Help in deciding the next step (purchase) for astrophotography.

Canon EOS 1200D / Rebel T5 / Kiss X79 Acquisition Beginner Buying Advice Deep Sky
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Jair Rillo avatar
Jair Rillo avatar
Hi all,I'm new to the world of astrophotography, but I'm already able to take some deep-sky photos. I've been using the following equipment:
  • Skywatcher 130/650
  • Canon 1200D astro-modified
  • Exos-2 (EQ5) with Onstep
  • Sv165 guide-scope with sv305pro guide camera

Now, I am looking to upgrade my equipment step by step. In this case, I am unsure what the next step should be: Should I replace the telescope with a smaller refractor, like the Askar FRA-300, or should I go for a dedicated camera, such as the ASI533MC Pro?My question is exactly this: What is more worthwhile now? What would add more value as the next upgrade step?Thank you for the tips

ps: I do not have coma corrector in the telescope and I am not going to buy one.
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V avatar
V avatar
Jair Rillo:
Hi all,I'm new to the world of astrophotography, but I'm already able to take some deep-sky photos. I've been using the following equipment:
  • Skywatcher 130/650
  • Canon 1200D astro-modified
  • Exos-2 (EQ5) with Onstep
  • Sv165 guide-scope with sv305pro guide camera

Now, I am looking to upgrade my equipment step by step. In this case, I am unsure what the next step should be: Should I replace the telescope with a smaller refractor, like the Askar FRA-300, or should I go for a dedicated camera, such as the ASI533MC Pro?My question is exactly this: What is more worthwhile now? What would add more value as the next upgrade step?Thank you for the tips

ps: I do not have coma corrector in the telescope and I am not going to buy one.

Me personally, I'd just save the money, become really good at the rig you have right now, then when ready, sell the stuff you have, and buy a whole new setup around a new mount.

Honestly if you had to get a new scope on that rig, I'd get a 6" RC and dabble around with some smaller objects.
andrea tasselli avatar
andrea tasselli avatar
Jair Rillo:
Hi all,I'm new to the world of astrophotography, but I'm already able to take some deep-sky photos. I've been using the following equipment:
  • Skywatcher 130/650
  • Canon 1200D astro-modified
  • Exos-2 (EQ5) with Onstep
  • Sv165 guide-scope with sv305pro guide camera

Now, I am looking to upgrade my equipment step by step. In this case, I am unsure what the next step should be: Should I replace the telescope with a smaller refractor, like the Askar FRA-300, or should I go for a dedicated camera, such as the ASI533MC Pro?My question is exactly this: What is more worthwhile now? What would add more value as the next upgrade step?Thank you for the tips

ps: I do not have coma corrector in the telescope and I am not going to buy one.

Get that coma corrector and  a 533MC-based camera and you'll be done with.
Jair Rillo avatar
Jair Rillo avatar
Jair Rillo:
Hi all,I'm new to the world of astrophotography, but I'm already able to take some deep-sky photos. I've been using the following equipment:
  • Skywatcher 130/650
  • Canon 1200D astro-modified
  • Exos-2 (EQ5) with Onstep
  • Sv165 guide-scope with sv305pro guide camera

Now, I am looking to upgrade my equipment step by step. In this case, I am unsure what the next step should be: Should I replace the telescope with a smaller refractor, like the Askar FRA-300, or should I go for a dedicated camera, such as the ASI533MC Pro?My question is exactly this: What is more worthwhile now? What would add more value as the next upgrade step?Thank you for the tips

ps: I do not have coma corrector in the telescope and I am not going to buy one.

Me personally, I'd just save the money, become really good at the rig you have right now, then when ready, sell the stuff you have, and buy a whole new setup around a new mount.

Honestly if you had to get a new scope on that rig, I'd get a 6" RC and dabble around with some smaller objects.

The current ring is really good for my setup, so I will keep it, at least for now.The dilemma between getting a new scope or a new camera is due to the price (they are similar) and also because the new scope would be lighter.

I checked the 6" RC, and it's actually a bit cheaper, which is an advantage. However, it seems much heavier and the focal length is quite long, at least for the objects I'm currently focused on (nebulae).

