Advise between 2 scopes for astrophotagraphy

[s24man]

I'm in the "neither" camp. The easiest beginning astrophotography scope is a small apo triplet refractor.

[seigell]

The 'rule of thumb' is to not exceede 50-70% of your mounts rated capacity for AP. At 31 lbs your already there and haven't even hung a camera on it yet.
Nothing wrong with that mount though. You need to scale back the OTA a little
I use one of these on a EQ6 class mount with good results...
8" f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph Reflector Telescope | Orion Telescopes

I'll agree with UM: You were biting off a bit too much with the idea of an 10" f/5 Newt. But the CGEM is right in the Ballpark for your target Mount. The CGEM is rated 30lbs only to give room for the CGEM-DX at 40lb Payload. Many Imagers load their CGEMs to 25-30lbs. The CGEM is readily Hyper-Tuned (DIY or Professionally). The CGEM is made in the same Factories as the Orion Atlas EQ-G and Skywatcher NEQ6, and each is generally as capable - just different Features. AND: Used CGEMs can be had for slightly less than others because Celestron has just come out with the CGEM-II and users are Trading Up.

The CGEM-class Mount will carry an 80mm APO Triplet without noticing its there, and handle a larger 130mm APO (or 8in AstroGraph or 8in RC or...) when you Move-Up...

[luker78]

I wanted to go with a reflector because of the views. Yes i want to take pictures of what i am seeing but i also want to show the views to people around me. DSOs will be a big part of what i will be viewing. Maybe I should look at a cassegrain.

[Ozman13]

I wanted to go with a reflector because of the views. Yes i want to take pictures of what i am seeing but i also want to show the views to people around me. DSOs will be a big part of what i will be viewing. Maybe I should look at a cassegrain.

Maybe you should be looking at two scopes, one for visual and one for imaging as the two aspects are completely different. An SCT is a compromise and can do both, but there are serious issues for a beginner imaging with an SCT, it's just not best for either. You best bet is get a robust EQ mount and short refractor for imaging and an 8-10" Dob for visual.

[Pauls72]

I have a couple of Atlas EQ-G/SkyWatcher EQ-6 mounts. They are in the same 40lb capacity range as a CGEM.
I use a 11 inch SCT or an 8 inch refelector for visual observing.
Then I use a 4 inch APO or 6 inch RC for imaging.

[luker78]

Thanks for all the replies. I think two scopes will be the way to go for me. I will get the reflector first because sharing the sky with my family is more important. I can still take shots when there will be no wind. I will get an apo refractor as suggested for photography later. The views of the planets should be pretty good with that.

Thanks again.

[Leveye]

An Astrograph has the placement of the primary so that a DSLR and such cameras can come to focus with a coma corrector as well as having a better focuser to hold heavier loads in most cases.

[luker78]

The 2 skywatchers do have an upgraded focuset and the focal length was shortened.

[chartram]

If I may chime in about the mount choices mentioned...

The CGEM is fantastic for visual but hot garbage for imaging. The NEQ6 and Atlas (same exact mount, different branding, different color) on the other hand are awesome. I say this from experience. I bought a CGEM last year and did everything under the sun to try to get it to perform, including having it professionally Hypertuned and still had nothing but problems trying to get it to satisfactorily guide out long exposures. After countless frustrations and a couple thousand dollars, I sold it cheap & got an NEQ6, which right out of the box has worked like a dream. The only difference between the CGEM and CGEM-II is the cosmetics and the USB interface. The innards are still the same, substandard for imaging bits as its predecessor. The NEQ6 is about $100 cheaper than the Atlas and CGEM and I absolutely recommend it.

I know this post may read a bit rough, but I am truly trying to save you a ton of unnecessary frustration in your imaging endeavors. For more on the CGEM, here is a fairly detailed thread that outlines the kind of performance you can expect: My CGEM Hypertune Experience...

As for a scope, I recommend a 500-600mm doublet or triplet refractor with a simple autoguider as mentioned by others above. You'll have lots of fun straight away due to a far less steep learning curve. If you are dead set on going bigger in aperture, do not mount it on a CGEM and expect good results... If budget is tight, you'd be better off starting out with an NEQ6 or Atlas.

Hope this helps,

Mike

[luker78]

If I may chime in about the mount choices mentioned...

The CGEM is fantastic for visual but hot garbage for imaging. The NEQ6 and Atlas (same exact mount, different branding, different color) on the other hand are awesome. I say this from experience. I bought a CGEM last year and did everything under the sun to try to get it to perform, including having it professionally Hypertuned and still had nothing but problems trying to get it to satisfactorily guide out long exposures. After countless frustrations and a couple thousand dollars, I sold it cheap & got an NEQ6, which right out of the box has worked like a dream. The only difference between the CGEM and CGEM-II is the cosmetics and the USB interface. The innards are still the same, substandard for imaging bits as its predecessor. The NEQ6 is about $100 cheaper than the Atlas and CGEM and I absolutely recommend it.

I know this post may read a bit rough, but I am truly trying to save you a ton of unnecessary frustration in your imaging endeavors. For more on the CGEM, here is a fairly detailed thread that outlines the kind of performance you can expect: My CGEM Hypertune Experience...

As for a scope, I recommend a 500-600mm doublet or triplet refractor with a simple autoguider as mentioned by others above. You'll have lots of fun straight away due to a far less steep learning curve. If you are dead set on going bigger in aperture, do not mount it on a CGEM and expect good results... If budget is tight, you'd be better off starting out with an NEQ6 or Atlas.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Thanks for this Mike. I was actually looking for some comments on that mount. I think I will take your advise and go with the skywatcher eq6 instead. It is more money but I will simply save for a few months more is all. I like that idea better.