First telescope for Astrophotography

[MakkaPakka (Daniel)]

Howdy all,

I am now in the market for a proper telescope dedicated for Astrophotoraphy. I've got my self an NEQ6-Pro mount, a cheap Skywatcher 90/900 refractor from a family member, It's nice but the chromatic aberration ruins otherwise good photos and an unmodded Canon 600D DSLR.

My main targets will be DSO's the typical list of Nebulae, Galaxies and Clusters and occasionally planets. I enjoy getting some decent pictures of galaxies, but that would require huge focal lengths to get finer details, proper auto guiding and a focal reducer for other work.

Budget: Max of $1400 AUD I plan to use this scope for awhile and just add little things as I go, as money is tight. So getting this much together was a mission.

I'm not terribly keen on getting a Newt mainly because of the maintenance involved (I would rather less hassle and more grab and go) and the open tube aspect of it kinda worries me about potential damage.

So I am looking at mainly Doublet ED Refractors (Triplet if possible) and SCT/MAK's which as mentioned will need a reducer and proper guiding down the road. When I can, like most I enjoy driving out away from the city lights though most imaging will be done in the back yard so portability is not a massive issue for me.

Based on what I want to image I was thinking something along the lines of the Skywatcher BD-ED 100/900 only issue with that is the rather slow focal ratio. Any Ideas are good at this point as I just want to make sure I won't regret what I purchase a few months down the track.

Thanks for your time

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

hi Daniel,

I'd forget about SCT/Maks with the targets you are after the focal ratios aren't very helpful.

sounds like you are after an ED80.

I'd also look at getting auto guiding, you'll soon be after longer subs.

Rusty

[Atmos (Colin)]

Maybe something along the lines of the Sharpstar 65Q.
http://www.astronomyalive.com.au/tel...telescope.html

If your primary plan is to use it for imaging then this is relatively quick at F/6.5 and has a short focal length which makes getting good results less painful from the beginning. It has an inbuilt flattener so you do not need to worry about spacing, more plug and play.

[MakkaPakka (Daniel)]

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

hi Daniel,

I'd forget about SCT/Maks with the targets you are after the focal ratios aren't very helpful.

sounds like you are after an ED80.

I'd also look at getting auto guiding, you'll soon be after longer subs.

Rusty

Thanks for the reply, I was just thinking longer focal length to do galaxies justice, but fair point. Thanks for the advice

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

Originally Posted by MakkaPakka

Thanks for the reply, I was just thinking longer focal length to do galaxies justice, but fair point. Thanks for the advice

no worries the mak's and sct are good for planetary viewing and some planetary imaging not so good on deep sky - esp deep sky photography.

Personally I'd really be recommending an 8 or 10" newt as you get good resolution but you're anti newt so with the budget you've listed it really only leaves an ed80 or 100.

Or if you could stretch your budget a bit the maksutov-newtonian might be more what you are after. http://www.myastroshop.com.au/produc...p?id=MAS-065D2

cheers

[MakkaPakka (Daniel)]

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

Personally I'd really be recommending an 8 or 10" newt

Well I've had a few people suggest newts. I may just deal with my fears and take the leap.

Thanks again mate

[skysurfer]

An ED80 works well and fits within the budget, including field flattener. You will need a field flattener, otherwise the edges are not sharp.

http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...7/catmenu.aspx

[Retrograde (Pete)]

Great thing about an 'ed80' is that it will also be useful as a guidescope/grab & go/travel-scope/terrestrial telephoto etc. Also if you decide to upgrade and want to sell, it will hold its value pretty well.

Downside is that it certainly won't have the focal-length for galaxies or planetary imaging.

There are often ed80s in the IIS classifieds section for reasonable prices so do your research and keep watch if you decide to go that way.

[dannat (Daniel)]

if youre starting do you have any good primes to start with, eg the 70-200 f4, or the 200/2.8
otherwise as suggested the ed80 is the most common & cheapest start point

[raymo]

I reckon the ED 100 is a great compromise; the extra focal length will allow you to image many galaxies and smaller planetaries, and you can speed it
up later with a focal reducer to f7.65 which will allow you to image some larger nebulae, it also has a 36% larger light grasp than the ED 80, which
is good for visual work as well.
raymo

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

With that fairly hefty mount I'd strongly consider an imaging optimised fast Newtonian or one of the GSO RC astrographs, either the steel or carbon-fibre 8" GSO RC-8. I'd go the steel for $900 and keep the $400 extra that the CF tube costs. Andrews is the only dealer I know who sells these in AUS atm (not even Bintel?). They're f/8 native, and f/6 with a GS 0.75x RC reducer ($130). Not a bad kit at all for around $1k.

That fear of Newts you have is not healthy. Face your fears my friend and you'll be stronger for it. There is really nothing to be afraid of. Newtonians are the easiest scopes to maintain. It's no more complicated than learning to change a flat tyre on your car for the spare (and a lot less work). Sure if you get a refractor or maybe an SCT or MCT, it's all sealed up and you won't have to worry about collimation hopefully for a long while. But when you do run into some problem and need to tweak or fix something, they are a lot more difficult to work with than Newts.

[raymo]

I reckon the ED 100 is a great compromise; the extra focal length will allow you to image many galaxies and smaller planetaries, and you can speed it
up later with a focal reducer to f7.65. it also has a 36% larger light grasp than the ED 80, which is good for visual work as well.

I agree with Steve, imaging Newts are great, and cheaper, but if you are stuck on a refractor, I reckon the ED 100 is the best
one within your budget [assuming that you are buying new].
raymo

[MakkaPakka (Daniel)]

Originally Posted by janoskiss

With that fairly hefty mount I'd strongly consider an imaging optimised fast Newtonian

Any particular Newt you would recommend?

Thanks for the advice.