I'd say don't get an EQ6 unless you can go semi permanent in your situation. Lugging the mount in and out really ends up equalling not setting up very often, unless you are *really* dedicated. I found that was the case even living on the ground floor.
Once I made a weatherproof cover for the mount and left it outside, I used it easily five times as much.
For scopes if you want big aperture and reasonable portability then go with an SCT, add cooling so that tube currents aren't such an issue and it gets to temp faster. SCTs are fine for imaging, especially if you get one that has a mirror lock (celestron edge or Meade ACF), just make a long dew shield from a camping mat or similar to keep the dew at bay. The SCT won't limit your imaging, at least in the first 5 years, and you can do planetary which is fun as well. You can always piggy back the DSLR with a lens, or pick up a cheap ED80 later for widefield.
There is a great 10" Meade ACF SCT in the classifieds from Casstony at the moment, and you could get it and a 2nd hand EQ6 and have change from $3000.
I have owned 8" and 10" scopes and run them side by side often, there is a significant difference at the eyepiece and with photography. I ended up with a 9.25" as it was close enough visually to the 10" and was easier to manage (and had the hyperstar option which I wanted).
Having said that though, on some occasions the view through the 10" wasn't much better due to seeing limitations, especially on planets.
A C11 is also still pretty manageable, but maybe outside the price range.
You may as well get a 10 or 11" as the scope will be a trip down the stairs on its own no matter what size you get, so it doesn't save you any portability going with an 8"
Yes Newts are cheaper, but they are l-o-n-g and photography I found a hassle as the camera is mounted on the side, not on the back and I always had troubles with flex, balance etc. The mount also has to work harder because of the length.
Whatever you choose, the scope won't be the limiting factor for the first few years at least as far as photography goes, skills and mount will be far more the issue really. SCT or Newt or Mak or whatever, get one with resonable optics and a good mount and they will perform better than your skills are capable of for quite a while really.
That is not a dis, photography is time consuming and processing is more than half the skill, most of the other half is guiding and polar alignment, managing backlash and seeing. The actual scope only become the limiting factor once all that is mastered, and that takes a long long time
