[MakkaPakka (Daniel)]

Howdy all,

I am now in the market for a proper telescope dedicated for Astrophotoraphy. I've got my self an NEQ6-Pro mount, a cheap Skywatcher 90/900 refractor from a family member, It's nice but the chromatic aberration ruins otherwise good photos and an unmodded Canon 600D DSLR.

My main targets will be DSO's the typical list of Nebulae, Galaxies and Clusters and occasionally planets. I enjoy getting some decent pictures of galaxies, but that would require huge focal lengths to get finer details, proper auto guiding and a focal reducer for other work.

Budget: Max of $1400 AUD I plan to use this scope for awhile and just add little things as I go, as money is tight. So getting this much together was a mission.

I'm not terribly keen on getting a Newt mainly because of the maintenance involved (I would rather less hassle and more grab and go) and the open tube aspect of it kinda worries me about potential damage.

So I am looking at mainly Doublet ED Refractors (Triplet if possible) and SCT/MAK's which as mentioned will need a reducer and proper guiding down the road. When I can, like most I enjoy driving out away from the city lights though most imaging will be done in the back yard so portability is not a massive issue for me.

Based on what I want to image I was thinking something along the lines of the Skywatcher BD-ED 100/900 only issue with that is the rather slow focal ratio. Any Ideas are good at this point as I just want to make sure I won't regret what I purchase a few months down the track.

Thanks for your time