07-29-2004, 11:15 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 239
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I've been out of town, so came a little late to this discussion. Just to add a bit . . .
I have a Meade ETX125 and adapters for a Pentax Spotmatic. What someone said about the weight of the 10D is a real issue - the guidance mechanisms need to be very solid to handle that much weight.
A Newtonian scope is a good scope for the money. Probably only a Dobsonian gives you more scope for a given amount of money.
The only problem I have with Newtonians is their size which can make transport and set up a bit cumbersone. At a meter long though, neither should be a problem for you.
As foldedspace says, the Schmidt Cassegrain or Schmidt Matsukov (?) models are generally more suite to long exposures, though you'll pay more money for them.
One more thing to be sure of for photography, make sure your mount is the three axis type. Sorry, I've forgotten which is which right now - one is called equatorial and the other is alt-azimuth. Whichever is the proper designation, you want the one that you semipermanently set the mount for your latitude. Then you adjust the tilt and pivot of the scope to find your desired object.
And above all, ENJOY!
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Primary: Canon EOS-5D Mark II; Secondary: Canon EOS-1D Mark III; Back Ups: Canon PowerShot G7 and Canon EOS-1N
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07-30-2004, 02:52 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,968
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Well, I was initially set on the Celestron NX114GT, but after talking to the Celestron rep today for a long time (very knowledgeable and helpful) he increased by range to the Celestron NX130GT, C6N and the C150HD. He strongly recommend that I get the biggest aperture telescope I could afford.
He also laid to rest the issue about the weight of the camera as the counter-balances on the telescope can be adjusted quite easily.
However, since I live in NYC, light is a big problem and another representative I spoke to (from one of the resellers here in NYC) recommended I go with a small aperture telescope.
Finally, both said that I have to be careful when thinking about astrophotography as the Canon 10D will not be able to focus with most of these telescopes. So I would have to buy a Barlow lens and/or a 2" eyepiece to get a better focus. I am now leaning more towards the C150HD or the NX130GT. The C150HD has the advantage of having a 6" diameter and a f/7.0 and can do a 1000mm. So it may be the best option for me. The big drawback is that it is a manual telescope. The NX130GT has a 5" diameter and an f/5.0, but it can only do 650mm.
I guess the NX130GT is the front runner now. But I am now more confused than ever.
Suhit
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07-30-2004, 05:11 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 239
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I'm not sure why they'd want you to buy a Barlow Lens other than to get your money. A Barlow lens is the telescope equivalent of a camera's teleconverter. It changes the magnification of the eypiece you are using. Albeit manually, as long as you have an optical thing to look through (eyepiece, camera viewfinder, whatever) you can focus the telescope. It just acts as a large, manual focus lens.
Also, when weight was mentioned, the balance issue is not the main consideration - although it is important. The concern with the weight of the 10D, and any counterbalancers necessary, is whether or not the guidance mechanisms and their motors are strong enough the move and hold the weight.
Check www.telescope.com (Orion Telescopes). They sell a variety of brands and types of telescopes and they can give you a lot of easy to understand information about what you need and don't need along with how to overcome some of the big city problems you'll face.
__________________
Primary: Canon EOS-5D Mark II; Secondary: Canon EOS-1D Mark III; Back Ups: Canon PowerShot G7 and Canon EOS-1N
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