Thinking of getting a telescope

Hi,

I am thinking of getting a telescope. I originally had my sights on the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ-MD, however, after reading through some reviews, I had second thoughts about it. They all complained that the electrics were a bit shoddy and the tripod is weak.

I then read that the Skyliner 150P is a very good one, albeit Dobsonian mount. What I like about it is that it is cheap for the size of mirror, and from what I can tell is easier to use than an EQ mount. However, would this be suitable for taking photos? If I used short exposures, would it work well? I also had a slight accident with my camera, in that the kit lens is stuck to it, would I be able to use it with the telescopes?

If you know of a better one, I would appreciate it. I have limited budget, as I found the Skyliner for 175 quid, including postage, this forms the highest end of my budget. I want to take photos of planets and the deep space stuff. I don't want something that is too heavy as I would need to put it in the car to go to a dark place.

Thanks

naddie

naddieuk wrote in post #11210268
Hi,

I am thinking of getting a telescope. I originally had my sights on the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ-MD, however, after reading through some reviews, I had second thoughts about it. They all complained that the electrics were a bit shoddy and the tripod is weak.

I then read that the Skyliner 150P is a very good one, albeit Dobsonian mount. What I like about it is that it is cheap for the size of mirror, and from what I can tell is easier to use than an EQ mount. However, would this be suitable for taking photos? If I used short exposures, would it work well? I also had a slight accident with my camera, in that the kit lens is stuck to it, would I be able to use it with the telescopes?

If you know of a better one, I would appreciate it. I have limited budget, as I found the Skyliner for 175 quid, including postage, this forms the highest end of my budget. I want to take photos of planets and the deep space stuff. I don't want something that is too heavy as I would need to put it in the car to go to a dark place.

Thanks

naddie

Even of you can get your camera to take the pictures coupled to a scope with the lens stuck on (and I'm not sure you will be able to), deep space stuff requires a tracking mount because exposures are not short. A dobsonian mount can track an object in the centre of the field, but the rest of the image will revolve around it, thus defeating the object. You need an equatorial mount.

However, with your kit lens, you should be able to get wide angle shots without using a telescope. Some sort of inexpensive tracking device, such as a DIY barn door mount, would then enable long exposures. Or you can get star trails with a fixed tripod.

You could then use the telescope for visual work, or even adapt a web cam for stacked images.

Thanks for that Martyn. I think that if I get a tracking EQ mount on its own, I can attach the camera to it, right? The idea is that later, I can buy a decent telescope once I get my budget sorted and attach it to the mount.

I will look into building a barn door mount after uni.

You shouldn't have any problems attaching your camera to a tracking mount, no. With hindsight I personally think this is the best way to start in Astrophotography. Lenses up to 100mm to 200mm are fine for shooting many deep space objects...you really don't need a big telescope. Plus wide-field shots of as low as 10mm are great too, for capturing constellations and the Milky Way and stuff. One day I want to get another tracking mount, perhaps an Astrotrac, but my days of shooting through telescopes are all but numbered.

You could start with something relatively cheap for widefield too...doesn't have to be expensive.

Thanks for the reply.
I was looking into the AstroTrac, but that looked very expensive for what it is. At least, if I get an EQ mount, I could in the future buy a telescope (if I move to a dark place).
Sorry to hear that you are no longer using telescopes for astrophotos.

naddieuk wrote in post #11215740
Thanks for that Martyn. I think that if I get a tracking EQ mount on its own, I can attach the camera to it, right? The idea is that later, I can buy a decent telescope once I get my budget sorted and attach it to the mount.

I will look into building a barn door mount after uni.

You touch on an important point. If you have a limited budget and you plan to "grow" into this hobby with a telescope down the road then the logical place to start is with a decent German equatorial mount. You don't need to buy new, there are plenty used units that have very little wear on them on the market. I always suggest for people starting out in astroimaging to consider widefield with lenses first. There are a couple of reasons but primarily because of the lesser degree of difficulty that comes with shorter focal lengths. Less difficulty means less frustration and more frequent successes and that's huge in keeping your enthusiasm up. Also, investing in a mount only and learning the ropes allows you to have a minimal investment in the event you decide that deep sky photography isn't your thing or you find limited time available to dedicate to it. The mount can be resold to get your money(or most of it) back.

There is so much to learn in this hobby including processing, set up, alignment techniques, etc. etc. that shooting widefield on a tracking mount will give you a period of education minus the added technical stress that high focal length/telescope imaging brings into the mix.

To attach your camera to your telescope mount you will need a small dovetail plate that slides into the saddle of the mount. You then attach your tripod head to the plate and mount the camera to that. A sturdy ball head would be helpful for easily tweaking the pointing of the camera/lens when composing your shots.

hey. Interesting thread.
I do Trackerless Wide angle star shots and i really love it. typically 30second exposures at a high iso...

since joining this forum only a week or so ago ive been reading alot into Image stacking with such programs as DSS.

If i was to buy a EQ tracking mount..wat sort of camera settings r u likly to use? iso? appature? shutter speeds?
Do u need to Stack images wen tracking?

Nighthound wrote in post #11235370
You touch on an important point. If you have a limited budget and you plan to "grow" into this hobby with a telescope down the road then the logical place to start is with a decent German equatorial mount. You don't need to buy new, there are plenty used units that have very little wear on them on the market. I always suggest for people starting out in astroimaging to consider widefield with lenses first. There are a couple of reasons but primarily because of the lesser degree of difficulty that comes with shorter focal lengths. Less difficulty means less frustration and more frequent successes and that's huge in keeping your enthusiasm up. Also, investing in a mount only and learning the ropes allows you to have a minimal investment in the event you decide that deep sky photography isn't your thing or you find limited time available to dedicate to it. The mount can be resold to get your money(or most of it) back.

There is so much to learn in this hobby including processing, set up, alignment techniques, etc. etc. that shooting widefield on a tracking mount will give you a period of education minus the added technical stress that high focal length/telescope imaging brings into the mix.

To attach your camera to your telescope mount you will need a small dovetail plate that slides into the saddle of the mount. You then attach your tripod head to the plate and mount the camera to that. A sturdy ball head would be helpful for easily tweaking the pointing of the camera/lens when composing your shots.

Thanks for the info on attaching the camera to a GEM. I completely forgot about this thread. I really appreciate the information that I have been learning from these forums. I will definitely think about getting a German Equatorial Mount first. From what I have seen in other threads, the hardest part seems to be the alignment.

You're welcome, happy to help out.

Alignment is a bit tricky at first but like everything else with practice it'll become routine.

Mark Brim wrote in post #11273624
If i was to buy a EQ tracking mount..wat sort of camera settings r u likly to use? iso? appature? shutter speeds?
Do u need to Stack images wen tracking?

Tracking means you can expose for far longer, but due to light pollution and sensor noise and stuff like that, you'll still end up stacking multiple images to get the best out of your data. Because you're exposing for longer you can also reduce the iso and close the aperture a bit if need be.