Telescopes - DPChallenge Forums

05/25/2005 02:37:17 AM · #1

I was looking to buy my first telescope. I'm looking for something inexpensive but not a piece of junk. I have narrowed it down to these two

Meade 114EQ

Celestron firstscope 114

I would like to use this scope for basic astrophotography also. Anyone have any suggestions on a scope?

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

05/25/2005 11:22:12 AM · #2

Anyone?

theSaj

Canon EOS-20D

05/25/2005 11:27:09 AM · #3

I am curious what telescopes are compatible with Canon EOS system and how one would go about mounting them?

colda

Nikon D800

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

05/25/2005 11:27:31 AM · #4

Why not a Nikon 2000mm f11?

:)

colda

Nikon D800

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

05/25/2005 11:31:40 AM · #5

....oh and before some Canonite shouts out, yeah we know about this one :)

gwphoto

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

05/25/2005 11:35:53 AM · #6

Try this one
//www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=14904&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=3&iSubCat=109&iProductID=14904

The one you are asking about has a very smapp objective mirror and will not gather enough light to see very much. If all your interested is the Mood, then thats different, but if you are thinking about photographing deep sky objects, you want the largest mirror you can afford with a motor drive. I would suggest that you check around your area and look for an Astronomy Club. They will gladly let you look thru their scopes. In fact many clubs have public nights where they show the locals the wonders of the night sky.

rox_rox

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

05/25/2005 11:38:39 AM · #7

My husband is an amateur astronomer. He has taken some amazing pictures through his telescope using a webcam and Registax. (I'll post some later)

If you want more info. email me, or go to this website:
//cloudynights.com/

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

05/25/2005 12:14:19 PM · #8

I was thinking about the meade or the celestron because of the price. I wasn't sure about what I would be photographing. I'd probably be taking shots of the moon for now. I don't want to spend a lot of money and find that I got bored with the scope.

hyperfocal

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS

05/25/2005 01:20:48 PM · #9

Check out Orion telescopea @ telescope.com. You will be buying stright from the manafacturer so the price to performance ratio for any given model will be higher than other brands.

strangeghost

Canon EOS-7D

05/25/2005 01:31:40 PM · #10

The Meade and Celestron 114mm scopes you referenced are both basically the same instrument. While it will be a fine visual scope (beginner level) it will be largely useless from any serious standpoint for astrophotography. Make sure you really know what you want to do/accomplish with a scope before you invest any money. I've got to run now but will be happy to talk this through with you some more later. PM me and I'll watch this thread too.

ElGordo

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon

05/25/2005 01:38:48 PM · #11

Celestial photography is all about signal to noise ratio. For a great s/n ratio a fast optical system is required, preferably f/5.6 or faster. The majority of astro telescopes offered today are f/10 or slower, but still can provide a decent quality image. The key is to have an equatorial mount with a clock drive to track the celestial objects. Large and nearby planets do not require much exposure time so a tracking mount is not necessary for planet photography (neptune, uranus, and pluto excepted). Stunning deep sky photographs can be obtained using the standard lenses that are supplied for your camera, but the clock driven equatorial mount is essential in order to integrate the light for a sufficient time to provide a good s/n ratio. Today's 6-8 megapixel cameras afford the photographer excellent low noise performance and an image scale that can easily be cropped for show pertinent details. Get a tracking mount!!!

ParadigmShift

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

05/25/2005 01:45:45 PM · #12

I am somewhat spoiled when it comes to Astronomy, because I had the pleasure of doing professional research for a while in that field, so take my advice with a grain of salt, since what I consider a "decent" telescope is out-of-whack with most people's expectations. That being said, if there was one suggestion I would have to give you, it would be to switch from manual mounts to motorized ones. And once you do that, definitely go with a Celestron mount.

The reason for that suggestion is that very quickly you'll get tired of taking shots of the moon, and the next thing usually are the Messier objects, and the planets of our solar systems (Saturn is very popular, because of the "cool" rings). However, in order to get good shots for these kind of objects, you really need to do relatively long exposures, and with a manual mount, you can't really do that, because the object will move (actually, Earth will move, but you get my point). With a motorized mount the telescope will automatically "follow" the object as the earth rotates and the object moves across the sky. The reason why I am suggesting a Celestron mount, is because from my personal experience, they are "smoother" in tracking, which will result in much better images.

The other thing you may want to think about is whether or not you really want to go with a Newtonian. But I suspect even the cheapest Cassegrain is much more expensive, so maybe that's not really an option.