DJN- some thoughts,
Using forks you'd need a field de-rotator for all but short duration photography.
Forks can be challenging to use if you you are photgraphing stright up, in terms of clearance at the bottom of the OTA and the fork for all your photographic equipment.
CG5 with goto (between $999 - $1,249 - flash upgradeable handcontroller version) are a variant of EQ5 mounts.
A goto EQ5 mount is likely to cost $1,699 or $2,199 HEQ vs $1,999 for a Goto EQ6 from Andrews!!!!
Of the EQ ranges I'd definitely slect the Goto EQ6 at that price - much more scalable for later use!
http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm
Skywatcher Equatorial Mounts
HEQ5 Go-To has steel tripod legs and Skyscan Go-To Upgrade fittedNow $1699.00HEQ5 PRO has steel tripod legs, white in colour, Skyscan Go-To fac. fit. Now $2199.00EQ6 extra heavy duty equatorial mount with tubular steel tripod legs
Now $1199.00EQ6 Go-To has steel tripod legs and Skyscan Go-To Upgrade fittedNow $1999.00
I have a CG5 with a C9.25 and a 80mm Megrez piggybacked on a pier. Its great for visual work; to be determined if the mount is stable enough for serious astrophotography loaded as it is!
The CG5 has Autoguiding (essential for long duration photography) but not Periodic Error Correction (PEC).
Its hard to find, but when I researched carrying capacity, cost, pointing and tracking ability (shame the post was lost in IIS, but still exists here
http://www.astronomyonline.com.au/De...37&scope=posts ) the carrying capacity of the CG5 is HIGHER than the more expensive Heq5!!!
EQ5 7 Kg, HEQ5 10 Kg, CG5 13 Kg
Those figures came from the manufacturers - so there is no veracity that some weren't being modest and others aggressive with their limits.