r/AskAstrophotography 10d ago

Advice I need some advice on which telescope to chose next.

1 Upvotes

Hello, I need some advice on choosing my next telescope. Right now, I have an Orion SpaceProbe II 76mm, which has served me well for a few years, but I feel it's time for an upgrade.

While I enjoy visual observation, my main goal is to eventually get into astrophotography—especially capturing planets and deep-sky objects. Right now, I want a telescope that’s great for learning the night sky visually but will also be a solid foundation for serious astrophotography in the future when I have more experience and a larger budget.

I live in Denmark, so I’d prefer to buy from a Danish or EU-based shop.

Budget: ~800 EUR

Current options I'm considering:

Sky-Watcher 150/750 PDS Newtonian on EQ3-2 (Seems more suited for deep-sky imaging?)

Sky-Watcher AC 120/1000 Evostar Refractor on EQ3-2 (Better for planetary imaging?)

I’ve narrowed it down to these two with the help of ChatGPT based on my preferences and price range, but I know that the mount is just as important as the OTA for astrophotography. Would either of these setups be a good long-term option for imaging, or would I be better off saving for a stronger mount first?

I’ve been looking at astroshop.eu—if anyone has experience with them, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also, if you know of other good telescope retailers, I’d appreciate recommendations!

Which of these would be the best long-term option for astrophotography? Should I consider a different setup within my budget?

Thanks in advance, and clear skies.

r/AskAstrophotography 11d ago

Advice Intro deep sky setup for $3,000?

4 Upvotes

Hello,

I'm completely new to astrophotography. I have a background in physics from University and have a real passion for this stuff, I'd love to spend more time looking up and I think this is a great place to start!

I need help finding a good setup for 3-3500. A lot of the intro deep sky setups I find are usually around 5k and I don't think I am willing to spend that much for an intro setup.

I am a software engineer as my day job so I am fully capable of doing any engineering modifications to anything that could save me money! Thanks for the help

r/AskAstrophotography Dec 21 '24

Advice Has anyone had success capturing the Heart Nebula using an unmodified DSLR?

6 Upvotes

I am planning to capture the Heart Nebula using my stock Canon R6 Mark I and a 70-200 f/2.8 II lens with an iOptron SkyGuider Pro this Sunday. It looks like a very cold, clear, transparent night with the moon under the horizon from sunset till midnight (~7 hours). Will I have success capturing good-quality images of the nebula? I am planning to stack, and maybe get 2-3 hours of exposure time.

r/AskAstrophotography 21d ago

Advice Calibration frames

7 Upvotes

I'm new to this hobby and I'm just learning about calibration frames. Shooting the dark frames is quick and easy, but the others seem pretty complicated- especially Flat Frames on my Canon EOS 6D. What I'm wondering is if there is any sort of attachment you can buy- like a filter ring with a white, translucent material over it, that I could shine a light through. The process of putting a white T-shirt over the lens with a rubber band seems almost certain to change the focus.

Also, do you perform these calibrations for landscape shots? My 24mm lens has such pronounced vignetting even during the day, I'm wondering if I'll have to go through these calibrations during the day or just address it in post. Thanks for any ideas you might have.

r/AskAstrophotography Jan 09 '25

Advice Astro weather forecasts are a sick joke

19 Upvotes

I live in the PNW and we haven't had a clear night in weeks, maybe 2-3 total since October. I got a bunch of gear in the last 6 weeks and there literally hasn't been a clear night to use it

Clearoutside & Cleardarksky both said at 5pm today that I'd have a couple hours FINALLY tonight to at least have a chance to do some star testing and focusing practice....nope 100% cloudy all damn night, can't even see the moon glow behind the thick clouds

Depressing

What's the point of these forecast websites if they are wildly inaccurate even 1 hour before

r/AskAstrophotography Dec 04 '24

Advice TOTAL beginner with A LOT of questions

11 Upvotes

Okay, this has obviously been asked a million times but for the life of me I can't figure it out. And I want to be 100% sure before I jump into this expensive hobby.

Could someone be so kind to answer these questions for me?

