My long-term love for astrophotography was at stake, as a poor experience could potentially sour me on this new adventure. The problem was, this type of telescope presented some pretty daunting challenges to overcome. It could certainly be used for astrophotography, and I even found astrophotography images online taken by others using this particular model. The telescope I started taking pictures of space with.įirst off, he was right. I took the advice of the salesman at the store, and he assured me that “this telescope can be used for astrophotography”. I purchased this reflector telescope from a local camera store second-hand, for a great price.Īt the time, I had very little knowledge of telescope types, optical designs, or astronomy in general. My first astrophotography telescope was a Meade LXD55 6″ Schmidt-Newtonian. I went through this experience personally, and this is what happened. I often see newcomers to deep-sky astrophotography starting with a telescope that will make an already challenging hobby even more difficult. I should have started with a compact refractor telescope.Ī recent photo of NGC 7822 captured using a color camera and a 100mm refractor. The statement above is not theoretical, I personally experienced these frustrating moments in my backyard years ago. two out of the three challenges become more difficult if you’re not using a wide-field refractor to start. This includes understanding how to polar align an equatorial mount, how to focus your camera on a faint deep-sky object, and how to attach your camera to the telescope. No matter what type of photography experience you have going in, deep-sky astrophotography through a telescope will have a number of challenges to overcome early on. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with starting your astrophotography journey with a Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT) or Newtonian Reflector, but I believe you will have some additional challenges to overcome early on. These days, I use a refractor telescope for 90% of my astrophotography. If I could go back and I do it all over again, I would have chosen a compact, wide-field refractor to start astrophotography with. In my experience, a compact, wide-field refractor offers an improved user experience over the other telescope types during the acquisition stages of astrophotography.įor example, I began taking my first deep-space images with a reflector telescope. The type of telescopeyou choose early on can have a dramatic impact on the complexity of your deep-sky astrophotography setup. This type of astrophotography requires the most advanced equipment and demands a careful setup routine. In the beginning stages, I made critical errors in selecting and setting up equipment.įrom the beginning, my goal was to capture deep-sky images of nebulae and galaxies. Throughout the past 8 years of deep-sky astrophotography, I’ve made lots of mistakes. My first refractor telescope for astrophotography. If you’re interested in photographing nebulae and large galaxies in the night sky through a telescope, this article should shed some light on the decision-making process ahead of you. In fact, in many ways, a high-quality apochromat is very much like a telephoto lens. If you’re getting started in deep-sky astrophotography, I believe that a compact apochromatic (APO) refractor telescope is the best possible choice.Ī compact APO refractor is portable and lightweight, making it a smoother transition from the camera lenses you may be used to.
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