Getting Started in Astrophotography – Is My Setup Good Enough?

You can do it but just be ready for a steep learning curve. The scope you’ve picked is nice but I’m not sure I would recommend a fast Newtonian as a beginners astrophotography telescope. You’ll find it much easer if you start with a small ED or APO refractor in the 60 to 70mm aperture range.

If you’re going to buy a camera for astrophotography only I wouldn’t go with a DSLR. For the same amount of money you could get a cooled, dedicated astrophotography camera like a ZWO 533 or 585.

A GoTo mount is a must but don’t go cheap or small. This is really the most important part of your rig and where most of your money should be spent.

You’ll also need a computer to run everything and the related software for imaging and processing. If you already have a laptop then you can use that. If not then a small, fanless unit like a Mele4c would work great. You could also look at the ASIAIR for running everything although that will limit your choices of hardware.

Good luck!

Good Evening,

It’s possible this rig will work, but you will likely get frustrated very quickly. You can take good photos with a DSLR and a tripod. In fact, it would arguably be easier to get good photos starting out that way than with the setup you’re looking at. I’m going to answer your questions and give you some options for a lower hassle setup.

Your Questions

A lot of people start out trying to find a telescope that is going to do everything. There’s nothing wrong with that, I was guilty of it myself, but expectations and reality are two very different things.

A helpful way to look at astrophotography is that there are really three types:

• Wide-field (landscapes / Milky Way)

• Deep-sky (nebulae / galaxies)

• Solar system (planets and the Moon)

You can almost consider planets and the Moon their own categories. The processing is similar, but planets typically require a much wider field of view to get satisfactory images. The Moon is more forgiving. You can shoot it with almost anything, but if you want to zoom in on the surface, you need more focal length.

The scope you’re looking at

The scope you’re looking at actually isn’t the worst jack-of-all-trades option.

If you’re under low light pollution skies, you could throw a Barlow on it and get an image of Jupiter or Saturn and their moons. But honestly, 750mm focal length is a little too short for that job. Planets will be very small, even with a 4x–5x Barlow, and those are probably unrealistic anyway. Realistically, a 2x Barlow is your limit, and that’s just enough to see Saturn’s rings.

With a Sony APS-C sensor, planets will be incredibly small and you’ll have to crop significantly.

For the Moon, you can absolutely get satisfying images. You’ll deal with some chromatic aberration, but you can still get nice results with the Moon taking up most of the frame. The downside is you’re pretty boxed into one framing, and the Moon gets boring fast, at least for me. I shoot mine with a Canon 200–800mm lens so I can change things up.

For deep-sky, there are a lot of targets that fit nicely at 750mm on a crop sensor. This can work, but the camera, mount, and optics will hold you back.

And just to say it, this will not work for wide-field unless you hate yourself and love mosaics.

If your goal is to produce images like what you see on AstroBin today, this is not a great place to start. If you haven’t bought the equipment yet, I wouldn’t for the purposes you described.

The equipment you mentioned

Sony A6400
This camera has an IR cut filter, which you don’t want for deep-sky. It’s also missing a lot of quality-of-life features you get with a dedicated astro camera.

Sky-Watcher Explorer 150EQ3
This is a tough scope to start on. You’ll need to collimate; it’s a visual scope, and it’s older. So, you’ll likely run into adapter issues, potential vignetting, and other quirks when using a visual scope for imaging. The focal length is also a bit unforgiving for a beginner.

OnStep GoTo Mount
Admittedly, I had to look this one up, and it looks interesting. I almost want one just to try it. DIY is possible, but it might be a frustrating place to start. The mount is the most important part of your setup, and this is not where you want to compromise. You cannot take long exposures without a solid mount.

You also didn’t mention how you plan to control the system, which is another important piece.

Questions

• What is the light pollution like where you live?

• Would you consider focusing just on deep-sky to start?

• Do you already own any of this equipment?

