I'll assume this is your Dad's first telescope? (I assume this because you haven't mentioned otherwise and you've posted this in the Beginners Section)
I would strongly recommend:
1. As Daniel says, a good pair of binoculars - He'll use them for years. Do not underestimate a good pair of binos, Nearly all amateur astronomer's have at least one pair of binos in their arsonel.
2.
Forget the Saxon SAxon F1309EQMS. If he is new to the hobby, an equatorial mount can be hard to get the hang of, and can put a lot of newcomers off telescopes. He will be better with an 8" Dob.. but....
3. If you can stretch your budget to a BinTel 8" Dob ($549), it has a far better altitude bearing and tensioning knob that the outdated Saxon. The BinTel BT202 (
http://www.bintel.com.au/Binscope.html) design is well worth the extra money.
4. You hinted at a camera mount. Again, if your Dad is new to the hobby, forget imaging or any form of mounting camera. Aloow him to get to know his way around the night sky first, with a simple Dobsonian. It's the best way.