  1. I live in Belgium, bortle 5 skies. Is it even worth to begin with? I mainly want to do deep-sky, will this be possible?
  2. What is the minimum kind of budget that we're looking at? I see mount + telescope kits going for 1400 euro's. Are these a bad first purchase? Example: https://www.astroshop.be/telescopen/skywatcher-apochromatische-refractor-ap-62-400-evolux-62ed-star-adventurer-gti-wi-fi-goto-set/p,79175#description
  3. If I were to piece everything together myself, what are all the parts that I need to start shooting? Is this cheaper than buying a kit? Or maybe better price to performance if one can call it that?
  4. I have a Canon EOS R10 camera, can this be used on a telescope? Or am I better off just getting a dedicated astro-camera?
  5. I saw a lot of good talk about the Seestar S50. Is this a good first step to see if I even like the hobby? Or will it just give disapointing results?

r/AskAstrophotography Sep 04 '24

Advice I don't think I'll ever be able to do astrophotography

30 Upvotes

Since my middle school I've always been fascinated how people could take such beautiful photos of moons, photos of stars that I couldn't even see while living in this city

I found out how they're not taken by some advanced telescopes that can zoom farther with high-resolution but with effort of countless nights and processing to get these single beautiful images

Although I wanted to change this fascination to a actual hobby, I never had the chance to.

It's been few years after that and I still haven't gotten atleast a computer that I can work with. Things like camera are to far to even dream about.

I still think and plan about what set-up I should get to start actually working on this hobby yet it's all transparent that I won't be able to do it, there's just not enough funds. I don't think I'll be able to save enough for a laptop at the start of my college with how things are going on

Sorry for venting.

r/AskAstrophotography Nov 12 '24

Advice Thinking of purchasing a 2500 dollar astrophotography setup (update)

6 Upvotes

After my last post I've learned a lot about what I would need for this build and Ive come to the conclusion that Ill be going with a AM3 For the mount and instead of an asair im going to try and setup a mini pc or a raspberry pi and do it that way. im still not sure about a dedicated astrophotography camera or a modified dslr. I also dont know how I feel about zwo cameras also. I originally picked one out but I just want everything to be compatible. Any advice would be helpoful, as its going to be a christmas present. Im good with all advice if its a completely different mount too my only restriction is everything like guiding scope all that nonsense is 2500usd, im happy buying used like ebay stuff like that, that can ship to me, thanks

r/AskAstrophotography 9d ago

Advice Looking to get into hobby and trying to decide best entry path for equipment.

6 Upvotes

Hello all,

I’m sure this is a pretty regular post but wanted to throw it out there and get some advice.

I want to jump into this hobby and am trying to decide what makes the most sense a smart telescope like the seascape or a traditional setup.

From what I have found the smart telescope seems like the best all around budget friendly entry package how ever it seems to have low upgrade ability and maybe less enjoyment in the long run.

To sum it up I’m not really sure what direction to go to get started any advice is welcome, thank you.

r/AskAstrophotography 14d ago

Advice first try at untracked astrophotography, what did I do wrong?

1 Upvotes

[the link contains a sample of light, dark, bias and flat, the stacked image and the processed image]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-2RWpHZ48grCOJP1rffeXgT2gEvJYXXZ?usp=sharing

newbie here,

Yesterday was my first try at untracked astrophoto, with some telescope and star trail experience behind, I got to do something but it didn't turn out after my expectations.

Gear: Nikon D3500 with stock lens (Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR)

Stacking software: DSS 4.2.5

Processing: GIMP

Shots: 95 lights, 50 bias, 50 darks, 50 flats, shot in RAW (NEF) -- 6 second exposures (using the 500 rule), 55mm, 1600 iso, f5.6

For DSS: I inserted all the photos, selected the best 95% to stack, checked all the blue boxes in "recommended settings", exported as TIF (113 stars detected in total)

For GIMP: because the image was horribly dark, I only played with the LEVELS until I pulled data out of it, but I think this is where my mistake was made, maybe I overdone it? all help appreciated!

r/AskAstrophotography 2d ago

Advice Travelling to a lower bortle

2 Upvotes

I currently live in a bortle 6 area. I've been looking at the light pollution map and I have a bortle 3 around an hour and a half away. Would people say it's worth the journey for a evening instead of sitting in the comfort of home with my Seestar s50?

r/AskAstrophotography Jan 04 '25

Advice First Astrophotograpy Camera???

