Hi everyone I would like to buy my first setup for astrophotography, favoring the choice of a small apochromatic. I not having a fixed location and i need a light instrumentation what do you think is the most suitable for my needs?
first setup for astrophotography
There are a wide variety of options, but most would recommend an 80mm APO from one of the more reputable vendors. Spend more on the mount and get a decent DSLR to start. If you look at most of the images on this site, they involve thousands of dollars of equipment and many years of experience. Your budget is a big component here.
Well written Concise
Thanks tom 
I agree with Tom. It is the mount that makes the image, not the scope. I started out with a small newtonian (will need a coma corrector), but an APO is also a superb start (will need a flattener in most cases). Depending on your budget (and how mobile you must be) i would suggest something like an EQ6. May i ask, what is your budget and do you already have a camera (DSLR) which could be used?
Helpful Concise
I am new but started in 2017, if you want to know the most important or how you put your priority for your astro gear then here is the following:
1. EQ mount
2. Cooled camera, mono is preferable if possible
3. Telescope whatever
See, the mount is always the first choice, then i chose a cooled camera, because i live in light pollution area, and after so so many images and results on the net i see from all over the world in all areas i found out that a mono camera can be used anywhere from best to worst sky, while with color even cooled it is not so much unless the sky is that good, i have 6 DSLRs and Sony mirrorless camera, none of them matched results from my mono cooled camera with filters, in fact none of those cameras also matched my smaller dedicated planetary cameras for the moon and planets, so make sure you choose the right camera, not a camera that can do just good now but not the best, i can use also mobile camera which are good enough these days, so what is the point of dedicated astro cameras if DSLRs and mobile cameras are good enough even for those who can't afford.
About telescopes, i said whatever because if you have a mono cooled camera and filters then you have full control, then telescopes are just light bucket optics or glasses, i used ST80 which is an Achro and guide scope to shoot targets, with NB and separated filters it was not bad actually, so the camera also determined the type of scope you need, if you use DSLR color camera non cooled then most likely you must get the best lens or the best telescope that can correct colors, and then that will cost you almost same budget of a mono cooled camera anyway and maybe with filters too.
1. EQ mount
2. Cooled camera, mono is preferable if possible
3. Telescope whatever
See, the mount is always the first choice, then i chose a cooled camera, because i live in light pollution area, and after so so many images and results on the net i see from all over the world in all areas i found out that a mono camera can be used anywhere from best to worst sky, while with color even cooled it is not so much unless the sky is that good, i have 6 DSLRs and Sony mirrorless camera, none of them matched results from my mono cooled camera with filters, in fact none of those cameras also matched my smaller dedicated planetary cameras for the moon and planets, so make sure you choose the right camera, not a camera that can do just good now but not the best, i can use also mobile camera which are good enough these days, so what is the point of dedicated astro cameras if DSLRs and mobile cameras are good enough even for those who can't afford.
About telescopes, i said whatever because if you have a mono cooled camera and filters then you have full control, then telescopes are just light bucket optics or glasses, i used ST80 which is an Achro and guide scope to shoot targets, with NB and separated filters it was not bad actually, so the camera also determined the type of scope you need, if you use DSLR color camera non cooled then most likely you must get the best lens or the best telescope that can correct colors, and then that will cost you almost same budget of a mono cooled camera anyway and maybe with filters too.
I have done years of study on this, my final choice is due to portability, can’t image from my yard at all. The gear I use can be seen here.
https://www.astrobin.com/gelte6/?nc=user
However, I would have purchased one of the Stellarvue scopes
https://www.stellarvue.com/telescopes/
and the Skywatcher EQ6R- Pro.
https://skywatcher.com/product/eq6r-pro/That’s my suggestion for what it is worth.
https://www.astrobin.com/gelte6/?nc=user
However, I would have purchased one of the Stellarvue scopes
https://www.stellarvue.com/telescopes/
and the Skywatcher EQ6R- Pro.
https://skywatcher.com/product/eq6r-pro/That’s my suggestion for what it is worth.
My problem is not the budget (which, however, being at the first experience and with experience to do I would not want to go beyond 800 euros (893 us dollar)). My only problem is transport, at the moment I can only move on the terrace of my apartment building. I have an unmodified reflex a canon eos 100D and I had thought of a star adventurer pro with the reflex and a lens for the deepsky or a small apo. A compact setup, highly transportable and at the same time effective (within the setup limits). Currently as setup idea is star adventure, stable tripod, canon 100d and samyang 135. Although my wish is a small and light apo. Thanks!
Hi Cris,
I am currently using a setup very similar to what you have in mind; Star adventurer guided with a ZWO mini guide scope and TS Photoline 72/432 F6 for imaging
I am using it with an Nikon D5300 DSLR and a Flattener or with an Altair Hypercam GP3 178mono and a 0,79x Reducer/Flattener. It works, but I would say the weight of the scope and DSLR and flattener (3kg) is right at the limit of what the SA can take, and only works because I put the Guidescope on the counterweight side.