To be honest, in the future (after building a good setup for nebulae), I will spend money on a new setup for galaxies (EQ6-PRO + C8 Edge HD).
Observatório Astrográfico do Boqueirão avatar
Observatório Astrográfico do Boqueirão avatar
Personally I would upgrade now for a cooled camera (stabilizing the temperature and do calibration library in this hobby saves a lot of time and money), the ASI533MC Pro seems a good choice! Go for it.
After the camera, you really need a coma corrector, maybe before even the camera. But after those two, upgrade the mount! Go for a NEQ6 or a better an EQ6-R (if you go with a mount you don't really need to look back in a few large years). I would not go to an Harmonic Mount just yet. Give them a more few years.

This is my sugestions. I own also a EXOS-2 with personalized Onstep and Hypertunned by myself. And the last 8 months I used an ASI533MC Pro. Trust me, that sensor is worth it!

Regards,

Cesar
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Maxim avatar
Maxim avatar
I came to the conclusion that the mount always needs to get upgraded first. Almost any combination of scope + camera gives you food for imaging for at least 1-2 years, but the mount always restricts the further upgrades. Get a AM5, people image on it from samyang 135 to RC 10. If on budget, then yeah, good old heavy Eq6-r pro is a way to go. But also take a look at cheap harmonic mounts from aliexpress, there are good reviews already and the price matches the one of the eq-6r.
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Jon Rista avatar
Jon Rista avatar
Do you image under light polluted skies, or dark skies? I ask, because under light polluted skies, a new camera is going to offer minimal benefits, in which case I would agree with Maxim that a better mount would offer more. Light pollution is the great equalizer…it effectively normalizes camera capabilities, making the only real meaningful difference sensor size. So if you are imaging in an Orange, Red or White bortle zone, I'd stick with what you have and try to get a better mount. If you image under Green, Blue or Gray/Black skies, a better camera could offer a lot of benefits. Yellow zone could go either way, depends on just how much LP you really have. 

One thing that can make imaging under light polluted skies a bit easier is mono, as you could then use an L filter. Ironically, I don't necessarily think L offers that much benefit under dark skies, but under light polluted skies they suck down so much light in any given unit of time, that they can be a great way to overcome the additional noise from LP. So there is that one potential benefit you might get from moving to mono+LRGB under Orange, Red, Pink or White zones.
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Observatório Astrográfico do Boqueirão avatar
Observatório Astrográfico do Boqueirão avatar
Maxim:
I came to the conclusion that the mount always needs to get upgraded first. Almost any combination of scope + camera gives you food for imaging for at least 1-2 years, but the mount always restricts the further upgrades. Get a AM5, people image on it from samyang 135 to RC 10. If on budget, then yeah, good old heavy Eq6-r pro is a way to go. But also take a look at cheap harmonic mounts from aliexpress, there are good reviews already and the price matches the one of the eq-6r.

I would totally agree on the mount been a top priority in this hobby. Honest and trust me that if I know what I know now, that would be what I should do 6 years ago. Ir would saved me a lot of money! But I think Jair can manage for a while with that EXOS-2 + Onstep. I know because I own one and with a good polar alignment I'm pulling up to 7kgs on photographic payload a total RMS of 0.45", sometimes even lower. In the other day I lower things to 0.29" total, and I have friends with harmonic mounts that are with worst results than mine. Around 0.55" up to 0.70".

My sugestions would go now for a cooled sensor which they are also more light than a DSLR, and then a mount upgrade. The coma corrector would also be a important and center piece.

This is my vision of things. But it's not my money.

Regards to all,

Cesar
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Jair Rillo avatar
Jair Rillo avatar
Jon Rista:
Do you image under light polluted skies, or dark skies? I ask, because under light polluted skies, a new camera is going to offer minimal benefits, in which case I would agree with Maxim that a better mount would offer more. Light pollution is the great equalizer...it effectively normalizes camera capabilities, making the only real meaningful difference sensor size. So if you are imaging in an Orange, Red or White bortle zone, I'd stick with what you have and try to get a better mount. If you image under Green, Blue or Gray/Black skies, a better camera could offer a lot of benefits. Yellow zone could go either way, depends on just how much LP you really have. 

One thing that can make imaging under light polluted skies a bit easier is mono, as you could then use an L filter. Ironically, I don't necessarily think L offers that much benefit under dark skies, but under light polluted skies they suck down so much light in any given unit of time, that they can be a great way to overcome the additional noise from LP. So there is that one potential benefit you might get from moving to mono+LRGB under Orange, Red, Pink or White zones.