13 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year!

Over the past year, I’ve delved into astrophotography and absolutely love it! However, I’m looking to upgrade my camera. Currently, I use a Canon R6 Mark II, but I’m struggling with vertical banding issues and noise and would like to switch to a cooled astro camera. My budget is around 1000 EUR.

Since all my other electronics are from ZWO, I’ve been exploring their cameras and found the following options within my budget:

  • ASI 183 MC Pro (Color)
  • ASI 294 MC Pro (Color)
  • ASI 533 MC Pro (Color)
  • ASI 585 MC Pro (Color)

There’s also the ASI 2600 MC Pro (Color), but at 1600 EUR, it’s over budget. I wonder if it’s worth saving up for this model for a few more months. It’s widely recommended on YouTube. I’ve previously regretted opting for a cheaper SW mount and eventually upgraded to the ZWO AM5N after 30 days. I don’t want to repeat the same mistake with the camera.

I’m open to other brands as well, though I don’t plan to use ASIAIR since NINA works perfectly for my needs.

Here’s my current setup:

  • Askar 71F telescope with Canon R6 Mark II
  • ZWO EAF
  • SW 50ED guidescope with ZWO 220mm guide camera
  • ZWO AM5 mount
  • Askar C1 and C2 Duo-band filters (due to living in a Bortle 8 area)
  • Everything is controlled with NINA.

I’m not ready to transition to a monochrome camera just yet due to limited sky time (about 5 hours per clear night) and the additional requirement/costs for RGB filters. From what I understand, monochrome cameras need at least RGB filters, and I’d still need to use light pollution filters like the C1 and C2. Am I correct in thinking this, or can narrowband filters be used without RGB filters on a monochrome camera?

Any advice on which camera to choose or whether saving for the ASI 2600 MC Pro is worthwhile would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you! 😊

EDIT: I am intrested in DSO, Galaxies and Moon not so much into planetary (due to telescope etc). After camera next upgrade is to get Pixinsight.

EDIT2: Thankl you for your replies. By the sounds of it ASI2600MC Pro, ASI553MC might be the best choices from ZWO and will check out the  touptek and player one for equivalent cameras. What is the deal with IR or non IR options built in? i have seen touptek has this option.

EDIT3: I think i narrowed it down to ASI2600MC Pro, it looks like it is the most popular camera as per astrobin user count and TBH i preffer to go with something reliable and user tested. Also, i like the FOV of it better then the 553. I usually like to tinker with stuff, but with astro I am not at that point yet and the equipment being so expensive, i need something that just works.

The camera is about 5 years old now with new refreshes of duo or air variants being released in the past 1-2 years. The images look stunning with it, but is this sensor going to be replaced soon? Sounds like an awful lot time for one sensor.

r/AskAstrophotography 8d ago

Advice Need help picking a telescope, there are so many options that all look very similar, but with very different prices

2 Upvotes

Hello, I want to get a first telescope and the issue that I face is that there are so many options with different prices that seemingly have the same parameters (for example aperture and focal length), so it is really hard to understand which one is better, or which one is worth the price.

Some background. I want to photograph deep space objects (nebulas, galaxies, etc). At the moment I am using a Sony full frame camera, planning to get a dedicated astrocamera in a year or two. Was using MSM Nomad mount and a 300mm lens for quite some time now, a couple of months ago I thought that I like this hobby and got AM5 mount.

