I like the difference between your original video on a budget setup and this one. You have really developed as a youtuber. Your presence has evolved hugely, much more upbeat and bright. Really great stuff.
I honestly really like the old picture you took a picture of the horse head nebula. It's got a painting like quality to it and it looks like a metal album cover. It's also cool to see how far you've gone with it in such a short amount of time. This video was super helpful, thanks for taking the time to do it.
First Telescope RedCat 51 with a DSLR Nikon D7500 paired with a ZWO 30mm Guide scope and an ASI290 guide camera. Now completed the setup with a Williams Optics 50mm Guide scope and Starizonia 2" Filter Drawer - Optilong UHC & L-extreme filters (Bortel 8 sky). Will be moving to a Sky-Watcher esprit 100ED Super APO quintet, adding a Nitecrawler WR-30 focuser/rotator and an ASI2400 MC Pro dedicated Astro camera or 2600 with a ZWO 7-position 2" filter wheel. I had to get through the very steep learning curve of APT, PHD2, EQMOD, Stellarium, DSS, DarkTable, GIMP, now N.I.N.A. & possibly SIRIL before stepping up and spending some serious bucks If you don't know what those initials and programs are, don't worry. Just start small, as I did, watch a lot of TH-cam - AstroForums and the like and work your way up - slowly, very slowly
Thanks for sharing your AP experiences and thanks for watching! Yes, I completely agree, AP is more like training for a marathon, it is definitely not a sprint. I hope you'll have a great time with the new (expensive) setup, great choices.
I feel like the SVBONY SV503 really should have made the list, the glass is 51 vs 53 but it's also less than half the cost of anything you have listed and will do 95% as well for the vast majority of people. Not to mention there's a lot or flexibility that comes with it. I'm just always sad to see channels not talking about the entry level stuff that's well worth the money. I love the SVBONY and find some humor in the fact that I'm often using an eyepiece that costs as much as the scope.
When I first became interested in astronomy, I joined a local astronomy society. I bought a pair of 10x50 binoculars and went stargazing with them and had a chance to observe through different telescopes. I bought a used, but well maintained Celestron C8 as my first scope from a fellow member. I agree that a smaller, but excellent APO is a great way to begin astrophotography. My first dedicated AP tube was a Tele Vue-85. It was a doublet, but had amazing optics and delivered lovely images.
Great video sir! I am currently in 11th grade, from a lower middle class family in India. Was always passionate about but never been able to afford a telescope. So a very kind man from Bulgaria gifted me GSO 8" F/4 Imaging Newtonian and Explore Scientific Exos-2 PMC-8 WiFi GoTo Mount! Now I just need to buy a coma corrector, a second hand DSLR (and maybe Optolong l-enhance as I will be modding it myself), a guide scope and a ZWO ASI120MC-S to start astrophotography. Very expensive and not in my parents budget (will have to take a loan) but they want to buy me that. I am very blessed and grateful to the opportunities and help God had provided me.
Nice! Hope others will read this and give you some options so you'll be able to start astrophotography. Bulgaria should have some excellent dark skies.
My first dedicated astrophotograohy telescope was (and I'm still using it) a William Optics GTF81. I bought it used from a buddy who upgraded to a Televue 101 or 127. The great thing about the "old" GTF is, that it has an integrated field flattener, so it saved me a few bucks on the flattener. It cost me 700 EUR iirc and I still think it was a very good deal. It's so good actually, that I wouldn't really call it a beginner's scope. Of course a brand new GT 81 costs some 1,500 EUR so you would probably call it an intermediate scope (and WO don't produce the GTFs anymore ). Still, I would always opt for a good used scope, before buying a new one for the same money, which necesserily will be worse, if the used one is in good condition. In my case it was top-notch. Since there aren't many DSOs that I can't shoot with my WO, I am considering buying a high focal length telescope for planetary imaging. Something with a focal lenght of 2k+ or even 3k+. For now I can use my 1200 fl newton with a 2x barlow, but I'm considering a catadioptric reflector like the SC 279/2800 C11 Celestron. Of course First I have to upgrade my mount, buy another camera, invest in a bigger motorized filter wheel, buy a new set of 2'' filters .... omg this hobby is expensive :D :D :D
I just received my scope , it's a Sky Watcher 72 ed , it's mounted on a Celestron Sky Prodigy go to self aligning mount , ready to rock n roll for my planetary and other near earth images
You can tell that you’re a smart guy by the pullover you are wearing.😊. I am considering buying a Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 130AZ for my first scope, and later maybe a Dobsonian 8-10 inch. I love the idea of using my iPhone’s amazing computational capability to help in locating and viewing stars, but I also know that the more photons the better so therefore a Dobsonian would be a great choice I think. Also for a second scope Classical Cassegrain will likely be something I will be considering. Thanks for all your helpful information!
I didn´t know anything about Telescopes and how they work. I wondered how anyone could take such breathtaking pics with the right equipment. This was Very helpful to understand!
I have an SVBony 80ED and EQM 35. Works great! I have purchased a Bresser Astrograph and an EQR 6 recently. I'm slowly getting to know it better, and used the newtonian to as an excuse to upgrade my mount for a better refractor in the future.
My main scope is a 115mm APO refractor, I just wanted something for terrestrial and easy scope to haul around for visual, I bought a really cheap SVBONY 503 80mm ED doublet US$400, bargain scope, well made. Great scope for price.
Nice analysis. I also started with a 72ED. It was very cheap, had a nice optical quality but it's mechanical construction was poor, especially for the crayford. I ended up neutralising it and adding a helical focuser. There is an other issue with newtonians that is always under estimated and that I want to point out: you have to not only consider the weight of your instrument, but also its moment of inertia. A newtonian is a long tube with heavy weights at its both ends, resulting in a high momentum and a major burden on the mount. On the contrary, refractors and Schmidt Cassegrain have short tubes leading to a lower momentum, less strain on the mount and better tracking. Hence a newtonian may be cheaper but will require a more expansive mount to get decent astrophotography results.
Thanks for watching and your additional info Damien! Yes, you have a good point here. The newtonian, due to its size, is more difficult to balance, and I agree that - in combination with the higher weight - you might end up needing what I call an "intermediate mount" (e.g. EQ6R pro or better) instead of the usual beginner level mounts (AVX, HEQ5 etc.).
I own 4 scopes which I have tried Astro photography with. 1) Omegon ProRC 154 F/8.9. 2) Sky watcher Evostar100ED pro. 3) Celestron NexStar 6” SLT and finally. 4) TS Optics 8” 203/1000 Photon which I have not tried yet as I have just bought this.
@@AstroForumSpace well I have just gotten into Astro photography and I have invested in an Altair Astro GPCam 178c imaging camera which I have used on two scopes. The celestron NexStar 6” and the Skywatcher Evostar. ED which were both great to use. My RC and TS optics scopes I’ve just used the celestron EZ iphone adaptor and a 2” 32mm William optics eyepiece which produced fantastic images of the moon. However to answer your original question I love my celestron scope and Skywatcher which I used to image the sunspots in the last week or so.
They do make APO doublets, it doesn't necessarily mean they are worse than triplets, there are some great doublets specifically built for AP take a look at william optics zenith stars. Do need a field flattener though.
I'm new this year to the hobby and my first and current telescope is the Astro-Tech AT65EDQ Quadruplet and really like the scope and it's FL. I also have an 8" Zhumell Dobsonian telescope that's great to bring out when family visits and very easy to use. Thanks
I feel like any 60-80mm refractor with a doublet or a triplet will do, great entry. Starting with a mirror will mean * a lot* more work, as they sadly need a lot of time to get right, especially the cheaper ones (the ones you'd buy in the beginning I guess). A really good newtonian doesnt really need any work either, but they're very expensive so not really beginner friendly. Diffraction spikes are a win in my book tho, as I think that they're super pretty :D Nice video :-)
@@AstroForumSpace I always find those recommendation videos interesting, despite not really needing any new scopes rn as I already found my two main ones :D. Still always interesting, so thanks for making it :-)
My first dedicated astrophotography telescope was and is an Orion ED80T CF. I am picking up a TS 115 Photoline APO Triplet shortly. Looking forward to a longer focal length.
Gorgeous Heart Nebula shot on the wall behind you. I'm in the process of imaging it as well - fingers crossed / thumbs pressed I end up with something even half as nice. Anyway, many thanks for making these videos. Indeed, here's an internet high-five for you, followed by one of those exploding fist bumps the kids do. I'm doing the explosion sound effect too. Note to self: exploding fist bumps are definitely better in person. Also, I should probably stop doing the explosion sound effect by now.
I live in Florida. Wonderfully long, dark and clear skies during the winter (especially when daylight saving time is off) I have a cheap svbony refractor currently and I am at the stage that I need to update the scope. Here begins the fun
@@AstroForumSpace i have like class 4/5 in my back yard but the best part is the lack of clouds during the winter. Every day in summer it rains in the tropics but during fall and winter virtually no rain and virtually no cloud. I can be polar aligned by 6pm and image all night. Its really ideal for this obsession :))
Thanks for the wonderful video. You should consider publishing your videos in 4K even if your footage is HD. When you demonstrate images, the 4K version will be better. Also, YT *destroys* anything that is uploaded in HD and even the HD stream is better if the original was uploaded in 4K. Keep up the great work. I just subscribed to your channel 👍
A beginner may be tempted by an alt-az goto mount, which are cheaper, but will quickly want an equatorial. Whilst an alt-az will track, you are limited to short exposures and video due to the jerky two-motors motion. Celestron Starsense Autoalign, brilliant device when it is focussed properly, which they are not out of the box. It can take all night focussing it for maximum star hits until you lose the will to live or pass out from too much fortification in the cocoa. But once done right it can align the mount in seconds rather than minutes even on a relatively poor night. Available in Sky-Watcher or Celestron flavours, so if you have bought one you have bought in to that make of mount. Alignment using the red-dot is back-breaking and soul destroying. Reflector collimation cannot be done in the dark outside at night. You need to be able to see the screws and use a laser collimation tool. You need to move the primary and secondary mirrors; Celestron have nice solid thumb screws on the primary, and lock screws. Something to look for on a reflector is a good solid back plate. The secondary won't move unless the centre screw is released, and then the alignments screws are turned but you need to nip the centre screw up each time. It doesn't need to be done often, maybe once per season unless you insist on bashing it. Coma correction is needed when aperture is wider than F/5 but only nice to have at F/5. Do not confuse coma with a jerky alt-az mount causing little tails. Astrophotography needs a camera. A beginner will probably use their digital ILS camera. So we need to think about mounting it on adaptors and back-focuser, getting the obligatory CLS filter in there, and focussing with a Bahtinov mask. Some telescopes and mounts will carry a camera better than others. Weight is a factor, what the mount can handle, sag on the back-focuser. Crop-factor is a factor, back-focus length, and field of view (apparent focal length). Sensor stabilisation works really well to take the buzz out of the mount, if the focal length is set correctly (there's no lens to tell it what to do so trial and error for what works best). Some cameras will do a dark frame subtraction, that works well if you kill most of the noise reduction or it will subtract faint stars.
