If you're looking at going down the money-pit-but-oh-so-rewarding path of astrophotography, then you really need to invest as much as possible in the mount upfront. Whilst there are differing opinions on this, and ultimately it's up to you as there is no right and wrong, dropping as much coin as you can on the mount in the beginning will save you a bit in the long run.
Being in the same boat as you (ie, wearing the Newbie Bid
), I've just purchased my second outfit, after first getting a cheap reflector and horrible EQ2 mount. I've saved long and hard for an EQ6Pro and an 8" reflector, and can tell you that while this can be at first a pretty daunting setup (3 trips to take the tripod, mount and scope outside for setup etc), but I don't for once regret this because when I'm comfortable enough to take the plunge in photography, I know my mount will be capable of this, which means I won't need to submit another propasl to the financial controller
.
Give it time mate, learn your way around the sky and scope first, it's well worth the investment.