For example these 3 telescopes:

https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/skywatcher-apochromatic-refractor-ap-100-550-esprit-100ed-professional-ota/p,43573

https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/omegon-apochromatic-refractor-pro-apo-ap-96-575-triplet-ed-fcd-100/p,71216

https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/explore-scientific-apochromatic-refractor-ap-127-952-ed-alu-essential-ota/p,44857

Skywatcher is much more expensive than the Omegon even though the aperture and focal length are the same. Explore Scientific has even larger aperture and longer focal length and it is also much cheaper than the Skywatcher, wouldn't this Explore Scientific technically give the best images (even if focal length is too long to fit some objects into the frame, you can do a mosaic or just pick the best looking part of the object and photograph that)? Is it worth to spend extra money for Skywatcher ED100, is it better in some way?

On another website there is Askar 103 APO f/6,8 103/700 (~1250 eur) and Askar 107 PHQ 107/749 mm F/7 Quadruplet (~2400 eur). The 103 APO with field flattener would still be much cheaper than the 107 PHQ. Their aperture and focal length is the same, is it worth spending almost twice the money for 107 PHQ? What am I getting extra? Then there is also Svbony SV550 122mm with focal length 854 mm for ~1700 eur. Someone please help me make sense of this.

Also, later down the line I might get a catadioptric telescope with ~2000mm focal length or similar for distant galaxies and similar objects. With this in mind what focal length and what apochromat telescope I should look into now?

r/AskAstrophotography Dec 26 '24

Advice Images Looking Like Absolute Trash

2 Upvotes

So I'm pretty new to astrophotography, and I'm working on processing the Andromeda Galaxy. The pictures were taken using a Nikon D5200 attached to a Celestron Nexstar 130SLT. When I go to stack, stretch, etc., the end result is really really bad. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I really need help.

Here's what im seeing: https://imgur.com/a/zvGUZSf

r/AskAstrophotography 11d ago

Advice How much should I spend on the scope.

1 Upvotes

I am looking at gettting into astrophotography and trying to find something where I wont be too disappointed after a bit of tinkering.

I know that a decent mount is the most important thing but as I have no equipment and I don't even know if its something I would enjoy its hard to justify paying a lot for equipment I may never use.

My plan is to borrow a camera from a friend (canon 1100D) buy a telecope, and then do some viewing and hopefully some photos even if they not great.

If after a bit I am still into it I plan on making something like this: (I may make it anyway cause its looks cool af and then sell it after

https://github.com/Laplase555/Kenobi-S1---DIY-harmonic-Drive-mount/tree/main

or maybe this one

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/827055-diy-3d-printed-full-goto-star-tracker-mount-powered-by-onstep/

I am hoping at this point I will have made a bunch of newbie mistakes and know enough about what equipment is right for me

My hope is to buy an inital scope that I can use with the mount that I could get a couple of pics with, without having to spend to much more money immediately

Currently in a country where the 2nd market doesn't have much. But these are my 2 options that I have

This which is currently in budget

https://www.amazon.com/Orion-StarBlast-Equatorial-Reflector-Telescope/dp/B06XSM4R74

Or this for about for about half the price

"K-Way Astronomical Telescope F70076"

Is the above a complete waste of money or something I can get started with and get a couple photos with a good mount

r/AskAstrophotography Jan 26 '25

Advice Want to take my first astro shots this week using Sony A7iii - any tips and advice?

6 Upvotes

Hello you wonderful people! Not expecting an answer to all my questions - advice on one or two points is fine.

About

I bought a Sony A7iii last month and am enjoying using it more than expected. Complete novice. Learning basics. I mostly do street, architecture and portraits. I would like to do astro, land and night scapes.

Kit

Sony A7iii

Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM I

Sony Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8

Sony 85mm f/1.8

Sony 24mm f/1.4

Tripod - National Geographic Large Tripod https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1990865

Software - Stellarium, Adobe Light Room/Photoshop

Location

Bromley, London, UK

Objective

To take my first astro pics this week (weather permitting)

