Hi Mick
I started with a HEQ5Pro and 8" Skywatcher newt, so can only comment on that directly. Have seen a few people use 10" Newts on EQ6.
Some general thoughts:
* 10" is significantly larger and about twice the weight of 8" - its worth checking both out "in the flesh" if you can at a store or star party - online pics can be deceptive
* You will definitely get some differential flexure in your images (leading to challenging guiding and smeared stars) with a metal tube newt. The 10" is twice as heavy, and I've noted others having to strengthen the focus area with metal plates or go to off axis guiding to allow for tube flex
* A newt is a great visual scope (if you don't mind chasing the focuser around at times
) and very capable for photography, however you need to be extremely patient with balance, focus, guiding compared with a more traditional beginners scope (e.g ED80 refractor). Also have to learn to collimate properly - but again not hard, just requires patience
If you really get the AP bug you'll probably end up buying a more expensive refractor or RC at some point down the road. We all have to start somewhere. Its like boats - there is no perfect single scope, and everytime you buy one its gets you thinking what you'd like in your next one
One last thought - the focal length and field of view you have plays a great part in what objects you end up imaging. You can't have great resolution drilling down into small galaxies and also image big wide fields (nebulae, star clouds). CCDcalc is a great freeware tool that is worth downloading and setting up all the scopes, cameras etc you're thinking of using. Have a look at what focal length, f ratio etc do when trying to image say M42, M104 and M45 for a start. Eta Carinae is another large object that gets you thinking what it is you want to achieve - see it all, or drill in for detail?
Many of the pics here were done with an 8" Newt, Canon 450D and inexpensive guidescope. If you press the "i" icon you'll get extra info explaining what scope etc used, if this is any use:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...luMEtXc0VSYXVR