Equipment Advice for Beginner Deep Space Photography

[Nath2099]

Thanks all.

So I'm close to making what will no doubt be the first of many a purchase by the sounds of it...

So I'm thinking either the 100mm f5.5 or the 120mm f7 Esprit triplet. Is it worth the extra primary diameter at the cost of a bit of speed?

Initially I'll be using my existing 5D MKIII and am wanting to photograph nebula, galaxies and the like.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Nathan,
Which 100mm f5.5?
With such a fast system you may need to add a field flattener to get reason images (near the edges) of your DSLR....

[Nath2099]

Originally Posted by Merlin66

Nathan,
Which 100mm f5.5?
With such a fast system you may need to add a field flattener to get reason images (near the edges) of your DSLR....

Sorry, should have been clearer, also the 100mm f5.5 Espirit Triplet. I'll have a look into what a field flattener is and does!

EDIT: Both those scopes come with a "2-element field flattener".

What would be the trade off to add a .8x reducer to either of those?

[Nath2099]

So I just ordered the Espirit 120ED and the NEQ6-R and a few other bits n bobs. Looking forward to the weekend... no doubt it'll be overcast!

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by Nath2099

So I just ordered the Espirit 120ED and the NEQ6-R and a few other bits n bobs. Looking forward to the weekend... no doubt it'll be overcast!

that will be a really nice rig !!

[Nath2099]

Wow, I just saw a video of your setup on YouTube!

This looks like a crazy expensive hobby if one gets serious!

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by Nath2099

Wow, I just saw a video of your setup on YouTube!

This looks like a crazy expensive hobby if one gets serious!

Life is too short for compromise

[RobF (Rob)]

Probably too late, but QHY5IIL rather than SSAG for autoguiding would be preferable.

[Nath2099]

I actually ordered the ZWO ASI 120MM Monochrome Camera for guiding. Is that one suitable?

It's not too late to change it.

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by Nath2099

I actually ordered the ZWO ASI 120MM Monochrome Camera for guiding. Is that one suitable?

Yep, that's fine.

[Nath2099]

I'm wondering if it's worth me buying a motorised focus controller? There seems to be a couple of main makers, Moonlite and Featherlite. If you think it's worthwhile, any thought on which one? This is for the Esprit 120 APO Triplet mentioned previously in this thread.

[Nath2099]

On the subject of focusing, how does one do that with a DSLR if your shooting a long exposure of something you can't actually see? If your imaging something a thousand light years away, I'm guessing you can focus on any star that you can see, over that sort of distance it won't matter?

[pluto (Hugh)]

Focus on a bright star using live-view on the camera - get a bahatinov mask and it's easy (something like this)

As for a motorised focuser, I would wait until you've got your head around everything else. With a refractor like that Esprit you shouldn't have to refocus too many times in a night so it won't be a big deal.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by Nath2099

On the subject of focusing, how does one do that with a DSLR if your shooting a long exposure of something you can't actually see? If your imaging something a thousand light years away, I'm guessing you can focus on any star that you can see, over that sort of distance it won't matter?

there is no difference to focusing on a star that is 4 light years away or on a galaxy that is a billion light years away, you are focusing to infinity. the only thing to keep in mind is changes in focus due to temperature changes. though in this scope you are unlikely to see much of a change