Hi Jeff, thanks for watching and your very detailed reflection on our wonderful hobby. I have separate videos on my channel for mounts, cameras etc. Always find it challenging to discuss all topics in one video, so very good to see you are adding this info here. Clear skies!
My first dedicated astrophotography telescope was a William Optics Spacecat 51. As a beginner, I wanted more field/backyard time versus having to research into field flattener/reducer. And more importantly, I learned on a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro, so that 250mm focal length was perfect. Zoomed in enough for me to see many nebulae, and not too far in for me to get lost on my manual mount.
Hi Guido, great video (again). I have a televue 100mm F5 (customized focuser with integrated flattener and reducer) that I borrow from a friend. I'll have to give it back some day so I am currently looking at an 100mm APO triple to start with but also contemplating the Sky-Watcher Explorer MN190 as it is more versatile.
Diffraction spikes are sure a matter of taste. I even put fishing line in front of my skywatcher black diamond ED80 so I can have them in wider field photos. For newtonians: I had three of them two 4.5“ ones and now my 8“ f/5. After the first two I swore to myself, I’d never again get a newtonian but the aperture fever kept me using them. Those f/5 newtonians are in the sweet spot. Fast enough for photography and long enough to be multi purpose scopes. Also f/5 is easy enough to collimate.
@@AstroForumSpace I love my newtonian and the diffraction spikes add that HST look. 😉 The weird thing is, I am not the first one to do this and I think I won’t be the last one.
Thank you. I made the "mistake" of buying a Celestron CPC 800 on an AltAz mount to try to do astrophotography. Even though I went to a Southwest Florida Astronomical Society presentation about which telescopes to buy. Thankfully layer that month, someone was selling some of his gear. I picked up an Explore Scientific ED80 CF with a Celestron CGEM II mount.
Good video! I think buy the triplet 80/480 for Update my setup(newton 150/750) but this setup is really expensive and for to have a very nice backfocus i must buy any rings with the flatener 😢 and a filter drawer for my L-Enhance 2".... But I think is really really good setup for replace my Newtonian 😁
Most of my kit is second hand I've got an ED80 Evostar doublet which performs very well that swapped for a Skywatcher 200P a number of years ago, I do also image with 250PX on my AZ EQ6GT & like you say Newtonians can be a pain to set up but when they are they do perform very well.
Ive never done astrophotography, but I think if I start, I will get an acromat and inexpensive dedicated camera just to learn how everything works, the proper procedures and steps to track stars using long exposure, and then after I learn everything, I'll know how to spend money on better optics and cameras. So maybe a decent mount and auto tracker, and a "sub par" camera and optical tube to start out, then replacing those after I learn how to take a picture that can impress someone who doesn't have apo-eyes
Yes, good plan. I used my DSLR camera with a cheap telescope too at first to learn how everything connects and works. You can always upgrade after you've gained more experience.
Did my first try and only try so far with my ES AR127 + unmodded DSLR on M42. Not bad for the first try but yeah....coma.....For now I have no plans to start with AP but I got an Altair Starwave 70ED which I want to try on M31,again with my DSLR.
Great Video! I also have an 8 inch SCT. Its great for planets and small DSO. I want to get into larger DSO. Have you thought about adding a Hyperstar for your C8 verses a dedicated wide field refractor? The cost is comparable to a triplet but it seems more complex / collimation /setup/ etc.? F2 does sound good though.
Hi Anthony, thanks for watching! I've bought a 0.7 reducer with my edge hd and intend to try that out when I'll have some clear skies. Hyperstar is indeed an option to consider if you already own an SCT. Should get very similar views with a bigger aperture.
Nice I'm also for refractor in my opinion you should include "low" cost refractor how SW ED72 and SW ED80 ... personally I have ED72 and ED100 now I wait for SharpStar 61EDPH II but I think for beginners is very good ED72 or ED80 with modificated DRLS how for excample EOS 450D this is cheap solution wher you can learn a lot of also you don't tell about mount wher good mount is very important I think very often beginners make error and buing quite good scope and forgot about mount 😉
Thanks Mariuz, yes, I have separate videos on mounts - which I agree is the most important piece of AP gear :-). I have some bad experiences with achromats, but there may be some good ED doublets out there that are cheaper to buy. Thanks again and clear skies!
For beginners I recommend start taking pictures of the milky way with 24mm f2 lens. Then you can buy canon ef 200mm f/2.8l ii usm or new Radian Raptor 61 f/4.5 Imaging APO Telescope. Portable equipment is the most popular for Astrophotographers. Don’t forget to buy iOptron SkyGuider Pro Camera Mount Full Package. That’s all you need to have a fun.
After 8 years I am still using my first telescope that I bought specifically for astrophotography. It is the Orion 80ED (not the triplet). I might upgrade next year. Your videos in general have been really helpful to know what is out there. Do you have any experience with travel friendly scopes and mounts?
Hi Marvin, thanks! The orion 80ED is already a nice lightweight telescope I think? The sharpstar 61 apo or the 51 Redcat would be even shorter for travel, and perhaps you could combine it with a portable SkyWatcher Sky adventurer pro. Didn't try such a combination myself yet, but I've been tempted to buy this as a travel setup.
@@AstroForumSpace The 80ED is quite light indeed, just not short enough to fit on a backpack. I might go to southeast Asia next year, which means jungles, beaches and (hopefully) dark skies. That is why I am considering travel friendly scopes.The Redcat is one of the options I am looking into, I will check the Sharpstar as well, thanks.
Great video! Explained with a lot of detail and care. I'm looking to get a EQM 35 mount and a Skywatcher 72ED as my first astrophotography gear. What's your opinion on them? Thank you very much!
Hi there, the grear you're mentioning should be enough to get you started in deepsky astrophotography. The max weight of the eqm35 is somewhat limited so you may want to consider a mount with a higher payload capacity, but that also depends on the availability and your budget. Best regards!
Thank you for creating this wonderful video. I have owned very low-end telescopes. The last one was a MEAD refractor with a tracking mount (department store quality). Both the tracking mount and tripod were worthless and fell apart quickly. But I did get a glimpse of Jupiter and the moon. What all around telescope would you recommend for a beginner? A telescope that can do it all, well at least enough to enjoy. To further complicate matters I enjoy photography, so if the telescope tracks (unlike my Mead) I would like to try my hand at taking some simple pictures.
Hi Ciro, one easy way to get into the hobby is doing some planetary/lunar observation and imaging. You could start with a schmidt cassegrain type of telescope (not mentioned here) and an alt-az mount. If you're interested in developing skills for deep-sky astrophotography, I would recommend one of the telescopes in this video - a simple color corrected refractor and a beginner equatorial mount (see my other videos) is a nice, not too complicated way to start.
Another great video, thank you! I am now thinking of putting together my first DSO rig and am definitely aiming for an APO refractor. Looking for something fast enough to frame objects like the Orion Nebula with the Running Man and open cluster above them (a huge object, I know). But it's a hard choice. I really like the designs of scopes like the William Optics Redcat 71 (love the Petzval models) and the Skywatcher Esprite 80 (maybe assisted by a flattener/reducer). But the attachments needed to put robotic focusers on these models seem either pricey or complicated. The money involved isn't as important to me as the difficulties involved with adding robotic focusers to these scopes. I see here and in other videos that you really like the TS 80/480, and maybe a 0.8x reducer/flattener would give me the FOV I'm aiming for with this scope. But it's a hard choice. Might you have any advice about these three alternatives, or other good refractors, that might help me choose? For all the cash I'm going to put into a whole deep sky rig, I hope to be happy with the scope. Thanks for any feedback you might offer.
I'm using a Skywatcher 72ed for the aperture and extra focal length as well as an Askar Fma180 f4.5 sextuplet for well-corrected ultra-wide angle imaging. I really wouldn't recommend a pricey triplet for the majority of beginners. That was an interesting choice, but I guess money is less of an object for some folks.
I like your excellent vids and seen many of them. However imo an APO for a beginner on a budget isn't on target. I would recommend a small mak (90-102mm) for a beginner. Sure, the FOV is much smaller, but you're talking about a $200 ota vs a $1000 one. Once you total up the mount, camera, power tank, eyepieces, filters... oh my.
Right now I have a sony a7r getting modified for full spectrum. First I will use it with my celestron 5se. The dedicated telescope I'm thinking about getting is the redcat 51.
I have a 5se that I've been starting astrophotography with. The main thing I have learned in the few months of starting this hobby is that it has a steep learning curve! My first telescope was the 70mm travel scope
I think it’s not necessary to go for an apo at the beginning.You can get a semi apo or fringe killer filter with a normal refractor and it is almost as good as an apo or Ed glass scope
@@AstroForumSpace www.baader-planetarium.com/en/baader-semi-apo-filter.html. Actually baader has 3 filters which removes Chromatic abberation. Ig all of them cost 99$ or 80€.They are pretty effective.
@@AstroForumSpace Absolutely, really simple to use and very low maintenance, pretty good quality optics and very affordable. And it comes with its own aluminum case.
I echo your views entirely. I spend more time collimating and adjusting my Meade 8" SCT than I do looking at the heavens. Buying a refractor so I don't spend all night adjusting..
14:03 you dont even need to use the focus method, there us the visual method with culimation eyepiece or laser both are cheap and easy to use, wome manufacturers have guides on doing it. Its also not like you have to calibrate every time you go outside either, if you dont bump the scipe too much the mirrors normally stay calibrated. Not like im a vetean either i just got my first reflector. My experience with astrophotography has been with my homemade 131mm refractor, it is a doublet but the chromatic aberration isnt bad enough to bother me, its focal ratio is around 5.4. Chosing a telescope is always going to compromise somewhere, i went with as much aperture as i could but i did sacrifice color accuracy. But the bigger aperture means i dont need to take exposures as long as smaller refractors, and well i can just upgrade my scope later with a triplet set.
Hi, thanks for your video! I am new to Astronomy this year and decided to get into Astrophotography. I was very strongly considering the William Optics Z71 with field flattener and has FPL53 glass. This setup would have cost me right at $700 USD. I came across an Apertura 60EDR kit with included field flattener for about $520 USD. I ordered it from Highpoint Scientific on Monday and received it today! As a total beginner it looks like a great scope. Thanks so much for your videos. Check out the Apertura 60 EDR and let me know your thoughts.
Old sw200p. Didnt intend to take photos but now here i am haha. Im not sure what i would buy next, as of yet ive spent my money on everything else. About time for a new ota. Might consider buying a Sw200pds but feels pretty boring to buy pretty much The same thing. Next upgrade is ota or astro camera.
Perhaps an 80/480mm refractor to get some wider field images, or a nice SCT with a longer focal length to catch the planets and zoom in on smaller galaxies? Don't know what camera you currently have 😉. Clear skies!