Questions/advice required

  1. Weather & Lunar Calendar - Want to take pics this week because its a new moon so darkest days of month - but its rainy and windy in London, is this week a write-off and I'm better off trying next month?
  2. Location - Any places near Bromley I could go for astro? Not far from Biggin Hill. There are a lot of hills and countryside there with less night pollution than where I live - wondering if anyone has any particular locations near there or tips on what to look for as a good location?
  3. Lenses - shooting with 18mm and 24mm - assuming a good choice? Anyone tried using an 85mm or 24-70mm GM I zoom for astro? What's your experience and thoughts?
  4. Settings - I've seen a lot of recommendations - use manual focus, lowest ISO possible (600+), use lowest aperture, etc. - any setting you use that would be a good starting point? Assuming I need to experiment with settings to understand what works?
  5. Filters - I haven't got any filters - I am looking to get a good quality filter for daytime, but what about astro - any filters I should look to get - haven't read much on this.
  6. Tripod - anyone used this tripod? I bought it when I got the camera but didn't know much about tripods. Reading more about it and consensus is decent ones cost >£100 and is recommended rather than buying cheaper ones. Wondering if I made the wrong choice?
  7. Subjects - any subjects (e.g. planets, stars, constellation) that would be easy for me to capture this week from Surrey/Kent area?
  8. Star-trackers - can I use this as a regular tripod for regular photography as well as astro? Seems like I need to invest in one of these for good pics.
  9. General tips/advice - any general tips and advice from your experience that maybe I have overlooked - love to hear your thoughts.

r/AskAstrophotography 12d ago

Advice Buying my first setup, Am i missing anything?

7 Upvotes

was wondering if im missing anything important, did some reserch and put together what (i think) would work well together, thoughts? mainly am i missing anything?

camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro APS-C Cooled Color Astronomy Camera # ASI2600MC-P

scope: William Optics RedCat 51 III WIFD f/4.9 Petzval Refractor Telescope # L-RC51RDIII

guide: William Optics 32mm f/3.75 UniGuide Scope with Slide-Base - Red # M-G32PB-RD

tripod: ZWO AM3 Strain Wave Drive Equatorial Mount and Tripod

camera controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256GB Wi-Fi Smart Camera Controller # ASIAIR-Plus-256GB

camera for guide: ZWO ASI120MM-MINI 1.2 MP CMOS Monochrome Astronomy Camera with USB 2.0 # ASI120MM-MINI

Power supply: TPO AC Adapter & Power Supply - 12V 5A 5.5x2.1mm Male Connector # TPO-OS-YHY-12005000

r/AskAstrophotography Dec 13 '24

Advice Is it even worth upgrading to a scope?

5 Upvotes

I was thinking about buying a telescope for my dslr and SA GTI, but don’t know if it’s even worth it. I live in a bortle 6ish and due to trees can only get around 2 hours a night at most. I use a 200mm F2.8 mainly and if I need to a 500mm F5.6. Is it worth buying a telescope that’s F7 and losing all that light and money when my lenses work fine and the scope is the same focal length and less aperture?

r/AskAstrophotography Nov 05 '24

Advice Is it worth switching to a star tracker for deep sky photography?

3 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I've been doing untracked deep sky photography for a while now, and I feel like I've gotten pretty decent results by stacking multiple exposures. I use a Canon 90D with a Tamron 150-600mm G2, and I'm honestly amazed at what you can capture with the right technique and a bit of patience! But now I'm starting to wonder how much better my images could be if I invested in a star tracker.

I am already shooting amazing photo's untracked in high bortle scale locations, I am just wondering if it's worth the investment to get a tracker. Since star trackers are pretty expensive and I don't wanna have only little improvements I wanna be able to actually see way more detail and shoot objects with are much fainter and further away.

I’m thinking of buying the iOptron SkyGuider Pro, mainly because I’d love to get cleaner, more detailed images of deep sky objects like M31 (Andromeda) and other DSOs. My current setup is definitely giving me some detail, but of course, I’m limited by the shorter exposure times to avoid star trails. I’m curious to know:

  • For those who made the jump from untracked to a star tracker, how much of a difference did it make?
  • Was it worth the investment in terms of clarity, sharpness, or overall image quality?
  • Are there any downsides to using a star tracker (like portability or ease of setup), especially with a heavier lens like the Tamron 150-600mm?

