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Originally Posted by iceman
Hi Swane!
 to the forum, how did you find out about us?
You will need to decide on 2 things:
a) What's your budget?
b) Is terrestrial viewing/photography more or less important than astronomical viewing?
oh and
c) Do you want to do astrophotography?
For terrestrial viewing and photography, you don't want a reflector. As Geoff said, the view will be upside down. That's just how reflectors work. You might be better off with a good quality spotting scope in an alt/az setup - or a good quality astronomical refractor also in an alt/az setup. I'm thinking of an Orion/Saxon 80mm ED, which cost about $600 for the OTA. You can put this on a good quality alt/az camera tripod and allow you to do bird/terrestrial photography with your SLR/Digicams.
If you want more of an astronomical fix, you might consider an EQ mount with drives, like the EQ5 which would be ok for the 80mm scope, but for something more solid, the EQ6 is the preferred. Of course you're then looking at > $1500-$2000 to get setup.
For astrophotography, the 80mm ED refractors perform great. Seeker has some shots in the Deep Space photography forum that you can see. For serious astrophotography, you will want the EQ6.
A newt on an EQ mount for astrophotography will work, but you may need to do some DIY such as moving the mirror forward in the OTA as you may not be able to reach focus with your SLR.
For your astrophotography, are you more concerned with planets/moon, or deep-space objects?
Sorry for all the questions, but to get the right advice we need to know more about your budget, your pursuits and your plans! 
Hope to hear from you again soon! |
G'day mike ,
I found this site by surffing for telescope info.
2: my present budget is only about $650 AUD.
3:Yes I do want to eventually get into astrophotography but am limited a bit by my budget .
What does "OTA" mean? (shows my newness).
I am fairly up there with photography; it has been my main hobby for the last 60 years. (I am 74 years young).I have always wanted to get into astronomy, but have never done anymore than read about it.
Now I have decided it's about time to have a look myself.
I also hope to use the first scope that I get to do terrestial photography with also as well as astro.
I realize that I cannot start off at the top. I hav'nt seen a lot of telescopes other than the Saxon and some others that are right out of my price range .
I am not sure what the Saxon optics are like mainely the mirrors and the tube assembly . The guy in Brisbane where (shop) is in the brisbane astronomical club ,he replaces the original eyepieces with better quality eyepieces (plossl).
Even though I am now retired I have a very good workshop , with lathe/milling machine drills /oxy and lots of other gear and I thought that after I get myself up and running in astronomy. I will make myself a nice large Dobsonian telescope. Possibly around 300mm mirror.
That is if dont crock first.
I do feel that on my first telescope as long as the main optics are good that I would be able to overcome mount problems and improve them.
If you could advise as to the optics on the Saxon compared to other brands and wether a single straight tube or catadioptic telescope (reflector) is better than one or the other.
Regards Derek