Telescope for astrophotography

[shed driver]

I'm not sure I want to have all the bells and whistles, but I recently logged onto an old paypal account and found £200 in there I had completely forgotten about. I fancy getting a telescope and would love to be able to use it with my 5d3.

Any pointers as to what I would need - and how much it would cost? It's not something I'm likely to be really splashing loads of cash in to, so about £200 is what I'd like to pay.

SD.

[jmorgan]

Probably need another couple of £200.

Then depends on what you want to do. Planets or deep space.

[GetCarter]

These guys are REALLY good. You can read up, send them a mail, or ring them (they have a physical shop).

They convinced me to spend LESS that I was about to (both items in stock!)

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/...

read up here: http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/...

Edited by GetCarter on Sunday 21st May 10:44

[jmorgan]

Problem is you will want a good scope (good optics) and a steady platform then you will need adaptors for the scope. I attach mine to the scope without a lens. Various issues, making sure micro lockup, remote release, non windy night etc. etc.

[Monty Python]

You won't get anything decent for £200. The critical part of a telescope for photography is the mount, and a £200 telescope is going to have a mount that's practically useless. Plus, unless you want to take photos of bright objects (i.e. the moon), then the telescope will also need automatic tracking, which adds to the cost.

I'd also recommend against using an SLR for astrophotography using a telescope due to the extra weight it adds that the mount has to cope with.

[shed driver]

Monty Python said:

You won't get anything decent for £200. The critical part of a telescope for photography is the mount, and a £200 telescope is going to have a mount that's practically useless. Plus, unless you want to take photos of bright objects (i.e. the moon), then the telescope will also need automatic tracking, which adds to the cost.

Looking around, I may be able to boost the budget up to about £350 - I saw this, http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/... which was recommended.

Monty Python said:

I'd also recommend against using an SLR for astrophotography using a telescope due to the extra weight it adds that the mount has to cope with.

Ah, so I would use a better mount, or a new camera?

Man maths needed I think!

SD.

[Monty Python]

shed driver said:

Ah, so I would use a better mount, or a new camera?

Man maths needed I think!

SD.

It depends on what you want to photograph - if it requires a long exposure then you'll need a computerised mount and a CCD camera.

This would be the minimum:

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/...

and something like this:

https://www.telescopehouse.com/astro-imaging/ccd-c...

[Zad]

That is an alt-azimuth mount. Basically they have a horizontal and vertical drive. If you try to take a long exposure with those, although the computer will keep you centred on the star you want, the stars around it will appear to rotate. Instead, you ideally need an equatorial mount. Basically, you set it up to be in-line with the rotation of the earth and a motor makes it rotate in the opposite direction once a day, removing the apparent movement. That way, you could use your existing lenses.

[Monty Python]

Zad said:

That is an alt-azimuth mount. Basically they have a horizontal and vertical drive. If you try to take a long exposure with those, although the computer will keep you centred on the star you want, the stars around it will appear to rotate. Instead, you ideally need an equatorial mount. Basically, you set it up to be in-line with the rotation of the earth and a motor makes it rotate in the opposite direction once a day, removing the apparent movement. That way, you could use your existing lenses.

Not necessarily - taking pictures of deep sky objects can be done by image stacking - taking lots of individual images then combining them using software, and the software takes care of the rotation. If you can afford a powered equatorial mount then do so, but good ones aren't cheap (>£200 for a decent powered one).

http://www.astrophotography-tonight.com/astrophoto...

Edited by Monty Python on Wednesday 31st May 09:56