Hi everyone, new guy here :-)

[nikonguy]

Hi all,
Im just starting to become interested in astrophotography and I figured this would be a great place to ask the question you all hear a lot I guess..
I would like to know, as I am just starting out into astrophotography, what would be the best telescope to use? I'm assuming that I will need a camera mount instead of an eye piece, I've looked around the forums a bit and I see a lot of people steering newbies towards the saxon deepsky 8" dobsonian, what I'm concerned about with that one is there doesnt appear to be a tripod, as I will be taking the telescope out into the outback with me wouldnt this be something I would need? My camera is a nikon D5300 if that helps..
Thanks :-)

[Atmos]

Hello Colin, another Colin here!

I guess the biggest and most important question to start with is... What is your budget? Do you want to do nightscapes (camera on tripod at ~20mm), planetary imaging or deep sky stuff like nebulae?

[nikonguy]

Lol hi colin... Iguess my budget would be up to about $600, I already do some nightscapes just with my camera, but I'd love to go further. While researching some details of the 8" dobsonian I discovered you can get views of the rings of saturn, so that would be awesome. so maybe a bit of a mix of planetary imaging and deep sky stuff, comets, asteriods and the like. I'm also looking at the skywatcher sw135.

[Atmos]

Does are really nice for visual work but not really designed for photographic purposes as they don't track (generally). With a dob and a webcam you can do planetary imaging with a bit of work but that's going to be your limit.

If you want to do some deep sky stuff you are going to need to get an equatorial mount. Problem is that a mount alone is going to cost at least $600 for a smaller decent one :/

[nikonguy]

What would you suggest I get just for planetary shots then?

[nikonguy]

I just noticed the skywatcher sw135 comes with a Equitorial mount, should I be considering this one further?

[Atmos]

I assume you mean this package?

http://www.ozscopes.com.au/skywatcher-sw135-reflector-telescope.html

[nikonguy]

this one..
http://www.leedervillecameras.com.au/products/optics/telescopes/skywatcher-sw135

[Atmos]

Same thing, different price :)
Others that have more experience with newtonians will have more knowledge in this matter but I have heard that it can sometimes not be possible to achieve focus with a DSLR if the primary mirror is set back too far. I have never done imaging on one though.

If you're wanting to do deep sky stuff you will also need to get a coma corrector for it otherwise your stars will be less and less round the further they are from the centre. It should do fine for planetary though as far as I am aware. As long as the primary and secondary mirrors are accurate aligned.

[nikonguy]

ok awesome ill keep that all in mind..thanks so much for your help :-)

[Atmos]

You're welcome. I am just going to go out and say that that mount will possibly not be up to the challenge of deep sky imaging. it is a light mount with a light telescope but I imagine that a slight breeze will be enough to be noticeable.
For planetary though, none of this matters as you're wanting to take as many photos as quickly as possible (webcam) :)

[xelasnave]

You can get satisfying dso (some) stacking 30 second subs and short focal length scope but to move upward a good mount is your most important consideration.
A good mount can cost thousands

[noswonky]

I think that mount will be so shaky as to be useless for deep sky work, even with very short exposures. The scope itself might be ok, but I suspect an SLR will not be able to focus. I have a skywatcher dob and when I attach a camera I have to shorten the tube (which is possible because it's a collapsible model) to achieve focus.

[Camelopardalis]

If you're interested only in astrophotography, I'd suggest you look at a sky tracker of sorts. Then use your existing camera with a suitable lens. If you go out to a dark site, the sky can be pretty amazing at this time of year with pretty much any focal length lens you choose. There's always something to see and image :thumbsup:

Planetary imaging requires a somewhat different tact because of the size of the objects...you need focal length for those. For that you'd be better off with a scope with a tracking mount which, regardless of scope type, is more pricey.

[xelasnave]

And most of all Colin may I say welcome.
Have you posted any of your night scapes here..sorry I may have missed them.
If you really want to do astros photography work out want mount you can afford and then the scope it can carry. The mount is where you start.
I wasted money on two mounts that came with the scope and they were terrible. When I got my eq 6 I could only afford a good 6 inch reflector and in those says had to manually guide the mount...but good photos..the mount was perfect after I blue printed it ..really did not have to guide on 10 minute exposures.

[SadisticSarz]

Hiya Nikonguy

Welcome to the forums. Trust me everything you want to know is here and if its not here these guys can help you to find it

[Sumrandom]

Hi Colin,

I'm a beginner that started out like you: with widefield photos on a tripod with my Nikon D7000.

I bought 6" f/5 newt on a crappy EQ mount out of curiosity, not expecting it to be useful for astrophotography. I had low expectations, and it has met them. It's been good for visual, and for learning about how to find things in the sky and how to polar align. It is FAR too shakey for photography. You can't take pictures of stars with it. At all. It can be used for lunar shots because the moon is so bright that a short shutter speed means the shake doesn't matter, but that's the limit of its use for photos.

Instead of going down the road of heavy and expensive guided mounts, I got an iOptron SkyTracker. With a close-enough polar alignment, 30" exposures are easily achiveable with no star trails (the D7000 can't do longer with it's built-in intervalometer anyway). I got some pics I'm really happy with of the Saggitarius region a couple of weeks ago. (Flickr Link (https://flic.kr/p/wzswvD))

There are a few camera mounts that are similar, and they're all good for the type of photos I want to take. YMMV.

:-)