6 replies to this topic

[miro-st]

Hi guys!

 

I am total newbie without experience or equipment. I hope you do  not mind to ask few questions and for advice! First I know this is expensive hobby and try not to take wrong step.

I own good mirror less camera with few lenses, one of them is telephoto - 50-230mm, as I considered to get another one up to 300mm. Of course there are also longer lenses if decide to spend money. I am still not sure if I want a telescope, but with or without it I will need a mount, because may be I prefer to take photos.

I keep my eyes on three mounts - Sky-Watcher HEQ5 PRO Go-To Astronomy Mount, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi, iOptron SkyGuider Pro Camera Mount with iPolar. I know last two are not real telescopes mounts but would like to compare them.

As I read HEQ5 has almost double payload capacity. But I am not sure how smaller are both trackers compared with HEQ5. So first question is - are the size and weight differences big?

If I decide to stay with my camera only, the payload of all three mounts will be OK, even biggest lenses for X mount are about 2kg. But the information I do not know is how precise can be the default tracking of those mounts. I know most of you people use additional guiding. But for small focal length (300-400mm), no more than 600mm how accurate can be the tracking of those mounts if I try to take photos of some big deep space object?

If someone have experience with those mounts how hard is aliment? As a man without experience I prefer to be fast and easy

Any pros and cons about the two trackers or other advices are welcome! Checking in the stores SkyGuider is more expensive than the Star Adventurer, but is it worth?

 

Regards!

[Tapio]

If the mount is a good specimen and you do good polar alignment you may get a minute or two long exposure unguided up to say 200mm focal length.
HEQ5 Pro might be a little better but not much.
And if you ever want to get longer and heavier equipment then HEQ5 is the only choice.

For now you can start with shorter focal length and unguided.
But don't be afraid of guiding. It's no rocket science.

One last advice - zoom lenses are usually less ideal choice for AP compared to prime.
And real telescopes are even better - because of mechanical things like focusing and guidability (?) and optical qualities.

[hughesthompson]

I have used a SkyGuider Pro for several years as a second grab-and-go system.  It will handle your camera and lenses well.  Check Peter Zelinka's earlier YouTube videos on the SkyGuider with a camera and lens.  It's not a goto system which means you will have to spend some time finding targets,

 

The HEQ-5 is a true goto mount and is much larger and heavier.  If I was upgrading from the SkyGuider I would go with a strain-wave mount like the ZWO AM-3 or AM-5 or the new SkyWatcher Wave mounts.  No counter-weights, lighter, and more compact than the old style equatorial mounts.  Lots of reviews on YouTube.

[maxsid]

HEQ5 is heavy. It's a mount for a real telescope.

But it's a good entry-level mount for a real telescope.

 

SW Adventurer and iOptron Guider are muuuuch lighter and smaller than HEQ5.

 

I have an HEQ5 (in storage). Replaced with ZWO AM5.

I have an iOptron SkyTracker (same as SkyGuider but smaller and without that stupid iPolar and cheaper).

 

I regularly use SkyTracker with DSLR and up to 180mm lenses.

300mm would be very challenging for SkyTracker.

Edited by maxsid, 13 October 2024 - 07:14 AM.

[miro-st]

Thank you all for the kind responses!

 

I wasn't familiar with those new type (for me ) mounts like ZWO AM-3 and SkyWatcher Wave. They looks very compact, but are expensive, but will keep them in mind!

 

I have few questions for maxsid - isn't iPolar useful for alignment? And isn't 180mm too short even for Andromeda? If I use only camera lenses I imagine to use at least 300-400mm

 

Regards!

[scanner97]

@OP...

 

iPolar had a reputation for some serious issues at one point.  I have no personal experience and also don't know whether it's been fixed.

 

Most DSO objects have a range of focal lengths that work well, and your choice for a given project will depend on your sensor size, what you want to accomplish, and your compositional preferences.  The short answer is that 180mm (and even shorter) can work fine for M31.  Astrobin has a ton of stuff you can look at to get a feel for image scale. 

[hughesthompson]

If you go with the SkyGuider Pro I would recommend the manual polar scope rather than the iPolar. Easy to use and no need for a computer.