New Guy Trying To Figure It Out...

[RoadconeTuning]

ok, well im getting frustrated with trying to do some astrophotography with my D50 and my 210mm f/5.6 lens so ive started to look into telescopes

WOW, theres a boatload of info about them, as well as about 400 options of as to what i can get. what i have seen is that you use the same concept as you do with camera lenses and that is "bigger glass is better glass" so i understand that a 3" reflector is going to be less useful than a 4.5" reflector. now the problem i am having is trying to figure out what all of these different mounts and stuff are good for. also wheter i want to go with a Catadiaptric or Reflector or whatever...

im really just trying to not get screwed and end up with a 400 dollar hunk of junk as my first telescope...

sooooo, if you would please suggest some stuff for me, if i could, i would like to be able to see the Trapezium with some detail... so no 60mm telescopes please...

heres my best shot with my 70-210 on my D50... it started out as a full size crop but photobucket resized it from my original 1680x1050... :sad:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/Ricestang/Moonbigcopy.jpg

[Dave Mitsky]

Astrophotography/imaging, other than taking simple lunar (or solar) "snapshots", is far more complex and expensive than you may imagine. There are rather "steep learning curves" involved in learning the proper techniques for both capturing images and processing them.

You should consult these sites to get a feel for what astrophotography is all about:

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/6529/primer.html

http://www.eclipsechaser.com/eclink/astrotec/aphotsmt.htm

http://www.astronomyforbeginners.com/astrophotography/

http://www.photosig.com/articles/390/article

http://www.geologynet.com/astronomy/astrophotography.htm

http://www.fvastro.org/articles/digital/

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/TOC_AP.HTM

http://www.astrocruise.com/guide.htm

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/dslr/EOS300Dastro.html

Michael Covington's book Astrophotography for the Amateur comes highly recommended.

Dave Mitsky

[Siguy]

Nice shot of the moon!

Yes, a larger aperture telescope is better than a smaller one. If you just want to observe, then you get the largest aperture you can get and not spend much on the mount. This is the basis for the Dobsonian design. But if you want to do astrophotography, the mount makes all the difference. You are going to want an equatorial mount (one that compensates for the rotation of the earth) and a very high quality mount.

A good equatorial mount begins around $200-400 and goes up. Way up. But then you need electronic motor drives so that they can compensate for the earth's rotation.

There are three basic designs of telescopes: Refractors, reflectors, and catadioptrics (combination of refractive and reflective elements). Every one has its strengths and weaknesses so you should check with your local astronomy club and become familiar with the many designs there are.

[winensky]

Lovely shot of the moon. Dave has provided some excellent references. If you haven't already, join a local club or association. There is so much to learn and many tricks and traps for new players, (I have found several the hard way). The baut astrophotography forum has been wonderfully supportive and informative. First, If you are enjoying lunar and planetary photography, you will be able to begin with a relatively modest budget. If you are dreaming of nebulae and galaxies you will need to add another 0 to that $400 for just the basics.

Perhaps you would just like to enjoy viewing and learning about the night sky at first. A moderate size say 6" or 8" dobsonian would suit and you would still be able to take short exposure afocal, (directly through the lens), pics of the moon and major planets for now.

Above all enjoy and good luck

Kind regards
Matt