Submitted by fphillips93 t3_10twmhj in space
dirschau t1_j795d78 wrote
The one that best suits your needs (what you're viewing, astrophotography or eyeball mk1), budget and restrictions (transport, storage etc).
It seriously is a question of the same caliber as "what's the best car to buy".
fphillips93 OP t1_j795uao wrote
Budget is a max of $300. It would be stored indoors, until being used. We plan to use it often, especially in the Spring/Summer months. We want something that takes pictures, too. Good quality pictures. Just looking for suggestions, as I know absolutely nothing about telescopes.
dirschau t1_j79c1n7 wrote
As long as it's not crap quality, you can take as good pictures as the camera allows through any telescope, but the mount matters (will it shake). It's more important what you're taking pictures with. You can absolutely take pictures with a phone in a mount, but a proper camera is better. But if it's a chunky old DSLR, a cheap telescope ($300 is cheap for a "real" telescope) might have trouble physically supporting it.
For general viewing at that price, I would probably go with this
It requires some learning how to use the EQ mount and maintenance of the tube, and it's not the sturdiest (so no big DSLR) but it'll do the job. I believe it's also possible to buy a simple motor to drive the equatorial axis (it tracks with the rotation of the earth). That would allow for some basic astrophoto of something that isn't just planets or the moon.
If you're more interested in planets and really cannot be bothered to learn how to properly use the above in the slightest, this could be an alternative
https://www.highpointscientific.com/celestron-inspire-80az-refractor-telescope-22402
It's smaller and not suited for deep sky, and the mount won't track (no photographing nebulas with that), but still good for planets and stars, and it's really dead simple, a tube on a pintle. Minimum maintenance (don't break it and it works) and almost zero learning.
fphillips93 OP t1_j79j2hk wrote
So, $300 is like… low end for a good quality one? I have absolutely no idea about them whatsoever. I just know my child loves looking at the moon and the stars and I want to let her explore and take pictures. And I was thinking smartphone, iPhone, in fact. I didn’t realize an actual camera was better for that. That leads me to my next question, I guess. Do you recommend any specific brand of camera that pairs well with telescopes? Also, if $300 is cheap crap, what should I expect to spend on one I actually am going to enjoy with the kids? Learning curves aren’t an issue - we will learn the telescope until there isn’t anything left to learn about it! I appreciate your response! If you can help anymore, awesome.
dirschau t1_j7aqoqh wrote
>So, $300 is like… low end for a good quality one?
Yes, essentially. If it's for a child, I suppose you can go a bit lower still, but keeping within the respected brands (Skywatcher, Celestron, Meade, Explorer Scientific), like this
Nothing to write home about but nice and sturdy, you can mount a phone to it. It wouldn't really do planet that well (because of it's low F-ratio it's better for deep sky), but otherwise hassle free viewing. Good for young kids for when you don't know if they're really into it.
The Astromaster I've recommended is a genuinely a good telescope in your price bracket and a quite a bit more versatile than the above (would do planets while being better overall). Again, EQ mounts require a bit of learning, but they're worth it in the end.
For a complete begginer in the $300 limit I really want to recommend this
https://www.highpointscientific.com/sky-watcher-heritage-130-tabletop-dobsonian-s11705
But the struts flex too much to reliably mount even a phone, IIRC. If you can find an equivalent from the brands I mentioned earlier but with a solid tube. Then you'd just have a choice of "large and simple, but cumbersome" or "small and versatile but more complex". Because a larger tube means better viewing, but at the cost of a dead simple and heavy mount.
Just beware of anything that says "OTA" when looking to buy, because that's just the tube, no mount. So you'll get a better tube for the price but they're not something you freehand, lol.
>Do you recommend any specific brand of camera that pairs well with telescopes?
If you don't already have one, don't worry about it. You can take nice photos with a smartphone. Astrophotography with a camera is an advanced art for when a) you're really into it yourself, willing to put in the time and money and b) already have a good grasp of photography. And conversely, likely already have a camera.
Have fun snapping phone photos, see how you like it, research the subject seriously, ONLY then ask on dedicated astrophoto boards about specific cameras. I don't know enough about cameras to make good recommendations myself.
>Also, if $300 is cheap crap, what should I expect to spend on one I actually am going to enjoy with the kids?
Nah, you only need to go higher if you decide you're really into it and want more capability. The ones I've shown will be good enough for kids. But at that point you'll hopefully have be experienced enough in the topic to be able to make informed choices, or at least ask specific questions for research. Because a setup for photographing nebulas or galaxies is fairly significantly different (and more expensive) than trying to view/photograph Mars.
Quite frankly, if/when you're looking to spend more money, I'd look to get a sturdier mount for the astromaster. It's good enough for a begginer with no expectations or goals, casual viewing and the casual phone photo snap, but you can start to find it's too flimsy once you want solid results (say Saturn photos good enough for stacking). The tube is decent but stability really makes a difference. That's why I put the Dobsonians as an option there. But again, that's when you actually have a good idea of what you want out of your telescope. Because good sturdy EQ mounts cost as much as the tube.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments