

Buying a Telescope for the first time and was told I need the following for astrophotography, please tell me that this is the right scope for me as ive been looking for the last 3 weeks now and have become quiet confused with the big variety of everything out there, the scope was on ebay and I did a BUY IT NOW for $440.00 + Shipping cost of $80.00

All im wanting to do is attach my Canon 60d DSLR to this scope and take some nice shots

Kind regards

David


SPECS:

Meade ETX-90-AT 3.5" 90mm UHTC Catadioptric Telescope 3514-04-15. Comes with:

Red-Dot Viewfinder
AutoStar Suite Software
Super Plossl 26mm Eyepiece
Motorized Altazimuth Mount
Tripod
Tripod Bag
This is a USA market telescope that will come with the complete Meade warranty.
The Meade ETX-90 AT 3.5"/90 mm UHTC Catadioptric Telescope Kit is a handsome, compact instrument that's easy to transport and optically pleasant to view with. The telescope itself is less than 10 pounds. Its 3.5" aperture, Maksutov-Cassegrain optics, 1250 mm focal length and f/13.8 focal ratio make it bright enough to deliver satisfying celestial observation with clarity and detail. An entire online community of ETX-90 dedicated users exists, giving tips and sharing images.
The dual-fork Altazimuth mount works with the AutoStar #497 controller to deliver GoTo ability for over 30,000 database entries. AutoStar Suite Planetarium Software for PCs allows total computer control of the mount and telescope. A Red-Dot viewfinder accelerates manual prospecting for celestial nuggets of gold. Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) with the included Super Plossl 26 mm eyepiece provide increased light transmission and superior optical performance.
An adjustable-height steel leg tripod provides solid support for the mount and scope while the slewing is powered by 6 user-supplied AA batteries or an AC power adapter.
Features:

Optical Design: Maksutov-Cassegrain
Aperture: 3.5" / 90mm
Focal Length: 1250mm (49.21")
Focal Ratio: f/13.8
Eyepiece Barrel Diameter: 1.25" (31.75mm)
Diagonal: 90deg.
Viewfinder: Red-Dot
Tripod: Adjustable-height steel leg tripod
Mount Type: Dual Fork Altazimuth
Power Source: 6 AA Cell Batteries

[djeuro1981]

or I can buy a Celestron nexstar 127SLT for $700 + postage Brand New. What would everyone's opinion's be?

[Terry B]

My first scope was a meade ETX90. It was the original version and not the goto version that you are looking at. Mine just had an equatorial drive that kept what you are looking at in the field of view.
It gave a beautiful clear image but the image of deep sky objects was dim due to it only being a 90mm scope. The views of saturn and jupiter was very good and the scope coped well with reaonable magnification. The highest power eyepiece I used was an 8mm plossl and this gave good views of the planets.
Brighter galaxies were visible as faint fuzzy objects and planetary nebs brighter than about mag 11 were easily seen. Double stars were crisp and I was able to separate quite close stars.
It was not useable for deep sky photography as the drive was not stable enough. I don't know about the current version but I would be surprised if it is.
It is only a small scope but it gives very good views realising the limits of a small scope. It is very portable and much easier to use than an eqivalent sized refractor. I use to put mine on a picnic table on its little tabletop tripod, sit on the picnic table seat and search the sky. A very easily used scope.
Terry

[seeker372011]

I think you may find that it may be hard to get decent images with a DSLR on an ETX 90

You may need to get a lightweight camera instead..unless the gears have been replaced, in the past it was always hard to use a heavy DSLR ..the mount couldn't handle the weight

Go to mike weasner 's site for examples of images with an ETX 90

http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html

[djeuro1981]

So for that price it would do the job then as I only want to photograph Saturn mars the moon and Jupiter, would using a barlow 3x lens make the fainter things become better viewing or is it just the scope itself

and have you had any experience with the celestron nexstar 127 at all

thank you again

[Terry B]

For planets it will work fine. The problem is that photographing planets isn't as simple as taking a single exposure. Most of the images you will see of planets have been taken with a video camera and thousands of frames have been stacked and enhanced to create the final image.
A barlow won't brighten the image visually. It will just increase the magnification. This does tend to darken the background a bit though so small dim objects are often easier to see at higher magnification. I used a 2x barlow with mine but didn't like the view with it. I found that my 8mm eyepiece was about the limit of useful magnification. Adding a barlow just magnified the "blur" and I felt that the view was better at lower magnification. My 8mm eyepiece gave about 150x mag and this was enough for the scope.
I prefer to use a single eyepiece rather than adding a barlow. The contrast is usually better without the barlow as there are less glass surfaces involved. Others may disagree with this though.
I have never looked through a celestron 127 so can't comment. I do have a 127mm refractor and it gives slightly brighter views than the etx90. It is a much bigger scope and not as easy to use. In reality you need to jump to an 8" or bigger scope to have a significant improvement in limiting magnitude but this also means foregoing the portability of the little etx.
Cheers

Terry