Suggestions and help for my first equipment

As a setup isn't very good for visual astronomy, at all. A lot will also depends on your local light pollution. In other words how dark is your sky. For visual astronomy a 6"/8" dobsonian would be a wise choice. I'd limit the AP part to a tracker mount and camera/lenses and see how it goes.

andrea tasselli:
As a setup isn't very good for visual astronomy, at all. A lot will also depends on your local light pollution. In other words how dark is your sky. For visual astronomy a 6"/8" dobsonian would be a wise choice. I'd limit the AP part to a tracker mount and camera/lenses and see how it goes.

Thanks for the input! The main use would be in a 20.64 mag./arc sec² (Bortle class 4) sky at 691 m elevation. I'll wait for more replies, but I guess that you're right and the 72ED is not a great option for visual astronomy. It's probably the best that I stick to camera lenses and we buy a different telescope.

Based on my own experience I support the suggestion to start AP with a tracker + camera + lens. In general I would warn against cheap goto mounts. You may find yourself poking around in the sky without finding anything.

In terms of managing expectations I would recommend to watch this video: 5 Unrealistic Expectations of Beginning Amateur Astronomers! - YouTube

You may get in touch with the Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA) - AstroBin channel. I assume a lot of the members there have experience with visual astronomy and may give you further advice.

Clear skies
Wolfgang

Will evostar cover the full frame d800? I think you would need a redcat, or sharpstar 61 edph with the corrector. Buying used via astromart or astro classified is the best way to budget imo

I'm checking a Spanish online store and I have found the Sky-Watcher 150/750 PDS + EQM-35 Pro Goto + Tripod for 1022€.

I used to have a 150PDS on an EQ5 mount with tracking motors, and it was a struggle. Not only was the mount not quite stable enough for decent tracking - but I found the constant rotating of the tube inside the tube rings to gain access to the eyepiece drove me mad, as quite often it would knock collimation out. You might also find that what you can actually see using a newtonian can be quite underwhelming using anything under 8 inches aperture. Be sure to adjust your expectations; you wont peer into the eyepiece and see much more than white fuzzy blobs.

Also, your original idea of mounting a 72ED on a Star Adventurer is very optimistic - especially for a beginner. I use a Sigma EX 100-300 lens on my SA. Its 1.4kg and 220mm long, and I feel its right on the edge of what the mount can handle.

I stated out exactly like yourself. In the end I downscaled and just bought a star adventurer with the Sigma lens and focused on imaging only - and been having a blast. I bought everything used, including a Canon 700D for around £800.

Dobsonians are the way to go. Easy to use and cheap to buy in larger aperture. In Bortle 4 sky you shouldn't have an issue in finding objects, at least the brighter ones. And you learn your way around the sky which comes useful with the star tracker too. As an additional bonus you get something else to do while imaging.

For astrophotography with a star tracker and a photo camera I recommend the videos of Peter Zelinka: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFjVGpn5mPk

They are well understandable for beginners. I have also made my first steps with it. 
Have fun!

1. I think you could go a bit longer than 4 mm on the eyepiece if you are looking for stunning views.
Many scopes for visual observations comes with two medium quality EP:s that often works well to start with.

2. If you are going for the 72ED you will need extention that gives you enough backfocus for your Nikon (and a matching T-adapter).
I do not know if the item in your picture gives you that but the seller should be able to help you with that.
An (more expensive) alternative is to add a flattner (as you want one sooner or later).

3. It is often hard to find a good solution that works well for both visual and astrophotography.
As your budget is limited  you could start with something for just visual observations.
Personally I have a dedicated small table top Dobson (300 euro new) for visual as my AP-rigg isn't suited for looking thru.
A larger 8 inch Dobson will costs you from 500 euro (a used one will be cheaper).

The AP part could be solved by your list (but w/o diagonal and eyepiece if you also bought a "visual" scope).

But if you want to work with smaller DSO-objects you will need to upgrade to an EQ-mount (with goto as it helps).
And I think the "cheapest" good goto-EQ-mount right now still is HEQ5 but only that will cost you around 1300 euro today.
Maybe EQM-35 (900 euro) is an alternative if you limit the load.
The EQ3 pro (and EQ5 pro) are cheaper but they often do not track as well, but then again with the 72ED they can give some nice results.

The 72ED may be a good scope on that for AP but not visual.
An alternative to the 72ED could be 130PDS that may be used for some visual observations as well.
The 150PDS is heavier and I should try using it för AP on EQM-35 (but works for visual).
( I am often using my 150PDS for AP but then even the HEQ5 isn't optimal if you are living in a windy area ;) )

3b. For DSO AP you sooner or later want to add some sort of guiding.
I recommend a small achromatic refractor (<100euro) and a simple but good guide camera like ASI120MM-mini (200euro).
For longer focal length off axis guider is better but that often demands a better guide camera.

Michael Ring:
I would recommend that you have a look at the AZ-GTI Head plus a Skywatcher Wedge plus the extra Skywatcher Weight. 

