New Telescope, budget 2000 euros. some advice please.

If astrophotography is your area: get a decent mount (EQ6 or better) with an ST80 as a guidescope; A QHY5 guidecam to put in the ST80 - this should allow guiding direct to the EQ6 without needing a PC; and a good ED80 to ED100 apo or semi-apo refractor with reducer/corrector. Pick up a second-hand Canon 450D or newer for the camera if you don't already have something suitable. With the balance of the budget get an 8" or 10" dob secondhand for visual stuff.

If you find that you are not getting the detail/imagescale you need you can always move upwards to something with a longer focal length (eg f4 Newt with coma corrector).

Using a very long focal length SCT with a very high F/ratio will make it really hard to get good photos as the necessary exposures will be long, and if your guiding is good enough with an ED100 there should be plenty of scope for enlargement especially with a DSLR

The astrograph Mak-Newt you linked to is good for astrophotos but may not be as good for visual stuff - it's only a 6" after all. Plus you would definitely need dewbands and a dewshield for it to use in this country anyway.

The various types of astrophotography require different setups.
Even within deep sky, one can go use a short focal length to image wide angle objects (typically nebulae) or use a longer focal length to target galaxies for example.

My advise would be as follows:

If you enjoy visual observing, buy a decent dob.
Here's a fine 12" dob for only 675euro.
www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_inf...onian-Telescope.html
Great value for money.

If you want to do astrophotography, I recommend you priortise you money as follows:
1. Mount
2. Scope
3. Camera.

It doesn't matter how good your scope or camera are if the mount isn't up to scratch.
The mount is the key to good images, yet it is the piece of equipmenht which people tend to place the least focus on.

For deep sky astrophotography, the effort to produce high quality images goes up exponentially with focal length.
So, I recommend starting off with a short focal length scope.
This is typically a 3inch APO.
It will need to have both an excellent lens and a very good quality focuser in a rigid body.

The cheapeest mount you are looking at would be the likes of this:
www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_inf...th-steel-tripod.html

In terms of a camera, you could go the route of a DSLR for now if you wish.
As technology advances, the camera is the piece of kit that is most likely to get replaced.
Chip sensitivity increases, cooling improves, chips get bigger and prices fall.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the help guys.

I have a Canon DSLR 1100d. Thats what I want to use.

Michael from TS has recommended the following

Mount :

www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_inf...th-steel-tripod.html

Scope
:

www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_inf...---3-3--focuser.html

along with the following bits and bobs

TS Guide Refractor Scope 80/900mm with adjustable rings
TS Optics 2" Newtonian Telescope Coma Corrector from f/4
ALCCD5 Autoguider and planetary camera - USB 2.0
TS focus motor for 3" Monorail focusers TS & GSO RCs from 10"
TS 1.25" Premium UHC Filter - more Contrast
TS H-Beta Filter 1.25" for visual observation and photography
Skywatcher Adapter from M48 to Canon EOS Bajonet

now that set up is using the 80/900 scope to guide. Is off axis a better plan?

The minimum mount I would consider is the eq5 or preferably the eq6. You could pick one up second hand.
You could also pick up a computerized Dob and two or three decent eyepieces for two grand which would be a complete set up for your budget without ever feeling the need to upgrade.
Don't skimp on the mount-a decent one will cost money and buying a less than adequate one will force you to upgrade very quickly- costing more in the long run.
The new Meade LX800? Is out now. Not sure of the price but it is a combined Alt Az and equatorial I think.
good luck with your decision.

dave the mount is the most important more than anything
then the scope you can have a 14 inch scope on a eq-6 pro
and it will be so bad it will be like and earthquake looking
with it you said you have 3k if i were you id get the cgem
and the edge hd 800 remember newt have to be collimated all
the time its really annoying the cgem is a better mount than
eq6-pro trust me much more easy to align much better software
as well the edge hd has a correcter and the stars are much
smaller and sharper and you can do planet imaging as well.

now if you want to do pure imaging the NEQ6-PRO and the
GSO 10" f/8 Ritchey-Chrétien is for you but you will have
to buy and focuser the one that comes with it is a crime.

johnomahony wrote: The new Meade LX800? Is out now. Not sure of the price but it is a combined Alt Az and equatorial I think.
good luck with your decision.

Hi there,

The LX80 is EQ/AltAz, and the LX800 is fairly substantial German Equatorial, and would probably be out of budget.

Meade Europe have advised us of an RRP of €949 for the LX80 and €7150 for the LX800, so quite a big difference.

The LX80 has sold out everywhere and lead times are long enough at the moment.

Hope this is of some use and good luck with your decision.

Stephen.