Hi all.
I’ve been performing a lot of research due to the unforgiving cloudy weather and am looking for advice.
To state my current gear:
A canon R7
Sigma 100-400mm f5/6.3
Startracker Adventurer GTI
Remote shutter cable
📷 1O8lzzm.jpg
Now I’ve thought about a lot of options, including
A redcat 51/61 - these looks like it will suit my mount in terms of weight, and they offer nice mounting offers for guiding scopes
A guiding scope - My sigma is “semi slow” and I think a guiding scope will help remove that as a limitation
A faster lens - Rokinon 135mm is on my radar.
As much as i’d enjoy a dedicated astro camera, for now I think i’m happy with the canon, until summer, i’m going to presume to myself.
I’ve also looked into the ASIAir but i think i’d need a way to figure out mounting it nicely, to which other telescopes may already help with that.
Was hoping the experienced users here could help chime in and give me some ideas.
Thank you so much!
Advice on an upgrade path
I think the really weak point in your rig right now is the tripod. You might think about the tripod and pier extension that’s available for the GTI mount.
Tony Gondola · Feb 1, 2026, 06:45 PM
I think the really weak point in your rig right now is the tripod. You might think about the tripod and pier extension that’s available for the GTI mount.
May I ask why the tripod?
I’m surprised you would ask this if you’re using the rig as is. I think you need a solid base before doing much else. If you stay with what you have it will fight you every step of the way.
I decided very early on that Astrophotography was going to need me to get the right lens (a telescope), and the right camera (an Astro camera) Or else I would quickly kill my DSLR. My Tamron 150-600mm wasn’t the right lens for deep space.
DSLR’s are designed for terrestrial pictures. They don’t normally have sensor cooling. And they tend to have finite shutter operations. Mine was at 86,xxx when I got interested in this. 150,000 was the twilight window.
Astro Cameras are designed for astro imaging.
I think Tony is pointing out you need a real mount. But I can’t tell what you do have there. But it does not appear to be a mount.
Tony Gondola · Feb 1, 2026, 07:03 PM
I’m surprised you would ask this if you’re using the rig as is. I think you need a solid base before doing much else. If you stay with what you have it will fight you every step of the way.
Sorry I’m really not following what is wrong with the tripod. It’s a Benro Mach3, suitable for 20kg and when extended is almost taller than I am (190cm)
What do you recommend as a solid base?
SonnyE · Feb 1, 2026, 07:14 PM
I decided very early on that Astrophotography was going to need me to get the right lens (a telescope), and the right camera (an Astro camera) Or else I would quickly kill my DSLR. My Tamron 150-600mm wasn’t the right lens for deep space.
DSLR’s are designed for terrestrial pictures. They don’t normally have sensor cooling. And they tend to have finite shutter operations. Mine was at 86,xxx when I got interested in this. 150,000 was the twilight window.
Astro Cameras are designed for astro imaging.
I think Tony is pointing out you need a real mount. But I can’t tell what you do have there. But it does not appear to be a mount.
Yeah that makes sense regarding DSLRs, shutter count is indeed in the back of my mind.
I’m fully portable as I cannot image at home, so it’s more gear to lug long to a remote shooting location as it needs to be powered. I think it’s going to be something to sort out sooner rather than later though.
It’s the star adventurer GTI, i’m not sure how this is not a mount
jack_miller · Feb 1, 2026, 07:28 PM
Tony Gondola · Feb 1, 2026, 07:03 PM
I’m surprised you would ask this if you’re using the rig as is. I think you need a solid base before doing much else. If you stay with what you have it will fight you every step of the way.
Sorry I’m really not following what is wrong with the tripod. It’s a Benro Mach3, suitable for 20kg and when extended is almost taller than I am (190cm)
What do you recommend as a solid base?
A tripod that might be suitable for terrestrial photography won’t give you the needed stability for astrophotography. You are entering another world of precision here so you need to start wrapping your head around that. What I’m talking about is this: https://www.skywatcherusa.com/products/star-adventurer-tripod
You’ll also find the extension useful because if you go to longer a OTA it will prevent the tripod legs from interfering as much. https://www.skywatcherusa.com/products/star-adventurer-tripod-extension
For stability you need mass as much as you need strength.
