tomd wrote in post #19449815
My son (22yo) and I are getting further into Astrophotography. He's most interested in deep space. Recently he's been using my 1dx, 300 2.8, and doing stacks like 250 shots.
We would like to invest in equipment to take our passion to the next level. Used equipment preferred, but will consider new.
Budget 5k max.
Mount, scope, camera, etc.
Edit-this should be in "talk"
I'll give you the advice I give to everyone that asks this exact same question. Usually, I don't get a budget though...
First, I have to ask if you know the two primary sources for finding used astronomy gear? If not, PM me. I'm not sure how the mods here feel about directing folks to other forums.
Now, on to the gear. There's no such thing as one setup that will do it all. It just simply doesn't exist.
THE MOUNT: is your key item and the one piece of kit I recommend you spend the most on. A garbage mount will lead to so much frustration that you may just give up on the hobby. Remember also, mount weight ratings are the max amount of weight that the mount is rated to carry for VISUAL use. In all but the very high-end mounts like AstroPhysics, Paramount, and 10Micron's the IMAGING weight is about 50-60% of the max rate. For example, if you have a scope/camera rig that weighs 20 lbs, you want a mount that is rated for at least 40 lbs. I've owned a Celestron CGX and now an iOptron CEM70. Look for a used CEM70 or older CEM60 or even a CEM40 depending on the scope you decided to go with. Yes, those #'s are the max payload weight capacity.
THE CAMERAS: Notice I made that plural. You'll need an imaging camera and a guiding camera. ZWO seems to be the leader in the amateur field these days. QHY also makes a great camera. Note they both use the same SONY sensors so image quality will be almost identical. Since you are looking for a used camera I would search out a used ZWO 1600MMM or MC camera. MM stands for Monochrome and MC stands for Color in the ZWO world. I'd recommend starting with a color camera until you get deeper into the hobby and then you'll probably end up upgrading to a monochrome camera with filterwheels and filters. It's more complex but yields better images...at a greater cost. That's the only reason I say start with the color camera, money. I happen to own both the 2600MM and MC cameras. The 2600 is the newer upgrade from the 1600 line but that is going to blow your budget because you need to probably spend at least $2k on a decent used mount.
You are going to need a guide camera/scope too. The Orion StarShoot AutoGuider is a great guidescope that I used for many, many years without fail. I'm now using a ZWO290mm but the ZWO120mm is cheaper, and also a great guidecamera. You can usually find the Orion StarShoot autoguider and 50mm guidescope as a package that works great. Eventually, and depending on the focal length of your main imaging scope, you may end up going with an OAG but we will not get into that now. Just google "astro OAG" if you don't know what an OAG is.
THE SCOPE: This is where my comment above about "no such thing as one setup doing it all" comes into play. I HIGHLY recommend to people to start out with a small, widefield scope like an 80-102mm refractor. For some reason, people are drawn to the bigger, longer focal-length rigs. There are so many problems with these that you need to learn the basics before jumping into a big rig. I use the analogy of driving. Imagine you are 15-16 years old and you want to learn how to drive. Do you start with mom or dad's sedan or do you jump into the McLaren F1 to learn? The great thing about an 80mm refractor is that you will probably end up keeping that scope the longest and never selling it because it is the ideal rig for so many large galaxies and nebulae. I have a StellarVue SV70T that you couldn't pry away from my cold-dead hands even though I also have a huge 150mm refractor with a long focal length.
I also recommend a refractor to start with over a reflector because then you skip the hassle of learning collimation. (Collimation is aligning the mirrors in the reflector.)
When it comes to refractors, there are several basic designs with achromatic and apochromatic being the two most common. Acro's have 2 lenses and are ok for visual use, but not great at all for imaging. Apo's as they are called, are really necessary for imaging. Just Google those two terms to learn more and understand why. Major brands, Orion, Explore Scientific, SkyWatcher, and the latest entry which is SharpStar. Don't freak out when you see the prices on the Takahashi's, they are the McLarens of the hobby.
Here's a dream list if I only knew when I was first getting into this hobby. These are NEW prices which are gonna blow your budget.
iOptron CEM40 - $2700 for mount, tripod, and case / ZWO AIM5 with tripod $2400
Skywatcher Esprit 80ED - $2230 / Orion ED80T - $1000
ZWO 1600MC Discontinued - 294MC is the recommended replacement new - $900
ZWO 120mm Guidecamera - $135
Orion 50mm Guidescope - $75
The one item not mentioned yet is your image acquisition computer. Many beginners are going with the ZWO ASIAir computers. Personally, I bought a small intel NUC and use it because I do not want to be tied to a single ecosystem. With the ASIAir you really need to use ZWO cameras. Personally, I use NINA as my capture software and PixInsight as my image processing software. NINA is free, not PixInsight. PixInsight (PI) has a steep learning curve but is the industry gold standard.
I'm sure after reading this you are gonna have a ton more questions. If you want to keep going, we can do it here publicly, or just PM me.