@@AstroForumSpace Thank you. Yeah i think a 80mm would be what i would enjoy The most. The Rasa is of interest as well but its way out of what i want to put down at this point, still fairly new to this hobby. Im set to enjoy this winter and I think ill take babybsteps now for a while haha. Nebula and galaxies is what i enjoy looking at the most. Im currently only using an old Nikon d5200 not astro modded. Wish you clear skies as well :D
Hello, is the Quintuplet APO better that the Triplet APO - or can you help with the differences ? Thanks! Great Video, I am seriously thinking of your APO however, I can stretch to a Flatfield APO !
With a triplet you often need a field flattener. With a quadruplet you'll have a flat field without the need to buy an additional flatterer. They are also more expensive.
Interesting, it appears I may have an earlier version of your refractor. Mine is the TS80 but it doesn't have the tube rings. It is an excellent first scope for imaging for me and I still use it. I am making a EQ mount and will try and fit my 12" DOB tube on it.
Then it probably makes sense to go for a celestron astromaster or similar, but the quality of your pictures will be less due to the inferior mount and telescope. Clear skies.
But, I mean, for astrophotography, you need a tracker, because at 500mm you can shoot for max 1 sec... wich is not very long, and noone ever mention that you need to attach your camera to the telescope; what about compatibility with your current camera ??
My first telescope was a Dobsonian. I always wanted to do only astrophotography, but listened to the many advices to start purely visual first. That was a mistake! So I sold the telescope again and bought a Skywatcher EQ6. For the images I use a Sony telephoto lens with 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 that I already had. A real astrophotographer will not like the pictures. But you can recognize the objects and it's a lot of fun. Now I am looking for a telescope in the range ~400mm for about 3000€. Let's see what it will be in the end. Unlike lenses, you can try out telescopes so bad. Any tips?
Hi Ano, sure! I can give you some suggestions. Could you email me on astroforumlive@gmail.com .Where are you based, in the USA, Europe, Asia? I don't think that you'll need to spend 3k for an excellent 400mm scope for ap. You can also check out my blog here. It's a bit long but at the end you'll find some suggestions for food quality scopes at that focal length, cheers! astroforumspace.com/best-affordable-telescope-to-start-astrophotography-in-2021/
Hi, I was drawn to this video( and your video of 2020 😁) because I want to start looking at the sky. One thing I didn't hear you mention is that it is for looking at the sky as well? Is this a video for someone who is starting with astrophotography only? The triple apo for example or is it also for me... Who wants to start with buying a telescope and look, and then slowly evolve to astrophotography?
@@AstroForumSpace ik ga me even verduidelijken in mijn moedertaal want dat Engels gaat me zo goed niet af 😁. Ik wil dus een telescoop kopen om te beginnen met kijken naar de hemel, sterren nebula, clusters , noem maar op ... Maar ik wil door te kijken en bestuderen al gaande weg mijn weg zoeken en leren. Later als de ervaring er is wil ik me zeker en vast toeleggen op astrophotography maar nu wil ik het houden bij het kijken. Zijn de apo refractors (waar je het in de video 2020 over had op het einde) ook geschikt om te kijken of zijn deze dan enkel geschikt voor als je fotografie gaat doen? Het budget op zich maakt me niet zoveel uit. Tot 1000 euro vind ik wel een goede prijs. Frans
I’m seriously considering a Celestron EdgeHD 800 on a CGEM-II mount. I’m looking for a good visual scope and a good imaging scope in one. I don’t want to haul around a heavy weight behemoth. Price is a factor as well. Oh, and I don’t like diffraction spikes. Should I be considering the 9.5” or 11” instead? The price jump is hard to swallow.
Hi Kristen, The EdgeHD 800 is a very nice telescope for both observing and astrophotography. I had exactly the same thoughts, the 9.25" was about 1K more expensive than the 8", so that was a little over the top for me, although I do have the money. If you do spend more, you will get a telescope with a longer focal length and a larger aperture, which basically means you get higher resolution images and you'll have a higher 'zoom' into tinier objects like the planets of our solar system. For astrophotography, I also got a .7" reducer which cost me a few hundred extra, so I stuck with the 8" and I'm happy with it both when doing planetary imaging and deepsky astrophotography. You can always get a better scope, it's all about the price you are willing to pay....Clear skies.
Hi there , I just ordered the $50 astrophotography camera from svbony sv105 to try on my celestron powerseeker. Right now I'm saving up to buy a SVBONY SV503 80 ED to start my astrophotography hobby. My question is , what do you think about the Orion 10149 StarBlast 62mm Compact Travel Refractor Telescope ? Is it also a apo telescope? Ps . Your videos are my favorite to learning about this new subject 😃
Wederom een goede en nuttige uitleg! Dank daarvoor, ik kijk altijd met plezier naar je video's. Ik heb een korte vraag: ik ben sinds kort in het bezit van een Skywatcher EVO72ED. Deze gebruik ik op dit moment nog met mijn SLT mount van Celestron (een EQ mount zit in de planning) :). Naast de Skywatcher gebruik ik ook de flattener van OVL, waar ik mijn DSLR aan heb gekoppeld. So far so good. Echter, na uitlijning, en het maakt niet uit op welk object ik mijn EVO richt, ik kan alleen foto's maken van sterren. Ik zie geen andere objecten. Door de SLT mount kan ik niet al te lang belichten dus dat zou een oorzaak kunnen zijn. Heb je nog tips voor me met deze setup? Bedankt alvast.
Dank je! Mijn advies is: koop een EQ montering :-). Ik weet het, ze zijn duur en lastiger in gebruik dan alt-az monteringen. Maar de deep sky fotos die ik hier in het filmpje laat zijn allen met een sluitertijd van enkele minuten gemaakt, dat is de enige manier om het zwakke licht op te vangen. Dus dan heb je daarbij een montering nodig die voor meerdere minuten zo accuraat mogelijk de objecten kan volgen. Ik heb en ander video-tje gemaakt over EQ monteringen, misschien handig - als je mijn nederengelse accent kunt verdragen tenminste :-): th-cam.com/video/HbdS3ouwwNs/w-d-xo.html
@@AstroForumSpace Dank voor je reply, die video had ik al bekeken. Ik moet inderdaad toch maar richting een EQ montering. Mocht je nog 2ehands ergens weten te liggen, ik houd me aanbevolen :-)
@@AstroForumSpace Ik ken te-les-koop. Ik zou graag wat advies van je. Ik kan kiezen tussen een CGEM (2ehands) en een nieuwe Skywatcher HEQ5Pro. Welke heeft jouw voorkeur?
i am a little bit confused between TS Optics Photoline 80mm f/6 FPL53 triplet & 90mm f/6 FPL 55 triplet . I have a 5" refractor. Now i want a wide field. Which do u recommend for imaging purpose? does FPL 53 and FPL 55 differ a lot ? will 90 mm give a noticeable difference in image than 80 mm? the 90mm is 300 euro more than 80mm. Is the price worth it ? Please help me.
Hi there, there is not a lot of difference between the two... The 90mm is also an F/6 - so you're dealing with a focal length of 540mm as compared to 480mm. The 90mm telescope will give you a bit extra 'zoom', so if you are looking for a wide field setup you may want to choose the 80mm which gives you a wider field of view. With your ASI533, you'll have between 1.4 and 1.6 arc seconds per pixel, which is actually quite good to get nice, round stars without any over- or undersampling. Both FPL-53 and 55 glass is good, I don't think you'll notice a real world difference in the quality of your pictures. In the end, if you want to go for a wider field setup, I would go for the 80/480mm bit.ly/2WH3Jrb. Good luck!
what accessories do I need to connect a Full Frame Nikon DSLR to the TS Optics Photoline 80mm f/6 besides the field flattener? Do I need a rotator? I'm considering buying it with the TS adjustable flattener. I'm also torn between that (TLAPO804) and TSCFAPO80, could you gime any advice? Thanks
Could you please tell me all of the accessories you use with the TS photoline 80? I am getting very confused with all of the extenders, adapters, flattners, and different size threads and i really don't want to waste money. thanks ❤❤
I've been trying to buy one for going on 2 years now but like you say, I don't want to buy something i'm not happy with because although i'd love to reach out to deep space, i'd love to be able to view the planets also. I'm thinking about a reflector but brand and size, I just know nothing about. I would like a goto or computerized mount because of one of my disabilities, it's hard for me to hold anything still for long or even adjust it without shaking it all out of view. Any advice will be so appreciated. Thanks guys. Stay safe and God bless.
Hi there Mike, I have separate videos and blogs on telescopes, mounts and cameras. Check out my website astroforumspace.com where I have a separate secton on "getting started" where you can find most of my info and thoughts. In general, I would recommend you to start with a focal length of about 500mm or below, because that affords you to buy a telescope with some tracking error like the SW HEQ5 or the Celestron AVX. When starting out you could use your DSLR to first get the hang of setting up and finding/tracking objects. You can always upgrade down the road. If you're interested in my "road" into astrophotography, you can find my video where I discuss how expensive it is to get into astrophotography where I show you all the stuff I have bought over the past few years. Good luck!
Hi Guido, Thanks for the video. I consider myself a beginner to the hobby and am actually considering a refractor for its ease of use. The Explore scientific ed80 comes in essential and standard flavor. The difference, next to a significant price difference, is the type of glass that is used, respectvely: FCD-1 and FCD-100. Do you have any information in terms of quality?
Thanks for watching! The FCD-100 glass should give you a better, color calibrated image of DSO's as compared to the FCD-1 glass. I know people who have bought the ES80 APO with FCD-100 and they are pretty exited about their results. However, I don't know people that have the FCD-1 glass - it might be good as well...
Hi!!!, great video. I wanted to ask you some things. Which is better for deep sky photography, an 80ED F6 apochromatic telescope or a 102 ED F7 apochromatic telescope? I also wanted to know if you knew the Maxvision brand telescopes. thanks
Is the 102 a doublet or triplet refractor? I think both are fine. The 102 has longer focal length and bigger aperture which is useful to capture smaller dso's. The 80mm gives you a wider FoV, great for capturing bigger nebulas, and the f/ratio is lower so you'll be able to collect light faster.
Just had a birthday and my wife bought me a telescope. I didn't expect it, I've always tried to get a good pic of the moon, with varying results on different cameras, I'm by no means a pro. Anyway, she bought a Slokey 50080 skyways, which apparently is very popular in Spain?? (No idea) I'm in the UK. Anyway, it looks like Meade and Celestron 80mm scopes, it's a refractor, think it cost about £270 new. Scope: 80mm / 500mm Lenses: Barlow 3x, 6mm, 10mm and a 25mm I don't have a camera, looking to get a 2nd hand one on eBay, 1100d is about £80-£100. Wasn't able to get close to Mars, moon was ok but I lacked a lot of definition in the shots I took I used my phone to take the shots via the holder, OnePlus 8 pro (high end phone with decent features) Sort of losing heart a bit as I cannot for the life of me find any info on Slokey online, I just want to know if it's a decent enough scope and that we haven't been ripped off. I haven't got a clue..also what cameras are cheap but good enough for shooting some deep space, planets etc?? Cheers and thanks for the vid
Hi Paul, I'm not familiar with that brand (Slokey) unfortunately. I recently made a video about dedicated AP cameras, perhaps useful: th-cam.com/video/kNL12mCbbm8/w-d-xo.html I also have a website with several blogs on how to start astrphotography, you can find it here if you're interested: www.astroforumspace.com Hope this helps, thanks for watching!
