decent setup?

[jhuse]

just curious at to what a decent setup would cost? i have been looking at scopes, just so many to choose from and not sure where to start. same with a decent t-mount? a tracker would be nice but not a must. more less wanting to play and pass some time outdoors. any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

Jeremy

[Nighthound]

Welcome Jeremy.

You've got some very nice glass and a good camera. I would suggest getting a decent German equatorial mount that you can polar align and shoot some long exposures with the gear you already have. This would keep you in the $600 dollar or so range. Of course you can spend more for better quality. Let us know your budget and we can make some suggestions.

The Astrotrac is another approach and is mounted on your tripod so less heavy items for set up than a German equatorial.
http://www.astrovid.com/prod_details.php?pid=3397

If you are handy with building things a Barn Door Tracker would be the least costly.
http://www.zodiaclight.com/equipment/barnDoor.htm
http://www.nightskypix.com/equip/ScotchMount.htm

And you can shoot with what you have right now. The Moon and some brighter objects can be fun targets and don't require long exposures. With your 50mm you can stretch your deep sky exposures to around 8-10 sec. Set your ISO to 800 and maybe 1600 in the cooler seasons.

[jhuse]

something like this? or am i on the wrong page?

http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/go-to-telescopes/celestronnexstar130slttelescope.cfm
http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/catadioptric-telescopes/meadeetx125peastrotelescopepremiereditionuhtccoati ngsbluetube.cfm

this is something i would like to try but prob shouldn't spend more than $500. I know the second url i listed is more than that but im just feeling out the situation....

[Nighthound]

This is actually the wrong section for discussing gear but hopefully an Administrator will see this and move it to the discussion section.

At that price you won't get a very nice mount and telescope rig that will be effective for astrophtography. If all you want to do is photo the Moon or planets that a non tracking mount(or just a sturdy tripod) with a decent 500mm refractor might serve your needs for a while. Not ideal but you can have some fun with it and add a tracking mount later.

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=optical_tube/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09927

http://www.highpointscientific.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=3398

The scopes you linked to are not good candidates for attaching your camera to. The Meade scope has nice optics but at f/15 shooting deep sky isn't a wise option. Plus it will limit how high you can shoot in the sky because the camera hanging off the back will hit the mount base. For the Moon and planets it would be fair but IMO not worth sinking money into for even the short term.

As I mentioned you can do amazing things with quality camera lenses on a mount or a decent tracking device. A decent mount is all you would need to be well on your way. Of course you will need a couple hardware pieces to mount your camera and lens on top and learn to align the mount properly.

Check out these samples using a camera/lens and German equatorial mount.
http://www.pbase.com/samirkharusi/focal_lengths

Don't expect these results instantly. As you can see some are done using specialty filters and of course Samir is very skilled at imaging and processing.

[jhuse]

ok thanks for all this info Nighthound, this helps a ton. i didnt know you could get these images from just a camera and lens. guess its off to find a tracker and sorry for the post in the wrong place.

[dpastern]

What about some of Orion's newtonian scopes for astrophotography? Do you think the mounts are solid enough, and the optics good enough for decent images?

Dave

[Nighthound]

What about some of Orion's newtonian scopes for astrophotography? Do you think the mounts are solid enough, and the optics good enough for decent images?

Dave

I'm sure under the right mount the Orion Newts could work fine however be aware that most factory Newtonians come with high profile focusers which make it impossible to achieve focus with a DSLR without a focuser upgrade to a low profile design.

Which Orion scope and mount are you thinking of? The factory that are often sold with these Newts are lacking for long exposure imaging, especially when used unguided. These mounts are better suited(although not perfectly) for shorter focal length imaging, at or below 500mm.

[dpastern]

I was considering either this:

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=goto_computerized/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=24731

or this:

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=goto_computerized/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=24732

or this for some extra light gathering power:

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=goto_computerized/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=24735

or maybe even a SCT:

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=goto_computerized/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09759

I've only ever owned 1 telescope in my life, a cheap and crappy 3" Newtonian with an Altazimuth mouth that shook if you looked at it. But, as a 10 year old, I thought it was the Bees Knees! I haven't used it in years, but have always wanted to get back into Astronomy, but haven't been able to financially afford it.

Dave

[Celestron]

The mount is a definite for sure !

[dpastern]

Yeah, I realise. What I lack in practical experience, I make up for in reading. I've got a nice little Astronomy library ;-) I still need to find all my books though, they were packed in boxes when my parents originally moved up here and finding them is the tough part...

I've got:

Will tirions star atlas 2000 (nice and compact)
Uranometria volumes 1 & 2 (including the deep sky guide that you can also buy)
Sky catologue 2000 volumes 1 & 2
Supernova charts boxed set by G Thompson
Burnham's celestial guides (all 3 volumes, indespensible imho)
All of the original CCD magazines - probably outdated now though

I've also got a copy of Sky IV...

most of these are still in storage though,and finding them will probably be difficult.

I'd love a Meade LX200 ACF but with the recent drops in the Aussie dollar, it's suddenly turned form mildly expensive to horribly expensive (our dollar went from US 96c to US 66c). The LX90s are simply not good enough for long periods of astroimaging imho, what are your thoughts?

Dave