Wyoshooter

A friend has just retired and is looking to get back into photography on a limited budget. He wants to do mostly Astro photography and he asked me for a recomendation on a kit for under $1000. He is willing to work with any camera brand. OK Hoggers, what would work within his budget? TIA

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Does he currently have a Digital camera? If so what brand and model?

Wyoshooter

He does not have a camera now.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Going to be tough getting a body AND a lens under $1000 without going used. Even used will mean a crop sensor outfit. Something like a Nikon D7200 and Tokina 11-20mm F2.8 would be close, refurbs are a good way to go as well.

Wyoshooter

Thanks Carter!

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Anytime.
Happy shooting.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Nikon Camera refurbished $700
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/refurbished-dslr-cameras/d7200-refurbished.html

Lens
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/819106-REG/Rokinon_RK24MAFN_24mm_f_1_4_ED_AS.html

It is a Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC Wide-Angle Lens for Nikon
Outstanding combo for astro because of the F1.4

I blew the budget by $129 but he has a great outfit.

If he has any questins he can PM through yot UHH account

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

What type of Astrophotography does he want to get into? Some people like to do the Milky Way and capture interesting objects in the foreground.

Some like to photograph the moon and planets.

Some like to photograph galaxies and nebula.

The needs for each of these are entirely different. Completely different hardware needed.

We need to first narrow down his interests. Then talk about equipment.

Some pre-advice:

A camera with very low noise is best.

A camera that is easy to focus on dim stars is very important. Mirrorless excel here. I might add that perfect focus is necessary with stars. They have to be exact, or they look awful. The way I do it is to start on a bright star first. As it comes into focus, dimmer stars will appear. I then turn my attention onto a dim star and adjust focus to make the dim star as bright as possible. As it achieves better focus, it gets smaller and smaller, which causes the light to be concentrated in a smaller area which results in it being brighter and bright.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Just a question - the Gent hasn't got a camera, not currently a photographer - miles to go and lots of fun learning. Why not a used Nikon P1000 and a decent used tripod? He can try almost anything starting out, then trade up.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

The P1000 is not a very good tool for astrophotography. It has a lot of magnification, actually a vary narrow FOV, but the lens is quite slow. And without a tracking mount, all one would get would be some star trails.

The P1000 can be used to shoot the moon. And some bright planets are easy catches. But this gets boring with only a few objects to go after. Plus, the planets are still small and won't show much detail.

The Milky Way, galaxies and nebula are not something the P1000 could do.

One point I should make is that not all lenses are suitable for astrophotography. Stars are point sources and tend to exasperate the weaknesses of a lens and produces distortion such as astigmatism and coma and a host of other types of distortion. The Rokinon 24mm f1.4, previously mentioned, happens to be fairly good. I have that lens and it works well, but it is at its best when stopped down a couple notches. The Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 happens to be another, and I have that one too. But I also have many that aren't so good too.

Longer focal lengths tend to not be as sensitive to these problems, but will require a tracking mount to be useful.

blackest Loc: Ireland

Pentax cameras can use the image stabilization to track stars, uses GPS to calculate the movement needed.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Here is a review:

https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/photography-gear/cameras/pentax-k1-astrophotography-camera/

I haven't tried this. I do know it is limited by how far the sensor can move during the tracking session. The longer the focal length of the lens, the sooner it will run out of movement.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

You blew his budget by $800 and he still needs a lens.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

AND ... just because you use it outdoors doesn't meant you leave it outside.
There's a neighbor who left his on the balcony, covered with a piece of a sheet.
6 months later, after the clouds cleared, the tracking mechanism had become one with itself.

olsonsview

You mentioned your friend wanted to buy a "kit". Does that include the telescope and drive system to keep aligned on celestial objects? If so, then $1000 is a mighty slim budget. Mentioned correctly earlier: the Moon is an easy target and within budget. Planets, tougher but possible. Objects outside our solar system, then the dollars go way up.