@@AstroForumSpace cheers buddy, no I'm in the same boat. Theres a tonne of reviews on their own website, but yes you're right there are very few anywhere on the web (I've looked) Luckily it appears to be very similar to an ST80 so the basics are the same as that. The tube seems to have been darkened with a matte black paint, the lens screw under the cover I cannot undo I think they glued this , I was going to darken the lens edges to avoid reflections. I'll check out your videos, I've got my eye on an 1100d and 600d amongst others.. Also sods law the weather here in London is awesome as usual, overcast til the 7th. So some time to research and what not. Thanks again
Leuke video 😀 maar ik zit met een vraag. Zou me zo graag willen verdiepen in de astrofotografie, maar vermits ik maar 1 hand heb moet het (noodgedwongen) licht en compact zijn. Mijn bedoeling zit hem eerder naar planeten, de maan en de zon, en occasioneel eens deepsky om te experimenteren. Wat zou jij mij aanraden waar ik naar moet kijken in verband met type telescoop , mounts en dergelijke? For the internationals, sorry but my english isn’t that good. But If you want to follow this question, Google can help to translate 😜🤪.
Hoi Raymond, leuk dat je geïnteresseerd bent! Het is denk ik lastig om een zware telescoop en montering op te bouwen... Ik weet niet hoeveel ervaring je hebt? Je kunt al wat leuke astrofotos maken met een DSLR camera op een statief. Er zijn ook volautomatische telescopen zoals stellina maar die zijn nogal prijzig. Groetjes Wido.
@@AstroForumSpace je doet net of ik gehandicapt ben 😜🤪 (ha ha). Maar ik hou wel eens van een uitdaging. Maar ik heb nog andere video’s van jou bekeken en denk er aan uit te komen. Denk dat het een William Red Cat zal worden met een DSLR van Canon, nu de mount nog. Ofwel een Eq5 goto, oftewel een iOptron. Qua gewicht lijkt voor mij de iOptron het meest geschikte. We komen er wel uit, toch bedankt voor je snelle reactie. Jou video’s zijn echt een aanrader.
Question: did you buy your telescopes in EU or did you ship them from the US ? I am living in a small country in Europe, Montenegro, where there is no interest at all for astrophotography, and it's very hard to get a solution for buying my first telescope and yet to be an affordable deal... Not sure what to do. Thanks! Mladen
Hi, I'm in the Netherlands. We do have some astroshops. I'm also affiliated with: Astroshop (EU): bit.ly/3ijbZVZ They deliver worldwide and they are a good and reliable online shop based in Germany. Cheers.
@@AstroForumSpace Thank you so much for your answer, i will look into this site and your advice is much appreciated! Warm regards from Montenegro! Mladen
Right now I have a William optics Fluorostar 91 APO triplet, a William optics Guidestar 61 APO, A ZWO ASI120 mini and an NEQ6 sitting in my basket ready to order tomorrow 😂 whats your thoughts?
Did you use my link? Haha. But seriously, I think the neq6 maybe a bit of an overkill for that apo triplet, but you'll have a future proof mount. The asi120 mini is good for guiding/planetary but not so much for deepsky. I'm assuming you'll use it for your guidescope. What imaging camera will you use? W/O apo should give you sharp and well colour-corrected stars. Cheers!
@@AstroForumSpace the 120 mini is for guiding and I have an 8@ Newtonian as will so the NEq6 was a no brainier. Had one before but parted company with it! My order arrives tomorrow. Main camera is just my Nikon z50 for now
Hi love your videos nice and explained. I am looking to do astro photography with a canon 250d dslr and i have a celestron astro master 130 scope. However i am saving for a skyWatcher pro and mount. I was wondering if i took the scope off the mount and bought a motor and mounted my dslr intead would that work for tracking ok for now any advice welcome keep up the good work.
Hi Brian, Yes, you could try to use your dslr on a motorized tripod to track the night sky and take longer exposures. There are lots of dedicated star trackers you may want to consider as well. Clear skies!
I’m thinking of getting the Celestron Advanced VX 8” Newtonian for my first astrophotography telescope because my budget is around $1000. Do you think this is a good choice or have any other suggestions?
I've another video where I review the AVX. I like the mount, but I used it with the APO refractors in the video. An 8" newt has a longer focal length and is heavier... This makes tracking and guiding with the AVX more challenging I think. You could consider an ED doublet refractor or a small sized APO instead. They provide a wider field of view and are lighter, which makes it easier for the AVX to accurately track DSO's... Just my thoughts, hope it helps. Clear skies!
Hallo Guido. Thx for all you videos and stuff what you do and did. I just wanted to ask you , do you know Robtics in Holland? i would like to order from him, but i heard that he is sometimes not really fair is. 3 or 4 times he tokk the money from another people and ship nothing. I`ll be very happy when you could say something about him, personally experience with him? Thx for your advices. Cheers have a nice weekend.Attila
Hi, it depends on what you're looking for. The skyquests are great if you want to start off easy and do some observations yourself, with the option to attach a camera for some planetary and moon imaging. If you seriously want to get into astrophotography, you'll need a computerized equatorial mount and a good quality telescope/camera. I have various videos and blogs on getting started with astrophotography, you can find them on my website: astroforumspace.com. Hope this helps!
Great videos! Can you recommend something for someone new to astrophotography who wants to shoot the moon and planets, as well as deep sky objects? Thanks!
I am looking into buying a telescope could you help me out? I’m thinking about buying a “Astronomical Refractor Telescope” is that a good choice or what would be my better option really would appreciate your advice
TS-Optics 94EDPH - FPL-53 Flatfield Apo with 94 mm Aperture f/4.4 wat vind je hiervan? Op basis van de criteria die te geeft zou deze best goed kunnen zijn?
Ik dacht het wel Cornelis. Dit klinkt goed! Een flatfield betekent meestal dat er 4 lenzen inzitten, zodat je geen extra field flattener meer nodig hebt. F4.4 is snel, je krijgt dan wel een wat breder beeld...(396mm). Dat is vooral leuk voor grote nevels en grotere objecten als andromeda of pleiaden (daar zijn er overigens genoeg van hoor).
@@cornelisvanhuizen8069 ja, altijd lastig. Ik ben uiteindelijk voor die 80/480 photoline f/6 gegaan, met een tsflat2 flattener. Bevalt prima. Succes met kiezen.
Hi there, thanks for watching. it's OK, but not great I think. The f/ratio is a bit high (7.5) as compared to other 80mm apo's and you're dealing with a doublet with extra low desperation glass. That should eliminate most (but not all) chromatic aberration. But it's probably cheaper than the triplet APO's in my overview.
I own that one as well as an 8“ newtonian. If you use the ED80 with the dedicated field flattener you‘ll definitely get great pictures. I never had problems with the doublet design but with Micro4/3 or APS-C sized sensors, you’ll need the flattener.
I like the difference between your original video on a budget setup and this one. You have really developed as a youtuber. Your presence has evolved hugely, much more upbeat and bright. Really great stuff.
Thank you! Yes, I'm trying to learn from my first year videos. Got some new audio great as well, great to see you've noticed this!
I honestly really like the old picture you took a picture of the horse head nebula. It's got a painting like quality to it and it looks like a metal album cover. It's also cool to see how far you've gone with it in such a short amount of time. This video was super helpful, thanks for taking the time to do it.
First Telescope RedCat 51 with a DSLR Nikon D7500 paired with a ZWO 30mm Guide scope and an ASI290 guide camera. Now completed the setup with a Williams Optics 50mm Guide scope and Starizonia 2" Filter Drawer - Optilong UHC & L-extreme filters (Bortel 8 sky).
Will be moving to a Sky-Watcher esprit 100ED Super APO quintet, adding a Nitecrawler WR-30 focuser/rotator and an ASI2400 MC Pro dedicated Astro camera or 2600 with a ZWO 7-position 2" filter wheel. I had to get through the very steep learning curve of APT, PHD2, EQMOD, Stellarium, DSS, DarkTable, GIMP, now N.I.N.A. & possibly SIRIL before stepping up and spending some serious bucks
If you don't know what those initials and programs are, don't worry. Just start small, as I did, watch a lot of TH-cam - AstroForums and the like and work your way up - slowly, very slowly
Thanks for sharing your AP experiences and thanks for watching! Yes, I completely agree, AP is more like training for a marathon, it is definitely not a sprint. I hope you'll have a great time with the new (expensive) setup, great choices.
I feel like the SVBONY SV503 really should have made the list, the glass is 51 vs 53 but it's also less than half the cost of anything you have listed and will do 95% as well for the vast majority of people. Not to mention there's a lot or flexibility that comes with it. I'm just always sad to see channels not talking about the entry level stuff that's well worth the money. I love the SVBONY and find some humor in the fact that I'm often using an eyepiece that costs as much as the scope.
When I first became interested in astronomy, I joined a local astronomy society. I bought a pair of 10x50 binoculars and went stargazing with them and had a chance to observe through different telescopes. I bought a used, but well maintained Celestron C8 as my first scope from a fellow member. I agree that a smaller, but excellent APO is a great way to begin astrophotography. My first dedicated AP tube was a Tele Vue-85. It was a doublet, but had amazing optics and delivered lovely images.
Great video sir! I am currently in 11th grade, from a lower middle class family in India. Was always passionate about but never been able to afford a telescope. So a very kind man from Bulgaria gifted me GSO 8" F/4 Imaging Newtonian and Explore Scientific Exos-2 PMC-8 WiFi GoTo Mount! Now I just need to buy a coma corrector, a second hand DSLR (and maybe Optolong l-enhance as I will be modding it myself), a guide scope and a ZWO ASI120MC-S to start astrophotography. Very expensive and not in my parents budget (will have to take a loan) but they want to buy me that. I am very blessed and grateful to the opportunities and help God had provided me.
Nice! Hope others will read this and give you some options so you'll be able to start astrophotography. Bulgaria should have some excellent dark skies.
@@AstroForumSpace Actually I am from India. That person from Bulgaria gifted me that telescope so that I can pursue my hobby.
@@lalitac ah, sorry about that!
