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Old 12-02-2020, 11:20 AM
foc (Ross)
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Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: ACT
Posts: 258
I think you might want to keep doing afocal photography until you have read some more background info or gone to a star party to see the many options on gear.

It can get expensive when you start doing other things as sooner of later you will want a tracking mount or a new telescope tracking mount combination and quite possibly that will just be the first of several sets of gear you buy.

But putting aside my initial advice of not rushing in, if you are looking to spend some money on a camera

For the price of a cheap or used DSLR you can get Planetary camera that would operate in conjunction with a laptop. You would then have a full size image on the laptop to help with focus as well. For example the ZWO 1120mc for about $280 or a more top of the range 1224 MC for $400 (MC are color MM versions are black and white) from an on-line order from Bintel in Sydney or likely a SA astro supplier or perhaps the used market on this forum. Such a camera with high speed video will be much better for dealing with shakes from your Dob, would fit into even a 1.25 inch fitting and you would not lose magnification and if you eventually get a guided tracking mount (say a HEQ5pro for a modest sized telescope or a Mak/Cat bought withits own tracking mount) you can still use the ZWO1120mc

On the flip side,
although you would have comparable or higher magnification images and could get better images after you process the video, the small size of the chip means that getting the planet on the chip with an unguided Dob is very tedious and inefficient. I have done it with an unguided Dob but my results tended not to be as good as I obtained with a smaller Cat/Mak on a tracking mount which gave me much longer captures. With more effort than I put in, better results can be obtained so you can do it but you will wish for a tracking mount eventually.

Also unlike a DSLR a dedicated planetary camera would not be very effective for imaging stars and most DSOs and your non-astro interests. So it also depends on your interests. You can have a lot of fun photographing star fields and large nebula with a DSLR/mirrorless, a few lenses or a tiny refractor and a cheap star tracker.


DSLRs can be used to image the planets and there are some top images done this way using tracking mounts. I have not used one with a reflector and I am not sure how easy it would be to get them to focus using a Dob, you might need a 2 inch barlow, someone other than me would have better info on this. Again this is done using video so ideally you would get a Canon (used ones appear here sometimes...a 60 vintage one would work) for the much better video unless you are buying a top of the range and very new camera from the other brands.

I have seen some nice pictures of DSOs taken on Dobs with DSLRs/ mirrorless cameras so that is feasible but whether it is your best path I am uncertain.
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