Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAstroChannel
so would i be able to image fainter nebula if i kept my current OTA, which by the way, i cant see much through it, just very faint patches of M42, M20, Centauras A and Omega centauri. Because i really really want to get further with my Deep sky photography.  |
Sean, you can see my setup in my sig. I have an old 130mm Newtonian I bought in 1986 to see Halley's comet. It has a chip in the primary the size of a 1c piece (they still had 1c pieces when I got this scope).
Just for fun I put the old Newt on top of my Losmandy G11 mount and took some images mainly using stacks of 5-min exposures with my Canon 60Da DSLR. I've attached them so you can see what you might get if you put your existing OTA on an EQ5.
As Chris says, it's a very forgiving way to start with imaging.
As you say, you are also going to need a camera. I'm pretty pleased with my 60Da which I picked up for $1200. Its quality seems on par with Atik and similar astro CCD cameras at the same price (i.e. lower-end). Cheapest of all in your range is
http://www.bintel.com.au/Astrophotog...oductview.aspx but I don't know what its output is like.
Mount first, then camera, then autoguiding package, then telescope. In that order.
You mentioned $1700. In that case, get:
- the EQ5 ($600) - don't worry about GOTO. Then
- Get the DBK41AU02 for $600, or the Atik 814E for $900, or try to pick up a second-hand DSLR in that general price range, modded for AP if possible (that's a whole other topic - my camera has a special filter that allows nebulae to be photographed. Most off-the-shelf DSLRs don't.)
- Get an autoguider package such a the Orion mini autoguider pack ($400)
If you still have change from your $1700 (I suspect you won't), then by all means pick up an 8" OTA on the classifieds here - it will let you get fainter objects quicker. But remember, with imaging, aperture is not the key to how faint you can go - exposure length is the key here. And how long you can expose for is entirely determined by the quality of your mount and how well it is autoguided.