@@AstroForumSpace No problem sir! 😄
My first dedicated astrophotograohy telescope was (and I'm still using it) a William Optics GTF81. I bought it used from a buddy who upgraded to a Televue 101 or 127. The great thing about the "old" GTF is, that it has an integrated field flattener, so it saved me a few bucks on the flattener. It cost me 700 EUR iirc and I still think it was a very good deal. It's so good actually, that I wouldn't really call it a beginner's scope. Of course a brand new GT 81 costs some 1,500 EUR so you would probably call it an intermediate scope (and WO don't produce the GTFs anymore ). Still, I would always opt for a good used scope, before buying a new one for the same money, which necesserily will be worse, if the used one is in good condition. In my case it was top-notch.
Since there aren't many DSOs that I can't shoot with my WO, I am considering buying a high focal length telescope for planetary imaging. Something with a focal lenght of 2k+ or even 3k+. For now I can use my 1200 fl newton with a 2x barlow, but I'm considering a catadioptric reflector like the SC 279/2800 C11 Celestron. Of course First I have to upgrade my mount, buy another camera, invest in a bigger motorized filter wheel, buy a new set of 2'' filters .... omg this hobby is expensive :D :D :D
My first dedicated astrophotography telescope, after a long research and with a budget, is a SW Evostar 72ED.
Same here
I just received my scope , it's a Sky Watcher 72 ed , it's mounted on a Celestron Sky Prodigy go to self aligning mount , ready to rock n roll for my planetary and other near earth images
Thank you for the video. I’m looking for a telescope under $500. $1000 is still too much when just starting, so I appreciate this post.
Thank you Kenya. Maybe a nice Newtonian or an ed doublet refractor? And for visual use there are also cheaper options.
Radian Raptor 61 f/4.5 Imaging APO Telescope. $ 999
You can tell that you’re a smart guy by the pullover you are wearing.😊. I am considering buying a Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 130AZ for my first scope, and later maybe a Dobsonian 8-10 inch. I love the idea of using my iPhone’s amazing computational capability to help in locating and viewing stars, but I also know that the more photons the better so therefore a Dobsonian would be a great choice I think. Also for a second scope Classical Cassegrain will likely be something I will be considering. Thanks for all your helpful information!
I didn´t know anything about Telescopes and how they work. I wondered how anyone could take such breathtaking pics with the right equipment. This was Very helpful to understand!
Thanks!
My first (and so far only) tube is a SW Evostar 80ED, and I have to say that it's a great workhorse of a scope for a traveller. :)
I have an SVBony 80ED and EQM 35. Works great!
I have purchased a Bresser Astrograph and an EQR 6 recently.
I'm slowly getting to know it better, and used the newtonian to as an excuse to upgrade my mount for a better refractor in the future.
That's great, have fun Jackson!
My main scope is a 115mm APO refractor, I just wanted something for terrestrial and easy scope to haul around for visual, I bought a really cheap SVBONY 503 80mm ED doublet US$400, bargain scope, well made. Great scope for price.
Nice analysis. I also started with a 72ED. It was very cheap, had a nice optical quality but it's mechanical construction was poor, especially for the crayford. I ended up neutralising it and adding a helical focuser.
There is an other issue with newtonians that is always under estimated and that I want to point out: you have to not only consider the weight of your instrument, but also its moment of inertia. A newtonian is a long tube with heavy weights at its both ends, resulting in a high momentum and a major burden on the mount. On the contrary, refractors and Schmidt Cassegrain have short tubes leading to a lower momentum, less strain on the mount and better tracking. Hence a newtonian may be cheaper but will require a more expansive mount to get decent astrophotography results.
Thanks for watching and your additional info Damien! Yes, you have a good point here. The newtonian, due to its size, is more difficult to balance, and I agree that - in combination with the higher weight - you might end up needing what I call an "intermediate mount" (e.g. EQ6R pro or better) instead of the usual beginner level mounts (AVX, HEQ5 etc.).
I own 4 scopes which I have tried Astro photography with. 1) Omegon ProRC 154 F/8.9. 2) Sky watcher Evostar100ED pro. 3) Celestron NexStar 6” SLT and finally. 4) TS Optics 8” 203/1000 Photon which I have not tried yet as I have just bought this.
Great, which one did you like most? Thanks for watching!
@@AstroForumSpace well I have just gotten into Astro photography and I have invested in an Altair Astro GPCam 178c imaging camera which I have used on two scopes. The celestron NexStar 6” and the Skywatcher Evostar. ED which were both great to use. My RC and TS optics scopes I’ve just used the celestron EZ iphone adaptor and a 2” 32mm William optics eyepiece which produced fantastic images of the moon.
However to answer your original question I love my celestron scope and Skywatcher which I used to image the sunspots in the last week or so.
Thanks for telling me about the importance of triplet APO. I almost bought a doublet...
They do make APO doublets, it doesn't necessarily mean they are worse than triplets, there are some great doublets specifically built for AP take a look at william optics zenith stars. Do need a field flattener though.
You Nailed it:
I love
It when
My wife
Lets me buy astronomy gear
Glad you were able to read the fine print too :-)
Hey dank je! Ik wil dit jaar gaan beginnen met deze hobby en je info helpt me enorm. Super!
Graag gedaan.
I'm new this year to the hobby and my first and current telescope is the Astro-Tech AT65EDQ Quadruplet and really like the scope and it's FL. I also have an 8" Zhumell Dobsonian telescope that's great to bring out when family visits and very easy to use. Thanks
Thanks for watching! Great widefield scope for AP indeed, and the dobsonian is very nice for visual use.
My first telescope is William Optics Zenithstar 61II APO! Before that, I shot astrophotos with my RF70200 F/2.8 and EOS R!
That are some good options to start AP Martin, clear skies!
My first dedicated Telsecope ist TS-Optics Photoline 80 f6 triplet
same as me, I like it a lot. Thanks for watching Alex!
I feel like any 60-80mm refractor with a doublet or a triplet will do, great entry. Starting with a mirror will mean * a lot* more work, as they sadly need a lot of time to get right, especially the cheaper ones (the ones you'd buy in the beginning I guess). A really good newtonian doesnt really need any work either, but they're very expensive so not really beginner friendly. Diffraction spikes are a win in my book tho, as I think that they're super pretty :D Nice video :-)
Yes, diffraction stars... It's how we learn to draw stars in kindergarden, beautiful :-). Thanks for watching!
@@AstroForumSpace I always find those recommendation videos interesting, despite not really needing any new scopes rn as I already found my two main ones :D. Still always interesting, so thanks for making it :-)
@@prnzssLuna Thanks for your kind words! Clear skies.
My first dedicated astrophotography telescope was and is an Orion ED80T CF. I am picking up a TS 115 Photoline APO Triplet shortly. Looking forward to a longer focal length.
That sounds nice, hope you'll have a great time with that new APO, clear skies!
Gorgeous Heart Nebula shot on the wall behind you. I'm in the process of imaging it as well - fingers crossed / thumbs pressed I end up with something even half as nice.
Anyway, many thanks for making these videos. Indeed, here's an internet high-five for you, followed by one of those exploding fist bumps the kids do. I'm doing the explosion sound effect too.
Note to self: exploding fist bumps are definitely better in person. Also, I should probably stop doing the explosion sound effect by now.
I live in Florida. Wonderfully long, dark and clear skies during the winter (especially when daylight saving time is off) I have a cheap svbony refractor currently and I am at the stage that I need to update the scope. Here begins the fun
Wow, seems like a magical place to do astrophotography. Not much like the urban environment I find myself in.
@@AstroForumSpace i have like class 4/5 in my back yard but the best part is the lack of clouds during the winter. Every day in summer it rains in the tropics but during fall and winter virtually no rain and virtually no cloud. I can be polar aligned by 6pm and image all night. Its really ideal for this obsession :))
Thanks for the wonderful video. You should consider publishing your videos in 4K even if your footage is HD. When you demonstrate images, the 4K version will be better. Also, YT *destroys* anything that is uploaded in HD and even the HD stream is better if the original was uploaded in 4K.
Keep up the great work. I just subscribed to your channel 👍
A beginner may be tempted by an alt-az goto mount, which are cheaper, but will quickly want an equatorial. Whilst an alt-az will track, you are limited to short exposures and video due to the jerky two-motors motion.
Celestron Starsense Autoalign, brilliant device when it is focussed properly, which they are not out of the box. It can take all night focussing it for maximum star hits until you lose the will to live or pass out from too much fortification in the cocoa. But once done right it can align the mount in seconds rather than minutes even on a relatively poor night. Available in Sky-Watcher or Celestron flavours, so if you have bought one you have bought in to that make of mount. Alignment using the red-dot is back-breaking and soul destroying.
Reflector collimation cannot be done in the dark outside at night. You need to be able to see the screws and use a laser collimation tool. You need to move the primary and secondary mirrors; Celestron have nice solid thumb screws on the primary, and lock screws. Something to look for on a reflector is a good solid back plate. The secondary won't move unless the centre screw is released, and then the alignments screws are turned but you need to nip the centre screw up each time. It doesn't need to be done often, maybe once per season unless you insist on bashing it.
Coma correction is needed when aperture is wider than F/5 but only nice to have at F/5. Do not confuse coma with a jerky alt-az mount causing little tails.
Astrophotography needs a camera. A beginner will probably use their digital ILS camera. So we need to think about mounting it on adaptors and back-focuser, getting the obligatory CLS filter in there, and focussing with a Bahtinov mask. Some telescopes and mounts will carry a camera better than others. Weight is a factor, what the mount can handle, sag on the back-focuser. Crop-factor is a factor, back-focus length, and field of view (apparent focal length). Sensor stabilisation works really well to take the buzz out of the mount, if the focal length is set correctly (there's no lens to tell it what to do so trial and error for what works best). Some cameras will do a dark frame subtraction, that works well if you kill most of the noise reduction or it will subtract faint stars.
Hi Jeff, thanks for watching and your very detailed reflection on our wonderful hobby. I have separate videos on my channel for mounts, cameras etc. Always find it challenging to discuss all topics in one video, so very good to see you are adding this info here. Clear skies!
My first dedicated astrophotography telescope was a William Optics Spacecat 51. As a beginner, I wanted more field/backyard time versus having to research into field flattener/reducer. And more importantly, I learned on a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro, so that 250mm focal length was perfect. Zoomed in enough for me to see many nebulae, and not too far in for me to get lost on my manual mount.
Nice, that's a great way to start astrophotography. Clear skies!
@@AstroForumSpace thank you. Also, your wonderful videos helped get me started too. Clear skies! 😀
Hi Guido, great video (again). I have a televue 100mm F5 (customized focuser with integrated flattener and reducer) that I borrow from a friend. I'll have to give it back some day so I am currently looking at an 100mm APO triple to start with but also contemplating the Sky-Watcher Explorer MN190 as it is more versatile.
Thanks for this! I’ll consider some of these!
great, thanks for watching!
Diffraction spikes are sure a matter of taste. I even put fishing line in front of my skywatcher black diamond ED80 so I can have them in wider field photos.
For newtonians: I had three of them two 4.5“ ones and now my 8“ f/5. After the first two I swore to myself, I’d never again get a newtonian but the aperture fever kept me using them. Those f/5 newtonians are in the sweet spot. Fast enough for photography and long enough to be multi purpose scopes. Also f/5 is easy enough to collimate.
