On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 04:52:55 GMT, wrote:

Hi all,
I'm new to all this but I want to look into buying something to get started.
I hope you all can give me a few suggestions to get started. I'm willing to
spend the time to learn something a bit complicated rather then buying
something that I'll want to upgrade or trade in a year.

Here is what I have to work with...
* Spending around $2,500.
* Somewhat portable, just enough to drive out the country for nice viewings.
* Clear crisp pictures using my Olympus digital 5050z camera. I took two
months choosing this camera becasue I wanted the best underwater pictures
for the price, so I might as well try to use it for this. Not trying to brag
but I do like nice pictures
http://www.robert-e-morgan.com/cayma...older=bestpics
* Hookup for my PC or laptop to view or control movement.
* I want to see as many things as I can but I think deep space is best for
my picture taking.

Any suggestions appreciated!
Thanks



I don't think your camera is suitable for taking deepsky pictures.
You need to be able to expose for a long period of time, at least
five minutes and show little electronic noise in the pictures to be
able to do this. Your camera (like my Olympus C-3040) is limited
to 16 second long exposures and will have considerable electronic
noise in shots that long, it looks like little coloured speckles.

This is why people are now primarily buying Canon digital SLRs
(long exposure and low noise capability)or dedicated astronomical CCD
cameras.

However, you will be able to take good pictures of the Moon, planets,
etc.

The good news is that companies like Meade are coming out with
very inexpensive deepsky capable CCD/CMOS cameras. The Meade
unit costs $299 so it can be incorporated into your telescope
package.

IMO, the best scope for you that provides decent aperture (mirror/lens
size for picking up the light of deepsky objects) and fits into your
budget would be a Meade LX-200 GPS 8", Meade LX-90 or Celestron's
Nexstar 8" GPS. These scopes have good aperture, are portable will
Goto objects and track them. Scopes in the market tier below this
tend to need some attention when it comes to doing those tasks well.
Above this market tier, your looking at several thousand dollars
for something equivalent or better.