Unguided, the SA will give you acceptable frames of about 3 min for your camera and the samyang 135 (ca. 3 Pixel drift @6arcsec/pixel) Guided, the SA will perform well for up to 6min at 432mm and 1,8arcsec/pixel) If you want to use the SA with a small Apo, in my opinion guiding is a must. All that said, it's a really nice mount for starting out with lots of potential. You will learn a lot about good Polar alignment and mount balance if you start with this mount because in order to get nice results with it, you have to
Another Option you could keep in mind would be the iOptron CEM25P, for 845 Euros you get a GoTo-mount with a tripod and a low periodic error (I will be upgrading to this mount soon) It's still light and portable, but has some more load capacity (about 6-7kg for astrophotography) But apparently there are some quality control issues with this mount and it's easily damaged by user error, so maybe not the best mount for a beginner.
I hope this helps and I haven't confused you now
Clear skies, Marc
I am currently using a setup very similar to what you have in mind; Star adventurer guided with a ZWO mini guide scope and TS Photoline 72/432 F6 for imaging
I am using it with an Nikon D5300 DSLR and a Flattener or with an Altair Hypercam GP3 178mono and a 0,79x Reducer/Flattener. It works, but I would say the weight of the scope and DSLR and flattener (3kg) is right at the limit of what the SA can take, and only works because I put the Guidescope on the counterweight side.
Unguided, the SA will give you acceptable frames of about 3 min for your camera and the samyang 135 (ca. 3 Pixel drift @6arcsec/pixel) Guided, the SA will perform well for up to 6min at 432mm and 1,8arcsec/pixel) If you want to use the SA with a small Apo, in my opinion guiding is a must. All that said, it's a really nice mount for starting out with lots of potential. You will learn a lot about good Polar alignment and mount balance if you start with this mount because in order to get nice results with it, you have to
Another Option you could keep in mind would be the iOptron CEM25P, for 845 Euros you get a GoTo-mount with a tripod and a low periodic error (I will be upgrading to this mount soon) It's still light and portable, but has some more load capacity (about 6-7kg for astrophotography) But apparently there are some quality control issues with this mount and it's easily damaged by user error, so maybe not the best mount for a beginner.
I hope this helps and I haven't confused you now
Clear skies, Marc
Helpful
Mount and cooled camera preferable mono and you are there.
no marc you have not confused me indeed you have given confirmation of the goodness of my idea to begin. Thank you very much
p.s. i have also zwo asi 120 mc-s colorI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-sI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-sI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-s
p.s. i have also zwo asi 120 mc-s colorI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-sI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-sI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-s
no marc you have not confused me indeed you have given confirmation of the goodness of my idea to begin. Thank you very much
Always glad to help
p.s. i have also zwo asi 120 mc-s colorI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-sI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-sI also have a color zwo asi 120 mc-s
That's great, you can use that as a guidecam (though mono would be ideal), you just need a small and fast guidescope. And a Laptop with PHD2 or some other guiding solution obviously.
My problem is not the budget (which, however, being at the first experience and with experience to do I would not want to go beyond 800 euros (893 us dollar)). My only problem is transport, at the moment I can only move on the terrace of my apartment building. I have an unmodified reflex a canon eos 100D and I had thought of a star adventurer pro with the reflex and a lens for the deepsky or a small apo. A compact setup, highly transportable and at the same time effective (within the setup limits). Currently as setup idea is star adventure, stable tripod, canon 100d and samyang 135. Although my wish is a small and light apo. Thanks!
You found the solution yourself :-)
IMO, the Samyang/Rokinon 135mm F2 UMC is an excellent choice. With an APO, the SA will need guiding (less portability).
I obtained good results with the AZ-GTi mount in spite of being an AltAz mount (Deepsky Stacker compensates pretty well for field rotation).
With the AZ-GTi, you have GoTo which can help find and frame fainter objects, and it is more fun using.
Anyway, regarding APO, I can only recommend what I tried myself. The TS-Apo60f6 (Ø60mm/360mm) with 1x flattener is a fine, economical, light-weight choice. All fits into a DIY shop's aluminum case (except my Vixen SXG-AL130 tripod).
Cheers
Robert
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Hi i,I would highly recommend you start out imageing with a small Apo refractor, 70 to 80 mm, and a small go-to mount such as a Skywatcher eq5 or something similar, and I know everyone has different opinions, but I recommend that you start out with a monochrome camera, it is much easier to learn to calibrate, stack and process mono images than color images, and then you can move onto whatever camera you desire! Because you will have the basics down! Clear skies, Shawn k.
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