Hi Michael, thanks. I cannot believe you put fishing lines in front of your skywatcher ED80 :-). But if you like it, go for it!
@@AstroForumSpace I love my newtonian and the diffraction spikes add that HST look. 😉
The weird thing is, I am not the first one to do this and I think I won’t be the last one.
Fantastic, informative video. Thanks so much for creating this.
Thanks for the positive feedback!
Thank you. I made the "mistake" of buying a Celestron CPC 800 on an AltAz mount to try to do astrophotography. Even though I went to a Southwest Florida Astronomical Society presentation about which telescopes to buy. Thankfully layer that month, someone was selling some of his gear. I picked up an Explore Scientific ED80 CF with a Celestron CGEM II mount.
Thanks for sharing your personal story! Hope you're enjoying the new gear. Clear skies!
Thank you. I am especially because of your informative videos as well of the incredible astrophotography community that post helpful hints.
Good video!
I think buy the triplet 80/480 for Update my setup(newton 150/750) but this setup is really expensive and for to have a very nice backfocus i must buy any rings with the flatener 😢 and a filter drawer for my L-Enhance 2".... But I think is really really good setup for replace my Newtonian 😁
Fantastic information, fantastic energy and attitude, brilliant shirt, brilliant accent, love the vid and your channel!! 👍 Subbed 👍
Thank you James and welcome aboard!
Sir, I really like your video content. Very informative. I feel like I am at your house, listening to you. I subscribed.
Thanks! And yes, you're actually in my house as I record my videos at home, lol. Clear skies!
My first dedicated astrophotography telescope, was the WO Red Cat 51.
Great scope to start AP, thanks!
Most of my kit is second hand I've got an ED80 Evostar doublet which performs very well that swapped for a Skywatcher 200P a number of years ago, I do also image with 250PX on my AZ EQ6GT & like you say Newtonians can be a pain to set up but when they are they do perform very well.
just another awesome video. thank you man
Glad you enjoyed it!
Ive never done astrophotography, but I think if I start, I will get an acromat and inexpensive dedicated camera just to learn how everything works, the proper procedures and steps to track stars using long exposure, and then after I learn everything, I'll know how to spend money on better optics and cameras. So maybe a decent mount and auto tracker, and a "sub par" camera and optical tube to start out, then replacing those after I learn how to take a picture that can impress someone who doesn't have apo-eyes
Yes, good plan. I used my DSLR camera with a cheap telescope too at first to learn how everything connects and works. You can always upgrade after you've gained more experience.
Did my first try and only try so far with my ES AR127 + unmodded DSLR on M42. Not bad for the first try but yeah....coma.....For now I have no plans to start with AP but I got an Altair Starwave 70ED which I want to try on M31,again with my DSLR.
Great Video! I also have an 8 inch SCT. Its great for planets and small DSO. I want to get into larger DSO. Have you thought about adding a Hyperstar for your C8 verses a dedicated wide field refractor? The cost is comparable to a triplet but it seems more complex / collimation /setup/ etc.? F2 does sound good though.
Hi Anthony, thanks for watching! I've bought a 0.7 reducer with my edge hd and intend to try that out when I'll have some clear skies. Hyperstar is indeed an option to consider if you already own an SCT. Should get very similar views with a bigger aperture.
Nice I'm also for refractor in my opinion you should include "low" cost refractor how SW ED72 and SW ED80 ... personally I have ED72 and ED100 now I wait for SharpStar 61EDPH II but I think for beginners is very good ED72 or ED80 with modificated DRLS how for excample EOS 450D this is cheap solution wher you can learn a lot of also you don't tell about mount wher good mount is very important I think very often beginners make error and buing quite good scope and forgot about mount 😉
Thanks Mariuz, yes, I have separate videos on mounts - which I agree is the most important piece of AP gear :-). I have some bad experiences with achromats, but there may be some good ED doublets out there that are cheaper to buy. Thanks again and clear skies!
Great helpful video for reseaching for that perfect scope
Thanks Donald!
For beginners I recommend start taking pictures of the milky way with 24mm f2 lens. Then you can buy canon ef 200mm f/2.8l ii usm or new Radian Raptor 61 f/4.5 Imaging APO Telescope. Portable equipment is the most popular for Astrophotographers. Don’t forget to buy iOptron SkyGuider Pro Camera Mount Full Package. That’s all you need to have a fun.
After 8 years I am still using my first telescope that I bought specifically for astrophotography. It is the Orion 80ED (not the triplet). I might upgrade next year. Your videos in general have been really helpful to know what is out there. Do you have any experience with travel friendly scopes and mounts?
Hi Marvin, thanks! The orion 80ED is already a nice lightweight telescope I think? The sharpstar 61 apo or the 51 Redcat would be even shorter for travel, and perhaps you could combine it with a portable SkyWatcher Sky adventurer pro. Didn't try such a combination myself yet, but I've been tempted to buy this as a travel setup.
@@AstroForumSpace The 80ED is quite light indeed, just not short enough to fit on a backpack. I might go to southeast Asia next year, which means jungles, beaches and (hopefully) dark skies. That is why I am considering travel friendly scopes.The Redcat is one of the options I am looking into, I will check the Sharpstar as well, thanks.
Great video! Explained with a lot of detail and care. I'm looking to get a EQM 35 mount and a Skywatcher 72ED as my first astrophotography gear. What's your opinion on them? Thank you very much!
Hi there, the grear you're mentioning should be enough to get you started in deepsky astrophotography. The max weight of the eqm35 is somewhat limited so you may want to consider a mount with a higher payload capacity, but that also depends on the availability and your budget. Best regards!
First dedicated - William Optics Zenithstar 103 APO
Great choice, thanks for watching.
Thank you for creating this wonderful video. I have owned very low-end telescopes. The last one was a MEAD refractor with a tracking mount (department store quality). Both the tracking mount and tripod were worthless and fell apart quickly. But I did get a glimpse of Jupiter and the moon.
What all around telescope would you recommend for a beginner? A telescope that can do it all, well at least enough to enjoy. To further complicate matters I enjoy photography, so if the telescope tracks (unlike my Mead) I would like to try my hand at taking some simple pictures.
Hi Ciro, one easy way to get into the hobby is doing some planetary/lunar observation and imaging. You could start with a schmidt cassegrain type of telescope (not mentioned here) and an alt-az mount. If you're interested in developing skills for deep-sky astrophotography, I would recommend one of the telescopes in this video - a simple color corrected refractor and a beginner equatorial mount (see my other videos) is a nice, not too complicated way to start.
Another great video, thank you! I am now thinking of putting together my first DSO rig and am definitely aiming for an APO refractor. Looking for something fast enough to frame objects like the Orion Nebula with the Running Man and open cluster above them (a huge object, I know). But it's a hard choice. I really like the designs of scopes like the William Optics Redcat 71 (love the Petzval models) and the Skywatcher Esprite 80 (maybe assisted by a flattener/reducer). But the attachments needed to put robotic focusers on these models seem either pricey or complicated. The money involved isn't as important to me as the difficulties involved with adding robotic focusers to these scopes. I see here and in other videos that you really like the TS 80/480, and maybe a 0.8x reducer/flattener would give me the FOV I'm aiming for with this scope. But it's a hard choice. Might you have any advice about these three alternatives, or other good refractors, that might help me choose? For all the cash I'm going to put into a whole deep sky rig, I hope to be happy with the scope. Thanks for any feedback you might offer.
Hi, an 80/480mm apo gives you a big enough field of view to capture all nebulae.
I'm using a Skywatcher 72ed for the aperture and extra focal length as well as an Askar Fma180 f4.5 sextuplet for well-corrected ultra-wide angle imaging.
I really wouldn't recommend a pricey triplet for the majority of beginners. That was an interesting choice, but I guess money is less of an object for some folks.
My first scope which I just purchased a couple of months ago is the William Optics Zenithstar 73 along with the WO 50mm guide scope
I like your excellent vids and seen many of them. However imo an APO for a beginner on a budget isn't on target. I would recommend a small mak (90-102mm) for a beginner. Sure, the FOV is much smaller, but you're talking about a $200 ota vs a $1000 one. Once you total up the mount, camera, power tank, eyepieces, filters... oh my.
Right now I have a sony a7r getting modified for full spectrum. First I will use it with my celestron 5se. The dedicated telescope I'm thinking about getting is the redcat 51.
Nice. The Redcat 51 is a good scope, great for widefield astrophotography.
I have a 5se that I've been starting astrophotography with. The main thing I have learned in the few months of starting this hobby is that it has a steep learning curve! My first telescope was the 70mm travel scope
I think it’s not necessary to go for an apo at the beginning.You can get a semi apo or fringe killer filter with a normal refractor and it is almost as good as an apo or Ed glass scope
Interesting, could you share a link? How much do these filters cost? Thanks.
@@AstroForumSpace www.baader-planetarium.com/en/baader-semi-apo-filter.html. Actually baader has 3 filters which removes Chromatic abberation. Ig all of them cost 99$ or 80€.They are pretty effective.
first dedicated scope was a Skywatcher 200PDS.
I bought last week the Sw Evo 72 Ed...I changed this for my old SW Mak 127 BD.
Nice 👍
My first dedicated astrophotography is an SW Evostar 72ED.
Thanks! Did you like using it as a first telescope?
@@AstroForumSpace Absolutely, really simple to use and very low maintenance, pretty good quality optics and very affordable. And it comes with its own aluminum case.
I echo your views entirely. I spend more time collimating and adjusting my Meade 8" SCT than I do looking at the heavens. Buying a refractor so I don't spend all night adjusting..
Great Video. good Info. I am Starting Deep Sky Astro Later This Year. Thanks For The Info. Merry Christmas In Advance🎁🎄🎉👍🔭
Happy holidays!
14:03 you dont even need to use the focus method, there us the visual method with culimation eyepiece or laser both are cheap and easy to use, wome manufacturers have guides on doing it.
Its also not like you have to calibrate every time you go outside either, if you dont bump the scipe too much the mirrors normally stay calibrated.
Not like im a vetean either i just got my first reflector.
My experience with astrophotography has been with my homemade 131mm refractor, it is a doublet but the chromatic aberration isnt bad enough to bother me, its focal ratio is around 5.4.
Chosing a telescope is always going to compromise somewhere, i went with as much aperture as i could but i did sacrifice color accuracy. But the bigger aperture means i dont need to take exposures as long as smaller refractors, and well i can just upgrade my scope later with a triplet set.
Hi, thanks for your video! I am new to Astronomy this year and decided to get into Astrophotography. I was very strongly considering the William Optics Z71 with field flattener and has FPL53 glass. This setup would have cost me right at $700 USD. I came across an Apertura 60EDR kit with included field flattener for about $520 USD. I ordered it from Highpoint Scientific on Monday and received it today! As a total beginner it looks like a great scope. Thanks so much for your videos. Check out the Apertura 60 EDR and let me know your thoughts.
