Celestron NexStar 114SLT ???

Just spent the last few days as a tourist on this forum and could probably spend the next 20 years reading through all the helpful threads! Just about to finally upgrade my 5MP Panasonic Lumix (12x Optical Zoom) to a Canon 50D, with 17-85mm IS USM lens, and really want to get semi-serious about astrophotography as a hobby ... been especially keen since the eclipse photos I took in Sydney in 2007.

I had a play with one of these a while back and for casual observation it is fine. For any sort of photography though you are limited by it being alt-az tracking, having a somewhat flimsy tripod, limitations on the focuser (doubt it has sufficient back focus) and a lot of "slop" in the drive train.

If you are serious take the time and spend the money on a decent GEM, say an EQ5, and buy an ED 80 scope. https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=779170 covered the same ground on its bigger brother.

legoman_iac wrote in post #9006058
... anything and everything possible at night time.

First off, cracking eclipse shots - I really like the composition.

Wanting to shoot anything and everything in the night sky is tricky with a single scope really. As Chris says, an ED80-type scope would be a good start. Focal length will be around 400 - 500mm, which you can effectively extend using a Barlow or a Teleconverter. As prime scopes they're pretty fast, around f/5 to f/6 usually, and are great for deep sky objects.

If you really want to concentrate on the moon, 1200mm to 1500mm focal length is about what you want for the moon to fill the sensor field on your camera, but the longer you go the slower the scope's likely to be and the less suitable it is for imaging deep sky objects.

However, the mount is the important thing. GOT to be a GEM if you want to take extended exposures.

Hey Guys ... thanks for the feedback, will look into the GEM mount and scopes ... do you have any more info on the ED80? Is this an 80mm refractor as opposed to reflector? Still abit lost with this all, seems the more I read, the more questions I have. In terms of budget, I'm looking for something under AUS $1k if possible.

Also, will the GEM mount hold the DSLR seperately as well as the telescope?

EDIT: Just found this, Celestron C80 ED Refractor for AUS $ 900 ... while I've been reading on the forums that a good mount is essential I'd prefer not to spend $ 500-$1500 on a mount than another $1500 on a scope if I can at this stage, is something like this going to produce clear/tracked images for $900? Can I take the scope off and just have a wide angle lens on the camera for wide tracked shots?

Lastly, will the telescopes I'm looking to get also be suitable for Earth-based (ie. regular daytime zoomed) photography???

legoman_iac wrote in post #9020398
Also, will the GEM mount hold the DSLR seperately as well as the telescope?

If I understand you correctly, you can mount a short dovetail to the bottom of the camera using the 1/4-20 hole. Then the dovetail sits right in the saddle of the mount.

See this:
http://****/yjhcybf

If you're talking about mounting the DSLR and the scope at the same time there are side-by-side plates that will allow you to do that.
http://www.skiesunlimi​ted.net/index.php?Prod​uctID=4987

Well I guess I'm trying to do too much on too small a budget ... but I'm hoping to get a guided GEM 8" refractor (?) telescope (as recommended above) which my 50D can mount straight into for imaging 'deep space' or 'moon' shots and have the option of removing the telescope and just having a wide angle lens to take long exposures with the GEM guidance. Also, be great if the telescope can be used for land use/nature photography but if not will eventually get a 300mm-ish lens.

If the "Celestron C80 ED Refractor" could handle this then I'd probably go with it unless it's recommended that I should save up and go with a better quality GEM and sep. scope?

legoman_iac wrote in post #9022004
... but I'm hoping to get a guided GEM 8" refractor (?) telescope (as recommended above)

An 8" Refractor is huge! Are you sure it's not an 8" Reflector? Plus I think you might be getting a little confused, (though it's not surprising, there's loads to think about.)

Try to think of the mount and telescope separately. The mount is the first thing you should think about if you want to photograph deep space objects. You can fix your camera to the mount and take wide-angle shots, or if you've got a good zoom lens then they can produce great images too. You don't *need* a telescope...300 or 400mm lenses are often easily good enough.

The telescope should be the next thing you think about though. 80mm APO Refractors are a good start, and are usually 400 or 500mm in focal length. Don't usually get "entry-level" refractors much bigger than 150mm or so, or 6". Bigger than that and you'll be looking at Reflectors, such as Newtonians, or Schmidt/Maksutov Cassegrains if you want really big focal lengths. (Newtonians are fast, SCTs/Maks are slow.)

