Hi Brent
I think you have started an age old argument here
. Everyone seems to have their own preference for scope/mount/camera setups (its almost a religious belief sometimes
). I have never tried to image with a newtonian so I cannot comment first hand but I am led to believe the dredded coma can be a problem???
What I am seeing though is some excellent wide field shots being taken from small to medium sized (60 - 120MM) refractors with good cameras and decent mounts. Check some of these out, hard to believe it is a little 60mm scope.
http://www.televue.com/images/reeves_is/index.htm
One huge advantage would have to be the light weight of these scopes which would hardly tax something like a G11 which means you could stack a lot of other stuff on it without fear of overload. Many have purpose designed field flatteners as an option.
Another fabulous Choice would be an RCOS, paramount ME and STL 11000 if you have a spare sack of money lying around . One power ball.... guess what I would be buying
.
I can, however, comment on fork mount SCT's being an owner of a 10"LX200R for the past 18 months. They are extemely bulky and very heavy. If you want to use them for DSO they must be mounted on an equatorial wedge which will set you back around $1000.00 new unless you can find one second hand. You will also have to use a focal reducer as the focal ratio is just too high for this kind of work and all this adds up in dollars spent. I cannot mount mine on the wedge by myself which means you will need a helper (or take up weight lifting
) or mount it permenently. The weight of the scopes is a problem in this configuration as the arms are prone to flexing and the smallest amount of wind will cause it to vibrate thus making long exposure photography impossible at times. Note this is on the standard tripod, I have not tried on a pier... yet. Some also have questionable QC and in my case I have done much meddling internally in regards to gear mesh. It works ok now though ... well mostly. In their favour is a great big mirror to collect light and fabulous optics which deliver coma free views (R and ACF series). They can also hump a heap of extra weight around in the form of guidescopes, cameras etc.
If I stared again I would most likely buy a G11 with a 120mm refractor or something very similar.
Good Luck