[Starkler (Geoff)]

What do you say to a raw beginner who says they want to buy a scope and do astrophotography?

I think most would be shocked to hear what it really costs to do it well and I have a few thoughts on this topic and that this might make for an interesting discussion.

If the person is a raw beginner and had never owned a scope before, I would still recommend a cheap dob as a first scope even if they do state astrophotography as a goal.

Why?
A worthwhile AP setup is going to cost serious coin and a starters setup is likely to be something like an ed80 plus SLR camera on a medium quality eq mount. This will cost multiple times what a 8" dob would. Such an AP setup is IMO not very inspiring for visual as compared to what can be seen with say an 8" dob.

IMO get the cheap dob first and learn a little about using a telescope. Become accustomed to the sky, being cold, good and bad seeing conditions and actually getting to see something, and then if still keen later go the whole hog on the AP setup. If visual does anything for them at all, they will want to keep the dob as well.

Thoughts?