Quote:
Originally Posted by Shark Bait
..I am not all that familiar with EQ mounts but I assume that level of accuracy is considered the standard for long exposure astro photography.
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I need reasonable pointing accuracy because I'm usually using a filter and looking for a faint target (eg not visible until at least 30s exposure at 4x4 bin), so I can't aim by eye. And in any case, if I move the camera, I need to re-take the flats, so that is very inconvenient.
Tracking is a different matter. The mount can't really be used for photography without some form of autoguiding. I use a separate guide camera and 50mm guide scope for tracking, and this is satisfactory for my purposes (photometry). 280mm f/6.3 (1.76m f.l.) is not typically what people are using for astro photography.
-Ivan