I'm Bortle 6-7 right now.

About the mount, I really agree with all of you, but I am not going to upgrade my mount right now. To be honest, my ring is handling my setup very well with a total payload of 5kg. I will upgrade my ring in the future when I switch to a heavier scope. Also, a mono camera is an option, but for the future as well . I need to play (learn) with a cooled color camera first.

My current budget is about USD 800 (I am in Brazil, so the taxes here are insane, but I'll be traveling to the US soon and I can bring back the scope or the camera with this budget).

thanks
Jens avatar
Jens avatar
I had a basic rig with my skywatcher star adventurer gti, canon 600D modified and a zenithstar 61 scope. I upgraded my Camera to the 2600mc pro and my god what a difference that made. I felt like all the photos I took before the upgrade were just for training and now the real astrophotography starts. I would go for the camera  and maybe some good narrow dual narrowband filters or go straight to a mono. I can deal with the mount that I have and I still use it even though it's cheap and I've got a bigger one now. just my two cents coming from a similar place smile
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Marko avatar
Marko avatar
Jair Rillo:
Should I replace the telescope with a smaller refractor, like the Askar FRA-300, or should I go for a dedicated camera, such as the ASI533MC Pro?

Hi,
I am also new to this hobby, so I can only tell you from my limited experience. To me it seems, that in this hobby you always want something better and if you buy it, you basically buy someting completely new. I started cheap with a DSLR, a Star Adventurer without GOTO, a wobbly tripod and quickly got frustrated by the limitations and the effort of aligning and ended up using this no more for a few years. This is why I decided to now spend more money to get a bigger mount, a cooled camera right away instead of an uncooled one, for example. In the long run, I hope that I saved money this way by getting what I will end up with anyway. Works fine for me so far, I am happy with my ASI533MC pro and the AM5 mount. Of course I want a ASI2600 now or even a ASI6200, but I will save this for when I decide to start with a mono camera and have a bigger second telescope.
Long story short: I would suggest that you consider what you might want in the future and think about getting it right away if you can and want to afford it.
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Jon Rista avatar
Jon Rista avatar
Jair Rillo:
Jon Rista:
Do you image under light polluted skies, or dark skies? I ask, because under light polluted skies, a new camera is going to offer minimal benefits, in which case I would agree with Maxim that a better mount would offer more. Light pollution is the great equalizer...it effectively normalizes camera capabilities, making the only real meaningful difference sensor size. So if you are imaging in an Orange, Red or White bortle zone, I'd stick with what you have and try to get a better mount. If you image under Green, Blue or Gray/Black skies, a better camera could offer a lot of benefits. Yellow zone could go either way, depends on just how much LP you really have. 

One thing that can make imaging under light polluted skies a bit easier is mono, as you could then use an L filter. Ironically, I don't necessarily think L offers that much benefit under dark skies, but under light polluted skies they suck down so much light in any given unit of time, that they can be a great way to overcome the additional noise from LP. So there is that one potential benefit you might get from moving to mono+LRGB under Orange, Red, Pink or White zones.

I'm Bortle 6-7 right now.

About the mount, I really agree with all of you, but I am not going to upgrade my mount right now. To be honest, my ring is handling my setup very well with a total payload of 5kg. I will upgrade my ring in the future when I switch to a heavier scope. Also, a mono camera is an option, but for the future as well . I need to play (learn) with a cooled color camera first.

My current budget is about USD 800 (I am in Brazil, so the taxes here are insane, but I'll be traveling to the US soon and I can bring back the scope or the camera with this budget).

thanks

Regulated cooling would certainly be a big improvement. That is probably the biggest benefit of moving from DSLR to a dedicated astro camera. I missed that previously, and it'll offer benefits under any kind of skies. Simply because it makes calibration viable.
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Eric Gagne avatar
Eric Gagne avatar
I quickly moved from dslr to cooled camera.  I saw to big advantages, much less noise to deal with but the he biggest for me is being able to create a darks library which increases your acquisition time at every session.
Jair Rillo avatar
Jair Rillo avatar
Thank you all for your opinions.I've decided to acquire the cooled camera instead of the new scope.Thank you.
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