The reason is that the Star Adventurer does not support Goto functionality which will make your life a lot harder.
Me and a friend started with a Star Adventurer but lost too many valuable imaging hours by trying to find our targets in the Sky and failing miserably. This can be a very frustrating experience for a beginner that can drive you away from the photography part of the hobby. 

The AZ GTI Head is in the configuration written above only a little more expensive but offers Goto and with a firmware update you can use it in equatorial mode like a real mount
It is still as transportable as the Star Adventurer but you will always enjoy taking it to a dark site once you have licked blood and have upgraded to a ‚real‘ mount because you can set it up as easy as your real mount.
The StarAdventurer will be a lot more painfull to set up for anything above a 200mm lens because finding your target is not that easy with a long focal length.


Michael

I explicitly advise against this solution. Nothing made my start into the hobby more frustrating than the inaccurate Goto functionality of my AZ-GTI. Maybe I was unlucky to get a bad copy but I just couldn't get it going in a robust way. I'm actually at least as accurate to focus on a target manually with my iOptron SkyGuider than with my AZ GTI Goto Mount. It's certainly usable with an automated setup like an ASIAIR when the computer takes over the Goto functionality and provides the corresponding corrections by platesolving. But that just adds an additional level of complexity.

Go for the tracker StarAdventurer or SkyGuider and learn the sky - it's the easiest way to get started. Then take it from there step by step.

Clear skies
Wolfgang

M P Michael:

Michael Ring:
The reason is that the Star Adventurer does not support Goto functionality which will make your life a lot harder.
Me and a friend started with a Star Adventurer but lost too many valuable imaging hours by trying to find our targets in the Sky and failing miserably. This can be a very frustrating experience for a beginner that can drive you away from the photography part of the hobby.

Am I the only one who enjoys the hunt?

Fills me with a great sense of satisfaction and pride when I find and frame my target well. Having said that, I use a 100-300mm zoom lens which makes it easier. I always start out at 100mm and take some high ISO 15-30 second shots - then zoom into my target. I would agree that the process would be horrible if I had a 300mm prime and had to find my targets using that.

I use the same method. In addition I investigate the target area in Stellarium in advance for typical star patterns and take some screenshots which I then compare to the image at hand - sort of platesolving by eye ...

Of course as a beginner inevitably mistakes will happen. I once spent 5h photographing the seagull nebula with only the head in the image and the body chopped off, oh well ...

Clear skies
Wolfgang

I use the same method. In addition I investigate the target area in Stellarium in advance for typical star patterns and take some screenshots which I then compare to the image at hand - sort of platesolving by eye ...

Yup - thats me exactly. Stellarium mobile is always with me when im in the garden. I've gotten so good at finding specific targets because I took the time to learn manually. A couple of nights ago, I managed to get the Pinwheel galaxy right in the middle of my frame on first attempt without using Stallarium at all. Its so satisfying when the sky starts to become so familiar.

I have been looking at the Sky-Watcher 8" Classic Dobsonian (440€). 203 mm diameter, 1200 mm focal length, and it comes with two eyepieces (10 mm and 25 mm). Do you think it is a good option?

Skywatcher dobs are great value for money. You wont find much better for the price. And 8" is just the right size to give you satisfying results. Be prepared for some initial frustration with collimation - but after a while it becomes second nature and can be done in a few minutes. Also, as a beginner, you could do a lot worse than picking up a zoom eyepiece such as the Celestron 8-24. Makes the experience really fun as you don't have to keep switching eyepieces whenever you want to zoom in or out.

Thank you for all your replies! I appreciate it a lot. I have just bought the Star Adventurer for playing with my DSLR and try to get photos of easy subjects. My brother is still interested in a telescope for visual astronomy, though. I have been looking at the Sky-Watcher 8" Classic Dobsonian (440€). 203 mm diameter, 1200 mm focal length, and it comes with two eyepieces (10 mm and 25 mm). Do you think it is a good option?

You were right.
Visual and astrophoto require different rigs and you would have been rapidly frustrated with a one-size-fits-all setup.
IMHO, visual is rapidly boring because you can't see that much, except  planets which are always fascinating. But don't tell your brother ;)

The star adventurer is a very good start. And you can easily bring it with you during holidays.

You can expect some difficulties with 
- polar alignment (which one is Polaris in my finder??). If you have a smartphone, I recommend you to spend the few euros it costs to buy PS Align Pro. You put your smartphone as firmly as possible next to your SA and you can do most of your polar alignment even before the night. You then just need to fine tune it. It saved me a lot of time.
- finding targets. Start with wide fields. And with targets that are close to bright stars. And buy a laser pointer (I got the Svbony Red Dot Sight but any will do). You'll have to install it during daylight, and adjust it correctly so that the red dot matches the center of your image. Then during the night you will be able to find targets by star-hopping.
- dew. Winter month are the best to take pictures since the noise due to heat is reduced. Then a dew heater + a small power bank will be very useful.

Have fun and clear dark skies!