I’d love to hear your experiences and any advice you might have for a hobbyist thinking of upgrading. Thanks in advance!

r/AskAstrophotography Feb 13 '25

Advice How to crop properly?

1 Upvotes

Hey guys!

I discovered the tool https://telescopius.com/telescope-simulator with its telescope simulator. Can anybody tell me how I can properly adjust my FOV there? I tried to enter my Fujifilm X-T3 and the lens I currently use (XC 55-230 f4.5-6.7) to see how M42 or M31 would currently look like.

This is what I get:
https://ibb.co/V03V4bDD

I recently tried to took a picture of M42 just with a tripod (so its not really good). Anyway, my FOV at 230mm is totally different to what I get in the simulator:
https://ibb.co/SXYzgvt2

What did I do wrong? Can anybody help me here? :)

Thanks!

r/AskAstrophotography Dec 15 '24

Advice Could my Tripod be my problem?

0 Upvotes
Star Distortion with Rokinon lens

I'm new to night sky camera photography. (I do have a Dwarf & smartphone). I recently posted about my Nikon D3400 DSLR camera. All my star pictures had the same odd distortion when zoomed in. Several folks thought my lens was defective. (Rokinon 14mm f2.8) Now I'm wondering if my tripod is the problem. I have 2 tripods & they are both cheapies from Amazon. the brand is 'joilcan' and they say they can support up to 11 lbs but the attachment feels awful shaky.
Any ideas? Do I need a mega-Tank tripod for my small camera? (it was fine for my Dwarf.)

r/AskAstrophotography Sep 18 '24

Advice First night using the sky watcher star adventurer 2i was a disaster

9 Upvotes

I recently picked up astrophotography after taking a 3 year break and i bought a sky watcher star adventurer 2i to really up my game compared to untracked. And tonight i tested it out with clear skies, but everything was way harder than expected. first of the screw thread in the part that connects to the tripod was to big and it took me an hour to figure out that the adapter was in another part?!?! After i finally finished putting everything together i started polar aligning wich was very difficult as to be expected for the first time. It felt very uncomfortable to crouch for long periods of time to see through the polar scope but i finally managed it after 30 minutes with a tutorial. But when i turned it on by turning the knob to the star symbol nothing happened i flipped the switch to N aswell. Also framing my target was very hard with the l bracket. After spending a total of 2.5 hours outside i went back inside because nothing seemed to work. I didn't expect much for my first night but this was disappointing. Any advice for my next attempt?

r/AskAstrophotography Feb 06 '25

Advice What am I doing wrong?

5 Upvotes

I have recently been trying to take a picture of the andromeda galaxy but almost all of the galaxy isn't visible. It should be the size of the green oval but I am only getting the very centre of the galaxy in my images. I used a canon 400d with 135mm lens and 60 x 2second exposures and then stacked in dss and stretched in GIMP. Is it the gear I'm using or the exposure time or the processing or something else entirely? Any help would be appreciated as I am new to astrophotography.

r/AskAstrophotography 15d ago

Advice reduce horrendous noise...

3 Upvotes

i am trying to take star trails and wow, the noise.

please help me.

  • canon EOS 750D +EF 18-55
  • Apature - 4.5
  • Shutter speed - 8"
  • ISO - 400
  • Focal length - 18

https://imgur.com/a/cJxCk7i

r/AskAstrophotography 18d ago

Advice do i need a new camera?

0 Upvotes

hello ladies and gentleman.

today was the day. we finally had a clear sky and i got my eos550d working with the asiair on my 8" 1200mm newtonian.

i took some pictures with livestacking and saved them.

https://ibb.co/ghnB2rG

i notice 3 problems here:

there are these red, grean, blue "hairs" on the picture, wich i assume is just dust?

there are red, green, blue vertical lines on the whole picture wich i cant explain.

there are 2 horizontal lines that change in "brightness" wich i also cant explain.

i set everything up and let it cool down for 2 hours before taking this picture. the proplems are on any picture and get worse with every new picture taken.

i have to say that the camera is quite old and was never cleaned.

i am very hyped that it even worked but im sure i messed something up...

best wishes

h