Recommendations

I don’t know your budget, but there are better ways to get into astrophotography on a budget. I would honestly recommend a smart scope over the setup you’re considering.

Smart Scope Options

• ZWO Seestar S50 / S30

• Dwarf Mini

These are the most affordable and lowest-friction ways to start.

Affordable, low-hassle rig

If you have more budget and want something more traditional, I would lean into the ZWO ecosystem. People hate on it, but it’s easily the simplest way to get started.

Below is a travel rig I use. It’s not perfect, but it’s relatively painless:

• Camera: ZWO ASI585MC AIR

• Mount: ZWO AM3N

• Tripod: ZWO TC40

• OTA: Askar SQA55

• Filters (not necessary at first): Optolong L-Symmetry, L-Ultimate, Baader LP

You could save money on the mount with something like a Star Adventurer GTi, but I’ll be honest, I hated that thing. It almost made me quit astrophotography, even though it can work. The ML-33 is also an intriguing new option to hit the market.

Final thoughts

Astrophotography is a very rewarding craft and I’m on this train for life, so I don’t want to discourage you. But I do think anyone jumping into this deserves some honesty.

This is a rabbit hole, and an expensive one. I didn’t even mention processing, which is where a lot of the real work happens after you make your first decision on a rig.

I sincerely hope you find something that works for you, and we see you on here posting your images soon. Just be warned, it gets deep quick.

Chuck Korenic · Mar 27, 2026, 11:17 PM

Astrophotography is a very rewarding craft and I’m on this train for life, so I don’t want to discourage you. But I do think anyone jumping into this deserves some honesty.

True enough, though honestly, I’m glad I jumped into it blind. If I had known……. : )

Cheers,
Scott

Have gone through all the above posts and most of the suggestions given are very valid. Would like to add a couple of my experiences which I also learnt the hard way

1. I also had initially Skywatcher EQ3 GOTO, which was good for simple Planetary and Lunar imaging but for DSO’s as the exposure durations goes up, the tracking in EQ3 was an issue due to backlash and overall guiding accuracy. Somebody had warned me that for DSO Photography one thing which should not be compromised is the Mount. EQ3 is a basic mount and hence I upgraded myself to ZWO AM5N

2. I have a Newtonian Skywatcher 150P which I use for visual astronomy mainly but for photography I have moved to a Refractor type and currently have a Askar SQA 55 for my imaging. Anywhere between 250-350 mm Refractor should be good for entry level

3. Sony A6400 is a good choice as it has a APS-C sensor, however at some stage please consider moving to dedicated Cooled Astro cameras as it improves the quality of images greatly. I currently have a ZWO ASI 533 MC and ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro. Both are OSC which I find convenient.

4. DSO imaging will require some form of guiding either a OAG or a Guide scope. In my view a simple 50-60 mm guide scope with a simple mono guide camera works best for initial purposes.

Apart from this you need to have a stable Pier or a Tripod to ensure full stability in your imaging process. Other accessories like Broad/Narrowband Filters, Controllers like NINA, ASI Air or StellaVita etc. To start with the processing softwares in Open Source like Siril, GIMP, Graxpert etc work fine

Hope this helps and wishing you clear skies and happy imaging !!

Scott Badger · Mar 28, 2026 at 10:16 AM

Aloke Palsikar · Mar 28, 2026, 05:40 AM

1. DSO imaging will require some form of guiding either a OAG or a Guide scope. In my view a simple 50-60 mm guide scope with a simple mono guide camera works best for initial purposes.

Wouldn’t short exposure imaging be a valid way to get started without guiding? When I started, I was doing 2 min subs without guiding, which I wouldn’t recommend (tossed about 50%), 1 min or less would have been a lot better. In any case, keeps it simpler to start at least, and backlash in a less than ideal mount won’t matter.

Cheers,

Scott

Yes it will help if the mount is good . Skywatcher EQ3 is a basic and entry level mount and may not be suitable for 1-2 min exposures without guiding. Never tried it and hence cannot confirm