Duke the Nuke wrote:
Grandson is interested in getting into astrophotography. Looking for suggestions on equipment.
Oh wow, what an open ended question...
It all depends on the targets your grandson wants to shoot?
If planets, think a 3000-4000mm telescope for good results; a heavy configuration.
If the Sun/Moon, think a 500-600mm lens/telescope; intermediate weight configuration.
As for deep space targets, could be anything from a 14mm lens (Milky Way) to a 2000mm telescope (galaxies). Nebulas can normally get captured with a 100-500mm lens/telescope.
Each of the above has to be taken into consideration when looking at computerized mounts.
I have three Celestron mounts that almost cover the above.
1. My Evolution (Alt/Az) mount is my grab 'n go mount for camera/lens configurations. It is NOT an EQ mount so will have field rotation on long exposures. However, an Alt/Az is easy to setup, i.e.: no polar alignment required. The mount is not really meant for astrophotography but is adequate for shooting 30 second subs (images). It is the mount I most often take to star parties and on holiday.
2. My deck mount is an AVX (EQ) mount; easily handles a camera and anything up to about a 600mm lens/telescope. If it is accurately polar aligned, it is good for about one minute subs w/o guiding and 15-30+ minute subs with guiding. It is also relatively easy to relocate and get operational.
3. My observatory mount is a pier mounted CGEM DX (EQ) mount; quite capable of handling a 2000mm telescope, camera, guiding setup, etc. It is normally configured with a 1000mm telescope and mono camera w/ filterwheel. With proper polar alignment and PEC training the mount is good for up to two minute subs w/o guiding and 30+ minute subs with guiding.
I also have Celestron's StarSense hardware on each of the mounts for automatic star alignment. I also use QHY's PoleMaster hardware for polar alignment on the AVX and CGEM DX mounts.
Of course, a good low light camera and lens on a tripod is great way to get started in astrophotography. If you abide by the 500+/- Rule, you can shoot some great astrophotography on the cheap!
And don't forget that shooting the subs (images) is only a small part of astrophotography.
Postprocessing is probably far more important than actually capturing the subs. In astrophotography you can actually 'make a silk purse out of a sow's ear'! I suspect it is the lack of postprocessing skills that kills a budding astrophotographer's interest in astrophotography. It takes considerably skill to get something nice out of an astro-imaging session. If you're looking for instant gratification, don't expect it from astrophotography!!
Once you jump into the deep end of astrophotography you've actually jumped into a money pit! You'll be looking for a better camera (or cameras), a guiding setup, maybe a mono camera with LRGB and narrowband filters (and a filter wheel), yet another telescope, plus all the accessories to bring it all together, ad nauseam.
But it is a great hobby!
Enjoy!
bwa
P.S.: One father I talked to had the right idea, "If you get your kids interested in astrophotography, they won't have any money left over to buy drugs!".