Always start with the mount! As you progress through your “arc” of this hobby, most of us have used various OTA’s (The telescope) during our journey as you most likely will. The AM5’s are popular, I prefer the traditional German design. A good mount will help and really is the best place to start with a rig upgrade. After that move to a dedicated astro camera then upgrade the OTA/lens last… The best camera on the best telescope using the best software on an undersized mounting will never give you the results you seek. While a good camera on a respectable telescope with a proper mounting will deliver…
CS, Tim
jack_miller · Feb 1, 2026, 07:28 PM
It’s a Benro Mach3, suitable for 20kg
That is OK, for terrestrial photography, but a photography tripod is not a solid base as it can vibrate. OK, you hang a few kg of weights on the tripod and so it becomes less prone to vibration but that would have to be deducted from carrying weight.
Another disadvantage of photography tripos is that they easily rotate on the top. Yes the feet are stable but the construction let it rotate on the top.
Below you can see a solid base with each pier weighing 7 tons. I know I know, I am joking…
📷 Pano-Obser-07.jpg📷 OReal14-05.jpg
📷 165-Este-Oeste-15.jpg
Hi, Jack.
I’ve only been at this for 4-5 years and really still learn most of what I need from forums such as this one, astronomy club members, and YouTube gurus (see some suggestions below), all of which have been invaluable. So a couple of personal experiences and what I learnt early on and since may help since I was where you are not that long ago. One word of warning…once you get going, you will find it an expensive habit (or addiction).
1) Mount: The mention of tripod and mount as being the most crucial components are excellent advice - this is repeated by many people beyond this forum. I started solid (EQ6R Pro) and never had a complaint - rock solid. That said, the EQ6 mount is very heavy (to carry, to set up and transport) and I now have an AM5N as well. I bought the matching TC40 tripod with the AM5N and although it is designed for it, the tripod still flexes enough to make long exposures (2-5minutes) frustrating, even with weights added for stability. So I now put the AM5N on the EQ6 tripod for deep space, and on the TC40 tripod for solar (because exposures are in milliseconds and it’s easy to throw in the car). Bottom line - spend your money on a good mount and tripod once. If you are sticking with the SkyTracker, then take Tony’s recommendation and get a rock solid tripod but once you really get into astrophotography, you will face the inevitable desire to get a better mount and tripod that can support heavier gear and track accurately for longer exposures. Spend once and spend wisely (or as some say, “buy once, cry once”).
2) Camera: I started with a Canon RP DSLR (albeit without a decent mount), got the bug and realised I wanted to go for a complete astro setup (thus the EQ6 mount mentioned above). I used my DSLR on my first scope, but leaving aside the choice of scope (see below), a dedicated astrophotography camera quickly becomes the next thing to consider. Then decide if you want to shoot RGB or Narrowband (NB). If you only do RGB, then a colour camera is fine, but you will find that you probably need skies without much light pollution for most things you will want to shoot. In order to provide the maximum choice, with no expectation of ever needing to upgrade, I went for a mono astro camera and a filter wheel which could hold all the LRGB and NB filters. To shoot nebulae for example, I shoot NB for the nebula gases and RGB for the stars and process them separately (that’s a whole other topic). A good astro camera is required for decent long exposure images. Note also that with mono, you get 4x resolution, since each pixel is its own mono point, whereas RGB uses 4 pixels for each point. That said, plenty of people do stunning work with a DSLR on a good tracking mount. So once again, the mount is key.
3) Scope: I never understood people asking me what sort of astro I wanted to do before providing suggestions on scopes. I thought astro was astro. But of course the requirements are different for Lunar, Planets, Solar, and Deep Sky (DSO), which can be further divided into Galaxies and Nebula. For example you need a shorter focal length for nebulae (generally) and longer for galaxies. I’ve ended up with a couple of scopes that suit different purposes. Decide what you want to image (at least initially) and find a scope that matches that need. There are so many scopes and levels of image quality they offer. Once bitten by the astro bug, you’ll likely have more than once scope.
4) Beyond: Other considerations will emerge, such as software to run the gear (I started with APT and settled on NINA), guiding (separate scope or OAG), power supply for traveling into the bush, image processing software etc. As I said, an expensive addiction, but a good one.
Some good YouTubers that have great advice on gear and on astro more broadly:
Cuiv the Lazy Geek (https://www.youtube.com/@CuivTheLazyGeek)
Dylan O’Donnell (https://www.youtube.com/@DylanODonnell)
Ed Ting (https://www.youtube.com/@edting) - all about scopes, and he has many.
AstroBackyard (https://www.youtube.com/@AstroBackyard)
I hope that helps a bit, Jack. Do lots of research (which you are clearly doing by posting on this forum). There is so much to learn and so many mistakes (aka learning opportunities) to be had along the way. Have fun!
Cheers.
Paul