Quote:
Originally Posted by acropolite
James, I fear the message isn't getting through here.
Astrophotography is an expensive exercise. To get good images your equipment has to track the stars in an accurate manner.
As Carl said you need a decent mount, usually a German Equatorial Mount, which will allow accurate tracking and alignment of your equipment as the night sky rotates.
You can do limited planetary and lunar photography without a mount using suitable webcams.
If you do a search thorugh the articles in the forum you should find some info on Astrophotography with a dob, that will give you some idea what you can expect with minimal equipment.
If you're looking at replicating some of the deep sky images you are seeing on IIS, then the sky's your limit for budget and to get the best results you need either a dedicated astro camera or a modified DSLR (the internal infra red blocking filter is replaced in your SLR) expect a starting budget of at least $2000 (without camera) plus for entry level deep sky imaging.
|
I disagree that you must have a modded DSLR. I was always more than satisfied with the entry-level photos taken by my unmodified Canon 1000d. Modding just makes things easier and better, for a price. Same for the mount. A goto EQ5, new or used, is a reasonable entry-level mount. A search and wanted ad in IIS may turn up some.
Same for a ED80 scope or such. There's also a lot of very satisfying wider-field imaging that can be done with older used 50 and 135mm camera lenses, some of which, such as Pentax and Canon, are of very good optical quality and are easily available on Ebay at very low prices.
It's all comes down to how much one's willing to search around and to read the IIS posts. Advising newcomers to "only buy new and only the best" is doing them a disservice in my books.
It's only a hobby after all, and what's more important is to ensure they don't waste whatever money they do have.