takahashi or astro-physics

Hi,
I've been interested in astrophotography since the late 70's although other
pursuits have kept me from pursuing it. I am now in a position to purchase
equipment for astrophotography, but I am unsure how to proceed. For years,
I wanted to purchase a fine SCT telescope, but these days, refractors seem
to be in vogue. I would like some advice. Should I buy a Meade SCT or
should I buy a refractor? I will primarily be interested in
astrophotography, with visual observing only occasionally. SBIG certainly
seems to be the CCD camera of choice. If I should buy a refractor, should I
go with Takahashi, or should I wait in line for an Astro-Physics telescope?
I want a really fine instrument, although it doesn't have to be the absolute
finest available. I just want to get into astrophotography in a big way and
take some really wonderful images of many of my favorite celestial objects.
Any advice will be very much appreciated. Best wishes,
--MRM

Your choice of scope would depend on whether you want to shoot widefield or
smaller objects like galaxies. A refractor would be the choice for
widefield. And an SCT would be better for the smaller objects.
Or, if you wanted to shoot both, you might buy a good SCT, plus a set of
fine telephoto lenses for the wider shots.(That's what I did).
It all depends on how crazy you want to get, what type of imaging you want
to do, and how deep is your wallet.
Whatever you do, you're going to love it.
Hope this helps.
"MM" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I've been interested in astrophotography since the late 70's although
other
pursuits have kept me from pursuing it. I am now in a position to
purchase
equipment for astrophotography, but I am unsure how to proceed. For
years,
I wanted to purchase a fine SCT telescope, but these days, refractors seem
to be in vogue. I would like some advice. Should I buy a Meade SCT or
should I buy a refractor? I will primarily be interested in
astrophotography, with visual observing only occasionally. SBIG certainly
seems to be the CCD camera of choice. If I should buy a refractor, should
I
go with Takahashi, or should I wait in line for an Astro-Physics
telescope?
I want a really fine instrument, although it doesn't have to be the
absolute
finest available. I just want to get into astrophotography in a big way
and
take some really wonderful images of many of my favorite celestial
objects.
Any advice will be very much appreciated. Best wishes,
--MRM

Congratulations,
You're starting on a wonderful journey!

I've got a Celestron CGE1100 and a Tak FS-78 piggy backed to it, SBIG
ST-7 and a Meade LPI imager for planetary work. I had a Meade 8" LX200
and gave replaced it with the Celestron. I suggest the following:
1. If you ONLY want wide field images, get a quality APO (Tak, Teleview,
Astro-Physics, etc). I couldn't be happier with the Tak FS-78.
2. The best all around choice is a SCT; you can get focal reducers which
work very wellto get wider field shots.
3. One of the most popular CCD's is an SBIG ST-10XME. I will eventually
replace my ST-7 with one. However, look at mags like Astronomy and see
what the people who submit pictures use. I'd like a dream machine, but
can't fit it into my budget!
4. The most important piece of equipment is the mount if you're going to
do CCD astrophotography. Get a good German equatorial mount. At star
parties I see the pro's with, almost exclusively, Astro-Physics 900 and
1200 GTO mounts. I'd give an arm for one. You also need a good focuser
(like Robofocus) and color filter wheel for color shots.
5. You WILL have a great time, but plan on a hefty learning curve before
youe images start to turn out the way you want! I thought my CCD was
broken the first three months I had it because none of my shots was
coming out right; it was my own inexperience!

By the way, the CGE1100, FS-78, ST-7, and ALL the extras (laptop,
software, eyepieces, focuser (bigger expense than you think!), CFW8
filter wheel, VanSlyke slider) come to about $10000.

Phil

MM wrote:
Hi,
I've been interested in astrophotography since the late 70's although other
pursuits have kept me from pursuing it. I am now in a position to purchase
equipment for astrophotography, but I am unsure how to proceed. For years,
I wanted to purchase a fine SCT telescope, but these days, refractors seem
to be in vogue. I would like some advice. Should I buy a Meade SCT or
should I buy a refractor? I will primarily be interested in
astrophotography, with visual observing only occasionally. SBIG certainly
seems to be the CCD camera of choice. If I should buy a refractor, should I
go with Takahashi, or should I wait in line for an Astro-Physics telescope?
I want a really fine instrument, although it doesn't have to be the absolute
finest available. I just want to get into astrophotography in a big way and
take some really wonderful images of many of my favorite celestial objects.
Any advice will be very much appreciated. Best wishes,
--MRM

If $10,000 isn't your number, you can save a bit by going with the CGE
9.25 and Orion ED-80.

"Dr. Philip D. Martin" wrote in message
...
Congratulations,
You're starting on a wonderful journey!

I've got a Celestron CGE1100 and a Tak FS-78 piggy backed to it, SBIG
ST-7 and a Meade LPI imager for planetary work. I had a Meade 8" LX200
and gave replaced it with the Celestron. I suggest the following:
1. If you ONLY want wide field images, get a quality APO (Tak,
Teleview,
Astro-Physics, etc). I couldn't be happier with the Tak FS-78.
2. The best all around choice is a SCT; you can get focal reducers
which
work very wellto get wider field shots.
3. One of the most popular CCD's is an SBIG ST-10XME. I will
eventually
replace my ST-7 with one. However, look at mags like Astronomy and see
what the people who submit pictures use. I'd like a dream machine, but
can't fit it into my budget!
4. The most important piece of equipment is the mount if you're going
to
do CCD astrophotography. Get a good German equatorial mount. At star
parties I see the pro's with, almost exclusively, Astro-Physics 900
and
1200 GTO mounts. I'd give an arm for one. You also need a good focuser
(like Robofocus) and color filter wheel for color shots.
5. You WILL have a great time, but plan on a hefty learning curve
before
youe images start to turn out the way you want! I thought my CCD was
broken the first three months I had it because none of my shots was
coming out right; it was my own inexperience!

By the way, the CGE1100, FS-78, ST-7, and ALL the extras (laptop,
software, eyepieces, focuser (bigger expense than you think!), CFW8
filter wheel, VanSlyke slider) come to about $10000.

Phil

MM wrote:
Hi,
I've been interested in astrophotography since the late 70's
although other
pursuits have kept me from pursuing it. I am now in a position to
purchase
equipment for astrophotography, but I am unsure how to proceed. For
years,
I wanted to purchase a fine SCT telescope, but these days,
refractors seem
to be in vogue. I would like some advice. Should I buy a Meade SCT
or
should I buy a refractor? I will primarily be interested in
astrophotography, with visual observing only occasionally. SBIG
certainly
seems to be the CCD camera of choice. If I should buy a refractor,
should I
go with Takahashi, or should I wait in line for an Astro-Physics
telescope?
I want a really fine instrument, although it doesn't have to be the
absolute
finest available. I just want to get into astrophotography in a big
way and
take some really wonderful images of many of my favorite celestial
objects.
Any advice will be very much appreciated. Best wishes,
--MRM