Stargazer95050's articles with the keyword: EQ-mount

As you browse through telescope selections, you inevitably come across all kinds of telescopes and may wonder why I never mention these. Here I'll talk about the differences between VISUAL OBSERVATION and ASTRO- PHOTOGRAPHY. Visual observation is just as amazing as astrophotography and I suggest you do BOTH. The requirements for visual observation are more relaxed compared to astro-photography and if photos are your main goal, you always can swap the camera for an eye-piece and go visual. The opposite move, using a telescope setup intended for visual use to do photography, isn't that easy.

The biggest investment needed for astrophotography is _TIME_. It takes time to learn how to use the tools, time to get to places, time to photograph and time to learn from the mistakes and repeat that cycle. An astrophotography setup with lots of quality equipment isn't cheap but you may want to put it into perspective to other hobbies or to SLR camera equipment you already have bought.

A standardized image format is something most users take for granted -- JPG, GIF, PNG and even TIFF are household names when it comes to (web)-images & editing. If you use a dSLR, you have gotten used to adding a tool or two, to process the Nikon or Canon RAW formats. With the astronomy cameras, the formats & necessary conversions become a real mess -- especially if you use a one-shot color "OSC" camera.