Ideally I'd get a mount and scope separatley, however with my budget I'm leaning towards the bundled package, such as the Celestron C80 ED ... http://www.ozscopes.co​m.au …-refractor-telescope.html

Thanks again for all the input, can't wait to get out there and start imaging!

Hey guys, still going in circles ... it sounds like the C80 ED is off the books (out of stock and not confirmed if it is computerized/powered mounted anyway) ... so back to the drawing board. So ... the options are the Celestron NexStar 102 SLT ( http://www.ozscopes.co​m.au …tron-nexstar-102-slt.html ) or the SE series, Celestron NexStar 5 SE ( http://www.ozscopes.co​m.au …lestron-nexstar-5-se.html ). Although at this price I wonder if it's better to look at 2nd mounts and separate scopes?

I'm leaning towards the 102 as it seems to have better magnification and f#, or is it worth it to go for the "Cassegrain" for better quality?

EDIT: Sorry, just noticed these are both "Altazimuth Mounts" ... does this mean long exposures aren't possible?

Ok, so after going in circles I've landed back on the original recommendations ... will avoid the cheaper entry level packages and will go for a decent GOTO equatorial mount, EQ5-ish, and start off with wide astro shots and then get an 80mm Refractor, possibly SkyWatcher, down the the track. Thanks again for your help and patience.

legoman_iac wrote in post #9046049
...will go for a decent GOTO equatorial mount, EQ5-ish,

With hindsight, I personally wouldn't bother with GOTO. I paid £550 for my EQ5 with GOTO, and I've hardly used the GOTO itself...without it I could have paid nearer £250. I know others use it a lot, and perhaps I would have used it more had I got my polar alignment sorted accurately. But I actually liked having to find objects myself, using Astronomy Magazines and Night Sky Manuals and things like Stellarium, then taking test photos until I'd successfully framed what I was looking for. Helped me learn my way around the sky.

With the EQ5 and EQ6's what do you get in the non-Pro version in regards to motors and movement ? Are there motors in both axis ? ie. Can you (auto)guide with the non-goto's ?
Do they slew in either/both axis under external control (eg. Stellarium/ascom) ?
Do they know where they are in RA/Dec and the LST ?

All you can tell from the advertising blurb is that the Pro has goto and the non-Pro doesn't.

Steve.

All I can comment on is my own mounts;

Phenix EQ5 with GOTO - power socket and three RJ45 sockets on main RA Drive box, (one for the hand-controller, one to connect up the DEC drive, one for GPS), two RJ45 sockets on DEC box, spare RJ45 on the hand-controller for Autoguiding. Hand-controller assumes the scope is at 0-degrees on both axes at switch on, so "knows" where it's aiming all the time. Slew speeds of up to 512x. Comprehensive catalogue of objects for using the GOTO feature.

Skywatcher EQ-6 Standard - Power socket and one RJ45 socket on the side of the mount for the hand-controller. 1x, 2x and 16x slew speeds. And that's it!

I've got the bits to wire in an RJ45 socket to the hand-controller, so that I can autoguide it, but the mount doesn't "know" where it's pointing. As soon as you turn it on it just starts tracking.

So the standard has no dec motor ? You'll be wanting one of those for autoguiding.
I think I'll continue building up my DIY mount then. The EQ6-Pro is out of the budget for now.
Does the Pro have any alignment assistance in its standard form ? Being set to 0 on power on seems rather unhelpful.
I enjoy "finding things" too. I'd really like a mount to help me get good polar alignment, display the current position and guide for astrophotography.

Steve.

SteveInNZ wrote in post #9067844
So the standard has no dec motor ?

No no, the EQ6 Standard has RA and DEC motors. It's a more tidy setup with everything "built-in", whereas on the EQ5 the motors are more like bolt-ons, and you need to physically connect the DEC to the RA. Knowing what I know now I should have started with a Standard EQ6 rather than an EQ5 GOTO, which was more pricey!

As for the EQ5 GOTO, it's got one, two and three-star align routines...not sure about the EQ6 Pro.