Sound great! Hope you'll have some clear skies soon to test your new telescope, I'm happy to hear your experiences/thoughts. Clear skies!
@@AstroForumSpace You were talking about a rebel scope at 20:30 minutes. What lens is it?
Old sw200p. Didnt intend to take photos but now here i am haha.
Im not sure what i would buy next, as of yet ive spent my money on everything else. About time for a new ota. Might consider buying a Sw200pds but feels pretty boring to buy pretty much The same thing. Next upgrade is ota or astro camera.
Perhaps an 80/480mm refractor to get some wider field images, or a nice SCT with a longer focal length to catch the planets and zoom in on smaller galaxies? Don't know what camera you currently have 😉. Clear skies!
@@AstroForumSpace Thank you. Yeah i think a 80mm would be what i would enjoy The most. The Rasa is of interest as well but its way out of what i want to put down at this point, still fairly new to this hobby. Im set to enjoy this winter and I think ill take babybsteps now for a while haha. Nebula and galaxies is what i enjoy looking at the most.
Im currently only using an old Nikon d5200 not astro modded.
Wish you clear skies as well :D
Hello, is the Quintuplet APO better that the Triplet APO - or can you help with the differences ? Thanks!
Great Video, I am seriously thinking of your APO however, I can stretch to a Flatfield APO !
With a triplet you often need a field flattener. With a quadruplet you'll have a flat field without the need to buy an additional flatterer. They are also more expensive.
Interesting, it appears I may have an earlier version of your refractor. Mine is the TS80 but it doesn't have the tube rings. It is an excellent first scope for imaging for me and I still use it. I am making a EQ mount and will try and fit my 12" DOB tube on it.
Are you making your own EQ mount? Wow, that's interesting stuff! Thanks for watching and yes, I really like the TS 80 photoline as well.
When your ony 11 and LOVE telescopes and astrophotography and has a budget of around $600
Then it probably makes sense to go for a celestron astromaster or similar, but the quality of your pictures will be less due to the inferior mount and telescope. Clear skies.
But, I mean, for astrophotography, you need a tracker, because at 500mm you can shoot for max 1 sec... wich is not very long, and noone ever mention that you need to attach your camera to the telescope; what about compatibility with your current camera ??
Check: th-cam.com/video/y5D5JyN42SU/w-d-xo.html
@@AstroForumSpace thanks mate
My first telescope was a Dobsonian. I always wanted to do only astrophotography, but listened to the many advices to start purely visual first. That was a mistake!
So I sold the telescope again and bought a Skywatcher EQ6. For the images I use a Sony telephoto lens with 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 that I already had. A real astrophotographer will not like the pictures. But you can recognize the objects and it's a lot of fun.
Now I am looking for a telescope in the range ~400mm for about 3000€. Let's see what it will be in the end. Unlike lenses, you can try out telescopes so bad. Any tips?
Hi Ano, sure! I can give you some suggestions. Could you email me on astroforumlive@gmail.com .Where are you based, in the USA, Europe, Asia? I don't think that you'll need to spend 3k for an excellent 400mm scope for ap. You can also check out my blog here. It's a bit long but at the end you'll find some suggestions for food quality scopes at that focal length, cheers! astroforumspace.com/best-affordable-telescope-to-start-astrophotography-in-2021/
Hi, I was drawn to this video( and your video of 2020 😁) because I want to start looking at the sky. One thing I didn't hear you mention is that it is for looking at the sky as well? Is this a video for someone who is starting with astrophotography only? The triple apo for example or is it also for me... Who wants to start with buying a telescope and look, and then slowly evolve to astrophotography?
Hi Hans, refractors are in essence big telelenses, so yes, they can also be used for daytime photography.
@@AstroForumSpace ik ga me even verduidelijken in mijn moedertaal want dat Engels gaat me zo goed niet af 😁. Ik wil dus een telescoop kopen om te beginnen met kijken naar de hemel, sterren nebula, clusters , noem maar op ...
Maar ik wil door te kijken en bestuderen al gaande weg mijn weg zoeken en leren. Later als de ervaring er is wil ik me zeker en vast toeleggen op astrophotography maar nu wil ik het houden bij het kijken. Zijn de apo refractors (waar je het in de video 2020 over had op het einde) ook geschikt om te kijken of zijn deze dan enkel geschikt voor als je fotografie gaat doen? Het budget op zich maakt me niet zoveel uit. Tot 1000 euro vind ik wel een goede prijs.
Frans
Good Video, I love your Sweatshirt :)
haha, lol.
I’m seriously considering a Celestron EdgeHD 800 on a CGEM-II mount. I’m looking for a good visual scope and a good imaging scope in one. I don’t want to haul around a heavy weight behemoth. Price is a factor as well. Oh, and I don’t like diffraction spikes. Should I be considering the 9.5” or 11” instead? The price jump is hard to swallow.
Hi Kristen, The EdgeHD 800 is a very nice telescope for both observing and astrophotography. I had exactly the same thoughts, the 9.25" was about 1K more expensive than the 8", so that was a little over the top for me, although I do have the money. If you do spend more, you will get a telescope with a longer focal length and a larger aperture, which basically means you get higher resolution images and you'll have a higher 'zoom' into tinier objects like the planets of our solar system. For astrophotography, I also got a .7" reducer which cost me a few hundred extra, so I stuck with the 8" and I'm happy with it both when doing planetary imaging and deepsky astrophotography. You can always get a better scope, it's all about the price you are willing to pay....Clear skies.
Hi there ,
I just ordered the $50 astrophotography camera from svbony sv105 to try on my celestron powerseeker.
Right now I'm saving up to buy a SVBONY SV503 80 ED to start my astrophotography hobby.
My question is , what do you think about the Orion 10149 StarBlast 62mm Compact Travel Refractor Telescope ?
Is it also a apo telescope?
Ps . Your videos are my favorite to learning about this new subject 😃
Hi Mike, we chatted on Instagram, hope my advice helped, clear skies!
First Scope: SW equinox 66ED
Wederom een goede en nuttige uitleg! Dank daarvoor, ik kijk altijd met plezier naar je video's. Ik heb een korte vraag: ik ben sinds kort in het bezit van een Skywatcher EVO72ED. Deze gebruik ik op dit moment nog met mijn SLT mount van Celestron (een EQ mount zit in de planning) :). Naast de Skywatcher gebruik ik ook de flattener van OVL, waar ik mijn DSLR aan heb gekoppeld. So far so good. Echter, na uitlijning, en het maakt niet uit op welk object ik mijn EVO richt, ik kan alleen foto's maken van sterren. Ik zie geen andere objecten. Door de SLT mount kan ik niet al te lang belichten dus dat zou een oorzaak kunnen zijn. Heb je nog tips voor me met deze setup? Bedankt alvast.
Dank je! Mijn advies is: koop een EQ montering :-). Ik weet het, ze zijn duur en lastiger in gebruik dan alt-az monteringen. Maar de deep sky fotos die ik hier in het filmpje laat zijn allen met een sluitertijd van enkele minuten gemaakt, dat is de enige manier om het zwakke licht op te vangen. Dus dan heb je daarbij een montering nodig die voor meerdere minuten zo accuraat mogelijk de objecten kan volgen. Ik heb en ander video-tje gemaakt over EQ monteringen, misschien handig - als je mijn nederengelse accent kunt verdragen tenminste :-): th-cam.com/video/HbdS3ouwwNs/w-d-xo.html
@@AstroForumSpace Dank voor je reply, die video had ik al bekeken. Ik moet inderdaad toch maar richting een EQ montering. Mocht je nog 2ehands ergens weten te liggen, ik houd me aanbevolen :-)
@@uglydude2007 ken je te-les-koop.nl ? Daar komen regelmatig tweede hands monteringen voorbij.
@@AstroForumSpace Ik ken te-les-koop. Ik zou graag wat advies van je. Ik kan kiezen tussen een CGEM (2ehands) en een nieuwe Skywatcher HEQ5Pro. Welke heeft jouw voorkeur?
i am a little bit confused between TS Optics Photoline 80mm f/6 FPL53 triplet & 90mm f/6 FPL 55 triplet . I have a 5" refractor. Now i want a wide field. Which do u recommend for imaging purpose? does FPL 53 and FPL 55 differ a lot ? will 90 mm give a noticeable difference in image than 80 mm? the 90mm is 300 euro more than 80mm. Is the price worth it ? Please help me.
Hi there, there is not a lot of difference between the two... The 90mm is also an F/6 - so you're dealing with a focal length of 540mm as compared to 480mm. The 90mm telescope will give you a bit extra 'zoom', so if you are looking for a wide field setup you may want to choose the 80mm which gives you a wider field of view. With your ASI533, you'll have between 1.4 and 1.6 arc seconds per pixel, which is actually quite good to get nice, round stars without any over- or undersampling. Both FPL-53 and 55 glass is good, I don't think you'll notice a real world difference in the quality of your pictures. In the end, if you want to go for a wider field setup, I would go for the 80/480mm bit.ly/2WH3Jrb. Good luck!
what accessories do I need to connect a Full Frame Nikon DSLR to the TS Optics Photoline 80mm f/6 besides the field flattener? Do I need a rotator? I'm considering buying it with the TS adjustable flattener. I'm also torn between that (TLAPO804) and TSCFAPO80, could you gime any advice? Thanks
I've bought the tsflat2, no reducer :-). You can rotate manually when you start out. You'll need a T2 ring to connect your DSLR. Have fun!
Thinking of buying the Malkin Carson 35-78x76mm Newtonian Reflector Telescope. What do you think?
It's very cheap, don't know the brand. Don't expect too much...
Great video
Could you please tell me all of the accessories you use with the TS photoline 80? I am getting very confused with all of the extenders, adapters, flattners, and different size threads and i really don't want to waste money.
thanks ❤❤
Oof,I haven't used my 80mm apo in quite some time did you figure this out? I could check for you..
I have a used Evostar 100 ED ... what’s your opinion for AstroPics? I also have the Evoguide 50 which is beautiful to look thru ...
It's an f/9 ED so perhaps a bit slow to capture those deep sky photons, but I see there's a reducer available.
I've been trying to buy one for going on 2 years now but like you say, I don't want to buy something i'm not happy with because although i'd love to reach out to deep space, i'd love to be able to view the planets also. I'm thinking about a reflector but brand and size, I just know nothing about. I would like a goto or computerized mount because of one of my disabilities, it's hard for me to hold anything still for long or even adjust it without shaking it all out of view. Any advice will be so appreciated. Thanks guys. Stay safe and God bless.
Hi there Mike, I have separate videos and blogs on telescopes, mounts and cameras. Check out my website astroforumspace.com where I have a separate secton on "getting started" where you can find most of my info and thoughts. In general, I would recommend you to start with a focal length of about 500mm or below, because that affords you to buy a telescope with some tracking error like the SW HEQ5 or the Celestron AVX. When starting out you could use your DSLR to first get the hang of setting up and finding/tracking objects. You can always upgrade down the road. If you're interested in my "road" into astrophotography, you can find my video where I discuss how expensive it is to get into astrophotography where I show you all the stuff I have bought over the past few years. Good luck!
