Upgrade Advice

[elBrendo]

Hi guys,

Not sure if I'm still classed as a beginner or not anymore... I've had my 8in dob for about 7 years and mainly used it for a quick view at night or to show friends and family around the night sky but now I'm looking at upgrading the mount, getting some eyepieces and taking some long exposures.

Does anyone have any advice as to if I should upgrade to an eq mount or a motorized dob mount? As far as I can tell they are simmilar in price but im not sure what would produce better image, I'm assuming I'll need some kind of Tring to connect my Canon 550d?

As for eyepieces there seems to be a million options and everyone seems to have their own preference. I currently have the 2 stock ones that came with the skywatcher(6 and 26mm) I would like to get closer for planet observation and possibly a nice wide angle.

I'm going to astrofest in Perth later this month so I'll try to make friends and try some eyepieces out :) but again any advice or recommendations would be welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Brendo

[glend]

Brendon, given that you already have a good camera in the Canon 550d, your a step on the way to imaging.

It depends on your ultimate objective in imaging. Some people do manage to take photos from dobs, but for long exposures on DSOs you will need an EQ Goto type mount like the HEQ5, NEQ6, etc (under various brands). You can get some decent images with just the mount tracking (assuming you align correctly) but auto guiding is the next step in longer exposures.
It's a learning curve from pure visual astronomy. There are plenty of web articles on using the DSLR for astrophtography, and some specifically about Canons. As far as the scope is concerned, you can do alot with an 8" imaging newt, and there are some real bargains available locally from Bintel and Andrews. Your major cost maybe the EQ Goto mount.
Do some research, and lots of reading.