I have a large telescope and a normal up and down tripod mount, I still have freedom of turning the telescope and changing to the orientation as much as I want, but do I still need an EQ mount for Astrophotography?
Are EQ (Equatorial) Mounts Completely Necessary For Astrophotography?
It depends on many factors like target, focal length, camera, and other things. ALT-AZ mounts are somewhat limited in exposure duration for most targets other than planetary. Star trails can become a real issue after 15-30 seconds. Stacking many short exposures can help, but it's still limited.
I use EQ mounts for virtually everything I do, including wide field Milky Way shots. When I am shooting DSO targets, I tend to use exposures of 2-10 minutes.
I use EQ mounts for virtually everything I do, including wide field Milky Way shots. When I am shooting DSO targets, I tend to use exposures of 2-10 minutes.
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The problem is that the sky rotates in a way that’s really tough to replicate without an eq mount. You could take ultra wide field with say a 14mm f2.8. Lots of people also like the samyang 135 f2, but I’m not sure if they use it on a star tracker.
Taking high magnification videos (lucky imaging) of the moon or planets would be doable without an eq mount due to the fact they are so bright.
Taking high magnification videos (lucky imaging) of the moon or planets would be doable without an eq mount due to the fact they are so bright.
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