Hi Guido,
Thanks for the video. I consider myself a beginner to the hobby and am actually considering a refractor for its ease of use. The Explore scientific ed80 comes in essential and standard flavor. The difference, next to a significant price difference, is the type of glass that is used, respectvely: FCD-1 and FCD-100. Do you have any information in terms of quality?
Thanks for watching! The FCD-100 glass should give you a better, color calibrated image of DSO's as compared to the FCD-1 glass. I know people who have bought the ES80 APO with FCD-100 and they are pretty exited about their results. However, I don't know people that have the FCD-1 glass - it might be good as well...
Hi!!!, great video. I wanted to ask you some things. Which is better for deep sky photography, an 80ED F6 apochromatic telescope or a 102 ED F7 apochromatic telescope? I also wanted to know if you knew the Maxvision brand telescopes. thanks
Is the 102 a doublet or triplet refractor? I think both are fine. The 102 has longer focal length and bigger aperture which is useful to capture smaller dso's. The 80mm gives you a wider FoV, great for capturing bigger nebulas, and the f/ratio is lower so you'll be able to collect light faster.
@AstroForum yes, both are a triplet refractor. Do you know maxvision telescopes?
@@clla3393 nope
@@AstroForumSpace thanks!
Just had a birthday and my wife bought me a telescope.
I didn't expect it, I've always tried to get a good pic of the moon, with varying results on different cameras, I'm by no means a pro.
Anyway, she bought a Slokey 50080 skyways, which apparently is very popular in Spain?? (No idea) I'm in the UK.
Anyway, it looks like Meade and Celestron 80mm scopes, it's a refractor, think it cost about £270 new.
Scope: 80mm / 500mm
Lenses: Barlow 3x, 6mm, 10mm and a 25mm
I don't have a camera, looking to get a 2nd hand one on eBay, 1100d is about £80-£100.
Wasn't able to get close to Mars, moon was ok but I lacked a lot of definition in the shots I took
I used my phone to take the shots via the holder, OnePlus 8 pro (high end phone with decent features)
Sort of losing heart a bit as I cannot for the life of me find any info on Slokey online, I just want to know if it's a decent enough scope and that we haven't been ripped off.
I haven't got a clue..also what cameras are cheap but good enough for shooting some deep space, planets etc??
Cheers and thanks for the vid
Hi Paul, I'm not familiar with that brand (Slokey) unfortunately. I recently made a video about dedicated AP cameras, perhaps useful: th-cam.com/video/kNL12mCbbm8/w-d-xo.html
I also have a website with several blogs on how to start astrphotography, you can find it here if you're interested: www.astroforumspace.com
Hope this helps, thanks for watching!
@@AstroForumSpace cheers buddy, no I'm in the same boat. Theres a tonne of reviews on their own website, but yes you're right there are very few anywhere on the web (I've looked)
Luckily it appears to be very similar to an ST80 so the basics are the same as that.
The tube seems to have been darkened with a matte black paint, the lens screw under the cover I cannot undo I think they glued this , I was going to darken the lens edges to avoid reflections.
I'll check out your videos, I've got my eye on an 1100d and 600d amongst others..
Also sods law the weather here in London is awesome as usual, overcast til the 7th. So some time to research and what not.
Thanks again
@@AstroForumSpace subscribed btw..nice one
Leuke video 😀 maar ik zit met een vraag. Zou me zo graag willen verdiepen in de astrofotografie, maar vermits ik maar 1 hand heb moet het (noodgedwongen) licht en compact zijn. Mijn bedoeling zit hem eerder naar planeten, de maan en de zon, en occasioneel eens deepsky om te experimenteren. Wat zou jij mij aanraden waar ik naar moet kijken in verband met type telescoop , mounts en dergelijke? For the internationals, sorry but my english isn’t that good. But If you want to follow this question, Google can help to translate 😜🤪.
Hoi Raymond, leuk dat je geïnteresseerd bent! Het is denk ik lastig om een zware telescoop en montering op te bouwen... Ik weet niet hoeveel ervaring je hebt? Je kunt al wat leuke astrofotos maken met een DSLR camera op een statief. Er zijn ook volautomatische telescopen zoals stellina maar die zijn nogal prijzig. Groetjes Wido.
@@AstroForumSpace je doet net of ik gehandicapt ben 😜🤪 (ha ha). Maar ik hou wel eens van een uitdaging. Maar ik heb nog andere video’s van jou bekeken en denk er aan uit te komen. Denk dat het een William Red Cat zal worden met een DSLR van Canon, nu de mount nog. Ofwel een Eq5 goto, oftewel een iOptron. Qua gewicht lijkt voor mij de iOptron het meest geschikte. We komen er wel uit, toch bedankt voor je snelle reactie. Jou video’s zijn echt een aanrader.
Question: did you buy your telescopes in EU or did you ship them from the US ? I am living in a small country in Europe, Montenegro, where there is no interest at all for astrophotography, and it's very hard to get a solution for buying my first telescope and yet to be an affordable deal... Not sure what to do.
Thanks!
Mladen
Hi, I'm in the Netherlands. We do have some astroshops. I'm also affiliated with: Astroshop (EU): bit.ly/3ijbZVZ
They deliver worldwide and they are a good and reliable online shop based in Germany. Cheers.
@@AstroForumSpace Thank you so much for your answer, i will look into this site and your advice is much appreciated!
Warm regards from Montenegro!
Mladen
@@dropincentarjuventas6811 you're welcome!
Right now I have a William optics Fluorostar 91 APO triplet, a William optics Guidestar 61 APO, A ZWO ASI120 mini and an NEQ6 sitting in my basket ready to order tomorrow 😂 whats your thoughts?
Did you use my link? Haha. But seriously, I think the neq6 maybe a bit of an overkill for that apo triplet, but you'll have a future proof mount. The asi120 mini is good for guiding/planetary but not so much for deepsky. I'm assuming you'll use it for your guidescope. What imaging camera will you use? W/O apo should give you sharp and well colour-corrected stars. Cheers!
@@AstroForumSpace the 120 mini is for guiding and I have an 8@ Newtonian as will so the NEq6 was a no brainier. Had one before but parted company with it! My order arrives tomorrow. Main camera is just my Nikon z50 for now
@@rickygraham7946 Great, have fun, let me know how it works out!
@@AstroForumSpace no sleep tonight and the forecast for the next 5 days is shocking 🤣 plenty to set up tho!
@@rickygraham7946 go for it 👍
I want a cheap, easy to use light bucket.
Hi love your videos nice and explained. I am looking to do astro photography with a canon 250d dslr and i have a celestron astro master 130 scope. However i am saving for a skyWatcher pro and mount. I was wondering if i took the scope off the mount and bought a motor and mounted my dslr intead would that work for tracking ok for now any advice welcome keep up the good work.
Hi Brian, Yes, you could try to use your dslr on a motorized tripod to track the night sky and take longer exposures. There are lots of dedicated star trackers you may want to consider as well. Clear skies!
I’m thinking of getting the Celestron Advanced VX 8” Newtonian for my first astrophotography telescope because my budget is around $1000. Do you think this is a good choice or have any other suggestions?
I've another video where I review the AVX. I like the mount, but I used it with the APO refractors in the video. An 8" newt has a longer focal length and is heavier... This makes tracking and guiding with the AVX more challenging I think. You could consider an ED doublet refractor or a small sized APO instead. They provide a wider field of view and are lighter, which makes it easier for the AVX to accurately track DSO's... Just my thoughts, hope it helps. Clear skies!
@@AstroForumSpace thank you 👌🏻
Hallo Guido. Thx for all you videos and stuff what you do and did. I just wanted to ask you , do you know Robtics in Holland? i would like to order from him, but i heard that he is sometimes not really fair is. 3 or 4 times he tokk the money from another people and ship nothing. I`ll be very happy when you could say something about him, personally experience with him? Thx for your advices. Cheers have a nice weekend.Attila
Hi there. My AVX and Eq6r-pro are both from robotics, and some smaller AP gear. I always got what I ordered.
Can u please talk about orion skuquest xt and xti and is it worth it for me to buy the xti as a beginner
Hi, it depends on what you're looking for. The skyquests are great if you want to start off easy and do some observations yourself, with the option to attach a camera for some planetary and moon imaging. If you seriously want to get into astrophotography, you'll need a computerized equatorial mount and a good quality telescope/camera. I have various videos and blogs on getting started with astrophotography, you can find them on my website: astroforumspace.com. Hope this helps!
I have the 70mm national geographic telescope im 12 years old idk what telescope to buy.
Nice, did you look at the moon and planets?
Great videos! Can you recommend something for someone new to astrophotography who wants to shoot the moon and planets, as well as deep sky objects? Thanks!
You're going to want to pick which you want to shoot. Planatery and DSO have different needs.
I am looking into buying a telescope could you help me out? I’m thinking about buying a “Astronomical Refractor Telescope” is that a good choice or what would be my better option really would appreciate your advice
Hi Derek, yes of course. But did you watch this video where I've experienced how a refractor works and which ones I recommend?
can you do a review on the apertura refractors?
Hi there, missed this message. I don't have an apertura telescope 😉
TS-Optics 94EDPH - FPL-53 Flatfield Apo with 94 mm Aperture f/4.4 wat vind je hiervan? Op basis van de criteria die te geeft zou deze best goed kunnen zijn?
Ik dacht het wel Cornelis. Dit klinkt goed! Een flatfield betekent meestal dat er 4 lenzen inzitten, zodat je geen extra field flattener meer nodig hebt. F4.4 is snel, je krijgt dan wel een wat breder beeld...(396mm). Dat is vooral leuk voor grote nevels en grotere objecten als andromeda of pleiaden (daar zijn er overigens genoeg van hoor).
@@AstroForumSpace twijfel toch een beetje over TS optics zie wel wat problemen voorbij komen in fora. Hmm.. :) keuzes...
@@cornelisvanhuizen8069 ja, altijd lastig. Ik ben uiteindelijk voor die 80/480 photoline f/6 gegaan, met een tsflat2 flattener. Bevalt prima. Succes met kiezen.
I'm thinking to buy a skywatcher black diamond 80ed refractor to start with.what is your opinion;
Hi there, thanks for watching. it's OK, but not great I think. The f/ratio is a bit high (7.5) as compared to other 80mm apo's and you're dealing with a doublet with extra low desperation glass. That should eliminate most (but not all) chromatic aberration. But it's probably cheaper than the triplet APO's in my overview.
I own that one as well as an 8“ newtonian. If you use the ED80 with the dedicated field flattener you‘ll definitely get great pictures. I never had problems with the doublet design but with Micro4/3 or APS-C sized sensors, you’ll need the flattener.