Anyone knows which telescope for astrophotograhy newbie?

[Amigo]

Hi,

Went to Suntec yesterday and found out that there's a brand call Bushnell telescope. They looked so cool. Anyone knows if it's a good brand?

 

[djork]

what kind of astrophotography do you intend to do?

 

[Amigo]

To begin with, take photos of the moon, then others....

 

[djork]

how does that bushnell scope look like?

before u buy a scope, make sure it has the accessories either included (quite rare) or optional (for u to purchase) for you to attach your camera to it.

for lunar photography it requires medium to high magnification which the cheaper departmental store telescopes do not handle well. the wobbly mounts that come along will give u nothing but blur pictures.

avoid buying scopes that advertise on magnification alone.

the max magnification a scope can take is generally 40~50X per inch. say a average 60mm telescope would provide decent views up to 80~120x before the image starts breaking down, while higher quality ones might be able to go even higher. but those are generally more expensive.

try this
http://www.celestron.com/
http://www.meade.com

 

[djork]

on 2nd thoughts. before u buy anything.. go to takashimaya's kinokuniya astronomy section, pick up a book on astrophotography, alternatively on the 5th (or 6th?) floor there's a library with a healthy section on astronomy related books which will be helpful to you. if there's more u want to know u can PM me. i'll only be using the pc during weekends.

 

[Ian]

Hi,

Went to Suntec yesterday and found out that there's a brand call Bushnell telescope. They looked so cool. Anyone knows if it's a good brand?

Bushnell make okay terrestrial telescopes but their astronomical telescopes are not much use for anything remotely serious.

Ones to avoid:
Bushnell
Tasco
Jason

Better brands:
Meade
Celestron
Skywatcher/master
TAL
Vixen
Borg
Orion
Coultier Optics

Good brands:
Televue
Takahashi
AstroPhysics
Zeiss
Intes (smaller units)
Questar
Beacon Hill (UK)
Fullerscopes (Broadhurst & Clarkson) 70s gear UK
Cave (70's)
Unitron
Parkes
Brashear

Serious end stuff:
High quality ATM'd gear (optics especially)
DFM
D&G Optical (achromats)
Intes (large units)
Torus Precision Optics
Top of the line AstroPhysics and Takahashi
Any custom manufacturer of research telescopes.

 

[blurblock]

Bushnell make okay terrestrial telescopes but their astronomical telescopes are not much use for anything remotely serious.

Ones to avoid:
Bushnell
Tasco
Jason

Better brands:
Meade
Celestron
Skywatcher/master
TAL
Vixen
Borg
Orion
Coultier Optics

Good brands:
Televue
Takahashi
AstroPhysics
Zeiss
Intes (smaller units)
Questar
Beacon Hill (UK)
Fullerscopes (Broadhurst & Clarkson) 70s gear UK
Cave (70's)
Unitron
Parkes
Brashear

Serious end stuff:
High quality ATM'd gear (optics especially)
DFM
D&G Optical (achromats)
Intes (large units)
Torus Precision Optics
Top of the line AstroPhysics and Takahashi
Any custom manufacturer of research telescopes.

I just bought one ...... :cry: ..... i tot it might be ok since it was brought in by Sigma ..... even ordered a T-mount from them ;(

 

[Ian]

I just bought one ...... :cry: ..... i tot it might be ok since it was brought in by Sigma ..... even ordered a T-mount from them ;(

Which one did you get? A refractor or reflector (size, focal length and mouting)....

 

[Amigo]

Thanks djork and Ian. I went to PI Asia in Suntec, the Bushnell Northstar sounds quite impressive. With a built-in database of 20,000 celestial objects, just call up the object on the hand-held control module, the scope automatically tracks the object! Cool! The price is $928 and need to get a adaptor in order to fit a camera in. It's less than a $100 for the adaptor according to the salesman. There wasn't a demo of this model though, I can only imagine how good it was. Thinking about this scope a lot but when I went to the singastro site last night, may be I should do more research about this before rushing to get something that I may regret later.

 

[Ian]

Thanks djork and Ian. I went to PI Asia in Suntec, the Bushnell Northstar sounds quite impressive. With a built-in database of 20,000 celestial objects, just call up the object on the hand-held control module, the scope automatically tracks the object! Cool! The price is $928 and need to get a adaptor in order to fit a camera in. It's less than a $100 for the adaptor according to the salesman. There wasn't a demo of this model though, I can only imagine how good it was. Thinking about this scope a lot but when I went to the singastro site last night, may be I should do more research about this before rushing to get something that I may regret later.

I'd suggest you concentrate a lot less on gee whizz features like inbuilt databases and look at the fundamentals that a good telescope requires, eg: decent optics, stable rigid mount, damping times and a dozen or so other fundamentals that indicate if a telescope and mount have any real potential to live up to being a half decent astronomical telescope.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Amigo]

Hmmm.... :think: Very true, Ian. Do you know any place that I can take some fundamental course about getting a good scope, astronomy and astrophotography?

 

[blurblock]

Which one did you get? A refractor or reflector (size, focal length and mouting)....

565 x 60mm Refractor, 750mm, 8mm / 12/ 20mm eyepieces, Equatorial Mount.

 

[Ian]

565 x 60mm Refractor, 750mm, 8mm / 12/ 20mm eyepieces, Equatorial Mount.

1.25" eyepieces or 0.960?

 

[Wai]

It is significantly cheaper to get the scope from oversea, and avoid the middleman

Even with shipping, it will still save you a lot

 

[blurblock]

1.25" eyepieces or 0.960?

1.25" eyepieces ... but from B&H videophotography website, it has a 0.96" barrel.......

Anyway, just checked from the B&H website, their selling price for this particular telescope is US$169.95 + US$107 Shipping charges .... about $473.60 Sing dollars .... I got it at $488 .... so not too bad lah ...... $15 difference ...... (Not to mention stupid Visa is charging 2% for forgien Currency Conversion, which is $9 more .... so actual lost is about $5). ...... but they come with Starry Night CD ..... here don't ....

 

[blurblock]

It is significantly cheaper to get the scope from oversea, and avoid the middleman

Even with shipping, it will still save you a lot

but no contact mah ......

Anyway, how did you get 2000mm F/10????

 

[Ian]

but no contact mah ......

Anyway, how did you get 2000mm F/10????

That's an 8" f10 as in either an SCT or Schmidt/Newtonian, as it's a folded optical design it's actually an equivalent focal length to 80".

My 10" SCT at f10 is 2,500mm.

 

[djork]

Hmmm.... :think: Very true, Ian. Do you know any place that I can take some fundamental course about getting a good scope, astronomy and astrophotography?

hello Amigo.. well perhaps joining a local club would be good? btw there's a local astro forum online in yahoo groups, search "singastro".. otherwise there's always their web at http://www.singastro.org

 

[blurblock]

:bigeyes: :bigeyes: :bigeyes:

Australia can do that .... singapore cannot :cry: ..... area too bright ..... telescope too expensive ...... :cry:

 

[Ian]

:bigeyes: :bigeyes: :bigeyes:

Australia can do that .... singapore cannot :cry: ..... area too bright ..... telescope too expensive ...... :cry:

Prices here are double that of the USA.