M31, Heart and Soul Hargb

allinthehead

First light with my Sony A7s
2 hrs in 30 second subs
Star 71
Eq3 pro

m31 by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

This is 5 hrs ha, 3 hrs rgb
Samyang 135
Asi 1600

Heart and soul rgb by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

I'm off to kerry soon for a 2 week holiday under some of the darkest skies in Europe. Can't wait. Haven't told the missus i'm bringing the gear yet. That will be an interesting conversation.

Hector Savage

Whats the Star 71 ? a telescope I presume ?
This - https://www.optcorp.com/wo-star-71-apo-f-4-9-ota-w-rings-and-dovetail.html

and the Eq3 pro ?
a mount maybe ?

I want to start with Astrophotography but Just dont know where to start.

allinthehead

Yes star 71 is a scope, and eq3 is a mount. If your looking for information check out ktec telescopes (Irish seller), or any questions you have post here and i'll do my best to answer.

http://www.ktectelescopes.ie/skywatcher-eq3-pro-synscan.html

allinthehead

Oh and be warned it will consume your every thought and empty your wallet.

Hector Savage

allinthehead wrote: »

Oh and be warned it will consume your every thought and empty your wallet.

I know its crazy !!!

I spent enough on camera gear for now ... also I live in a city .. light pollution is a big issue

Hector Savage

You have a lot of different scopes then ?
What would you recommend for a beginner ? so budget around E1000.

allinthehead

I have 2 scopes and a camera lens. This is the scope that is recommended for beginners. I have it up for sale on adverts.ie coincidentally. Skywatcher 80 ed.

2016-08-10_04-06-53 by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

As for a mount well that depends. An eq3 is good depending on camera. If you want to do unguided imaging 30 seconds or less.
Eq5 minimum if you want to autoguide. I'm on lunch break so can't really give more detail. Did you check out ktec?

Hector Savage

OK - thanks, I will check out ktec soon ..

Hector Savage

So the eq3 doesn't move with the earth then ?

allinthehead

It's just like the rest but smaller and not as accurate. About 60 seconds is the realistic limit for exposures, even at that i found alot of frames needed dumping due to mount error.

Hector Savage

allinthehead wrote: »

It's just like the rest but smaller and not as accurate. About 60 seconds is the realistic limit for exposures, even at that i found alot of frames needed dumping due to mount error.

So whats the point of it then ? surely a mount is allign the scope/cam with the sky to prevent trails ?

allinthehead

Hector Savage wrote: »

So whats the point of it then ? surely a mount is allign the scope/cam with the sky to prevent trails ?

yes and it can do that but it's not as accurate, and it can't take as big a scope as the bigger more expensive mounts. It's a great little mount for travel use. As is this. http://www.ktectelescopes.ie/skywatcher-star-adventurer.html. If your seriously considering astro photography then jump straight in and get something like this. http://www.ktectelescopes.ie/Mounts/Skywatcher-Mounts/skywatcher-eq6-r-pro-synscan.html

Hector Savage

allinthehead wrote: »

yes and it can do that but it's not as accurate, and it can't take as big a scope as the bigger more expensive mounts. It's a great little mount for travel use. As is this. http://www.ktectelescopes.ie/skywatcher-star-adventurer.html. If your seriously considering astro photography then jump straight in and get something like this. http://www.ktectelescopes.ie/Mounts/Skywatcher-Mounts/skywatcher-eq6-r-pro-synscan.html

Very nice ! but thats just the mount ! ...

I was thinking 2,000 being the max budget for all the gear, but problem is I wont get to use it much (once or twice a year) ... I might go about renting stuff for trips.

allinthehead

Ok if it's only once or twice a year, then my advice would be the skywatcher startravel. A samyang 135 lens, and a second hand sony A7s. You'd get all that for about €1800.