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Need a little help

Started by [email protected], 09/30/2019 11:12PM
Posted 09/30/2019 11:12PM Opening Post
I want to take photos of industrial chimneys from up to 1000 feet away and as close as 200 feet away.  Previously I owned an 11" Celestron telescope.   That was 20 years ago.  Now I would like to buy again, and I am thinking of getting a 16" mead from tronicsale, they are at the following address:

Electronics Sale | Photography | ProVideo | ProAudio | Television
Tronic Sale Store
Pondok Indah Mall
Lantai 2 Unit C1, Jl. Metro Pondok Indah, RT.1/RW.16,
Pd. Pinang, Kby. Lama,
DKI Jakarta. 12310



They have there the Meade LX200-ACF UHTC 16" F/10 Catadioptric Telescope (OTA Only)
for only $4,421.00.  Typically these seem to go for triple that price here in the USA.  

I could get a electron 14" for near that same price here in the usa.  

Additionally, I keep running across these telescopes separated by pipe frame, not sure what to make of those, seems like bugs and light would get in there as well as a lot of dust.  What's the advantage?    Here is an example: 

https://astromart.com/classifieds/astromart-classifieds/telescope-reflectors/show/16-goto-starmaster-zambuto-with-upgrades-and-many-extras

https://astromart.com/classifieds/astromart-classifieds/telescope-reflectors/show/teeter-telescope-10-f5-with-zambuto-mirror-excellent.

What I want to do is take photos with my camera of bricks.

Can anyone please help me here and give me a little advice of what I should do?  I would be happy with a used one, if that makes any sense, but the 16" mead seems too hard to find used, as well as the 14" celststron.   

Thanks.

Donald Perry from NJ 
Posted 10/01/2019 04:16AM #1
If something is 1/2 or more off from what the usual price is the right thing to do is IGNORE it. You are asking to be ripped off otherwise.

20" MidnighTelescopes f/5
8" f/16 Muffoletto Achro
Meade 6" AR6 f/8.0 Achro
Celestron C11
Parallax PI250 10" F/5 Newt
Vixen FL102S,NA140SS,R200SS
80mm Stellarvue Nighthawk with WO APOupgrade lens, 90mm f/16.67 Parallax Achro
LXD75/LX200, Mini-tower, GP-DX, CG5 ASGT, LXD650, GM-8, G11, GM-100, GM-150EX, GM-200 and a Gemini G40
4" portable AP convertable 44" or 70" pier
Stellarvue M7 Alt-Az, TSL7 Pier/Tripod
12.5" f/5 MidnighTelescopes DOB Swayze optics
Monroe GA
Posted 10/02/2019 10:19PM #2
Jakarta Indonesia?  That's halfway around the world - bogus!  There is no need to buy internationally on this.  The pipe-frame telescopes are truss-trube Newtonians, they won't be good for terrestrial photography. 

Do you really need a large Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope for this?  Most people would use a large telephoto camera lens, or an astronomy refractor for daytime photography.  A refractor is a simple design telescope with one big lens at the front of the tube and a focuser at the back.  It's most similar to a telephoto lens.  You can browse these scopes at buytelescopes.com or another vendor like astronomics.com.   I'm thinking an 80mm or 100mm refractor would be good for this.

-Scott
Posted 10/19/2019 03:06PM #3
Hi All,

I have read this thread with curiosity. I think the original poster needs to tell us more about his camera and the lighting on the bricks that he seeks to photograph. Also, the expectation about the expected quality of the photos necessary. I believe that the budget will follow from answers to these questions.

My $0.02,

Ed
Posted 10/25/2019 06:52AM | Edited 10/25/2019 07:17AM #4
Hello Donald Perry,

We are trying to help you, but in order to do so, we need to know some things:

(1) What camera are you planning to hook to the lens or telescope ? (A) How big is the sensor ? (B) How big are the pixels ? (C) Does the camera have an "F-stop" Setting as well as a "exposure time" setting ?

(2) How faithful, accurate and precise do your photos of the chimneys need to be: (A) Exact color rendition ? (B) In exact focus from center to the corners ? (C) Do you need to see every grain of sand in every grout line separating every brick of each chimney ? (D) Are your photos going to be enlarged (How many times) ?

(3) What are your plans for the mount ? (A) Portable Tripod only ? (B) Vehicle Mounted OR (C) Large, steady, heavy & massive permanent weld-ment, anchored into the earth? (C) Something in between ?

Please be as specific as you can,

Ed
Posted 10/25/2019 07:00AM | Edited 10/25/2019 07:21AM #5
Originally Posted by Scott Mortimer
Jakarta Indonesia?  That's halfway around the world - bogus!  There is no need to buy internationally on this.  The pipe-frame telescopes are truss-trube Newtonians, they won't be good for terrestrial photography. 

Do you really need a large Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope for this?  Most people would use a large telephoto camera lens, or an astronomy refractor for daytime photography.  A refractor is a simple design telescope with one big lens at the front of the tube and a focuser at the back.  It's most similar to a telephoto lens.  You can browse these scopes at buytelescopes.com or another vendor like astronomics.com.   I'm thinking an 80mm or 100mm refractor would be good for this.

-Scott

I agree in principle with Scott, but I am curious about the motivation and purpose of the original poster's needs. If he was using a large SCT in the past BECAUSE of some driving requirement, then that would be different, but I would think a 80-100mm diameter, "fast" camera lens (with a quality zoom capability - say 80-1000mm) would be a good place to start. Or a refractor, if the Zoom feature isn't necessary. There was a 200-1000 ft. distance mentioned, but we don't know if that is fixed or changes on a chimney-by-chimney basis (which would rule out a fixed focal length refractor) ??? It seems to me that a 16 inch SCT at f/10 would be WAY TOO LONG AND SLOW for this purpose ?!?!?!

Ed