Won another auction at shopgoodwill.com, this time a telescope

[AgentDrex]

Though the description of the product is lacking (all it mentioned was Meade, 60mm and 700mm)...through my research, this is most likely the Meade NG60. Turns out it is a horrible telescope...for doing deep space photography and planets...but I'm more interested in getting closer to the moon and doing some longer range terrestrial photos.

Does anyone here have a Meade NG60 or know of someone who has one? I'd like to know their experience/s.

 

[Compaq]

I'd think you would need something more than a Meade for "deep space photography" (cremt hubble cremt).

I've never owned a telescope, but I've wanted to for a long time.

 

[KmH]

Meade makes some telescopes that are very well suited for "deep space photography" .

Meade Instruments - LX200-ACF Series Telescopes

The key to "deep space photography" is telescope aperture (preferably 10 inches or more) and a motor driven equitorial mount.

 

[Compaq]

You may get some light from ridiculously distant objects, but I'll stick to that real "deep space" images are reserved for Hubble and equivalents. It wouldn't cross my mind that "deep space" is a precisely defined term. Still, I get your point, and I think you get mine

 

[AgentDrex]

Yes, I definately get your point. A big thank you to Hubble for giving us such breath-taking views. It was a few reviews of this particular telescope that made me laugh. I could care less if I get a crisp view of the Horsehead Nebula or Saturn's rings. I just wanted something to get closer to the moon with than the 205mm and 300mm lenses I am using to do so now. Hopefully it actually works. We'll find out soon enough.

 

[Compaq]

As long as you post your photos Good luck, I wish it was me!

 

[AgentDrex]

Well, if you get to eat, I wish I was you...buying equipment and eating don't go hand-in-hand when working for peanuts at a small non-profit...but I really enjoy my job and obviously have a much better life than 85% of the world...I have the t-mount adapter but just today realized I will also need to get a t-adapter...another $30 or so...I'll be going either with a Meade brand adapter (considering its a Meade telescope) or going with fotodiox (don't care what the reviews say, fotodiox is the go-to company for any adapters I need, they are cheaply priced and work just fine). Despite reviews about bad threading and loose fits, I only have ONE adapter out of the six I have that is slightly loose fitting, the rest are snug and I constantly take them off and put them back on. Haven't had any problems with them yet after almost a year. Don't know what these other folks are doing to theirs, but I like to care of my investments, no matter how little money I paid for them.

 

[Josh66]

At a fixed aperture of f/11.6 (700mm focal length, 60mm aperture), it won't be ideal for photography, but it will work. Get yourself a t-ring and play around with it...

I can't remember what camera you have...
Various Manufacturers T-ring for Nikon 35mm cameras 93402

Various Manufacturers T-ring for Canon EOS 35mm autofocus and DSLR cameras 93419

 

[KmH]

Back in the 1980's I made "deep sky photographs" using a Celestron 8" Schmidt camera. It held a single frame of film at the prime focus. To image the outer reaches of M31 required a 45 minute exposure. M31 is almost 6 moon diameters wide up there in the night sky, but with the naked eye the brightest part of it's core is just a faint smudge of light you can only see by using averted vision. The color recepetive cones in the middle of our retinas are not as sensitive to faint light as the outer laying rods that can only detect black and white.

For astrophotography, any object outside our solar system is considered a deep sky object.

 

[AgentDrex]

At a fixed aperture of f/11.6 (700mm focal length, 60mm aperture), it won't be ideal for photography, but it will work. Get yourself a t-ring and play around with it...

I can't remember what camera you have...
Various Manufacturers T-ring for Nikon 35mm cameras 93402

Various Manufacturers T-ring for Canon EOS 35mm autofocus and DSLR cameras 93419

BTW: I decided to be a "Rebel" and "Kiss" myself with a 1000D (see what I did there? I made a funny...no? not funny? oh well)

Thank you for the links...I do have a t-mount adapter (fotodiox) already...now I need the t-adapter...

 

[Josh66]

At a fixed aperture of f/11.6 (700mm focal length, 60mm aperture), it won't be ideal for photography, but it will work. Get yourself a t-ring and play around with it...

I can't remember what camera you have...
Various Manufacturers T-ring for Nikon 35mm cameras 93402

Various Manufacturers T-ring for Canon EOS 35mm autofocus and DSLR cameras 93419

BTW: I decided to be a "Rebel" and "Kiss" myself with a 1000D (see what I did there? I made a funny...no? not funny? oh well)

Thank you for the links...I do have a t-mount adapter (fotodiox) already...now I need the t-adapter...

T-Adapters

BTW - I don't know where you usually shop for that sort of thing, but I've always liked these guys ^^^.

 

[AgentDrex]

Thank you for the small story KmH, much appreciated...hopefully I'll get some good moon shots...

 

[AgentDrex]

T-Adapters

BTW - I don't know where you usually shop for that sort of thing, but I've always liked these guys ^^^.

Good customer service? Their prices seem reasonable...thank you so much for the link sir, bookmarked...

 

[Josh66]

Good customer service?

Actually, I've never had to contact customer service, so I'm not really sure...

To me, they're kinda like the B&H of astronomy, lol. (Haven't had to contact their customer service yet either...)