Innovations have REVOLUTIONIZED astrophotography - Beginner Rigs in 2024

----------------------------------------------
The New & Lazy
Smart Telescopes!
----------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------
The Oldie - Camera + lens
----------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------
The Classic with a Twist
Quintessential Beginner Rig
----------------------------------------------

The cheaper camera/control center/guiding combo:

----------------------------------------------
The Criminally Insane
Buy Once Cry Once??
----------------------------------------------

Or with computer control:

----------------------------------------------
Light Pollution Filters
----------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------
Tutorials and Reviews
----------------------------------------------

Follow me!

00:00 Getting started
00:43 Recent innovations
02:00 Beginner vs Budget
02:50 Main challenges
04:14 Smartphones
05:48 DSLR + Lens
08:55 Focusing & Bahtinov Mask
11:00 Star Tracker
12:50 Goto Mount (and strain wave gear innovation)
17:48 Smart Telescopes as a gateway drug
22:12 Full expensive rig
25:18 Smart Astro Camera
30:00 Monochrome vs Color cameras
31:03 Narrowband Filters
33:02 The DIY Route

[CuivTheLazyGeek]

The New & Lazy
Smart Telescopes!



The Oldie - Camera + lens



The Classic with a Twist
Quintessential Beginner Rig


The cheaper camera/control center/guiding combo:


The Criminally Insane
Buy Once Cry Once??


Or with computer control:


Light Pollution Filters



Tutorials and Reviews

[lukomatico]

This is a heck of a video mate, what a detailed break-down & explanation of available options!! :-) Thanks so much for the mention of my masks by the way!! :-D That was really kind of you!
Clear skies!

[paddledogs]

the 'if you have the money' is an under appreciated point. Great summary, I'm just missing the money part.

[gazer]

Thanks Cuiv! I’m not a beginner, but watching this helps me for when I talk to beginners about starting in astrophotography. 🙏

[marvinwhisman]

You're going to need a bigger balcony soon. Thanks for another great video. Hope ZWO will let you test a SeeStar 30 soon.

[ampamp]

Aged 12 I bought a 60mm refractor with money from my paper round, and when I was 17 the local club lent me a 4" f/12 newt, and I added a Zenit-B SLR with earnings from shelf-stocking in the local supermarket. The air cadets had a darkroom I could use. Got some great shots of lunar eclipse on 50ASA Ilford PAN-F 1/5sec at prime focus using elastic bands to mount the camera, focussing by moving the secondary spider, and using sheet of card as a shutter to avoid shake. I graduated BSc astrophysics, and in mid-life was an amateur visual amateur using club instruments, and had my own observatory for a while with a 5" f16 refractor that I later put on an EQ6 which stayed with me until recently. Now retired in the city (Bortle 7) I got back into AP in a big way. I have an FF80 (reduced) AM3 2600Duo wide field grab and go, and an Orion 130ED AM5 533mc/462mc for close-in deep sky moon and planets. The Orion (like Murphy's knife) is *exactly* the same telescope as my 5" f/16... I just a replaced the OTA, and the mount (twice) and added a bunch of eyepieces, a couple of cameras a power saddle and an asiair 😉.

[flappah]

I got into the hobby more or less by accident. I've always been into (landscape) photography and now with the solar eclipses in Spain coming up I was preparing gear. So it hit me I could use some of my gear to do astro photography and I tried that (1, 5 years ago). Obviously I failed but on the other hand got some interesting results that stimulated me to do some upgrading. Now 1, 5 years later I'm still using Nikon cameras (D780 and D7000) but upgraded to an AM5 mount, 220 mini guide camera and Asiair plus. In about two months I'm going completely in and replacing the Nikon D780 (and Sigma 150-600mm) with a ZWO FF80 and cooled camera (still on the fence whether to buy the 585MC-pro or 533MC-pro. Still haven't decided).

[bobbymckenzie]

I started out a few years ago with a pawnshop canon t6 for 250 dollars and a stationary tripod...I'm now at least 6k in with a 80ed refractor, dedicated osc asi camera, a few filters, a celestron tracking mount, dew heaters, laptop, polemaster, guide scope, guide camera...so on and so on. It's a money pit if you allow it to become one.... but it's fantastic

[wesleydonnelly]

Hey Cuiv! Fantastic video for beginners, this one! Cuiv I'll never forget the rush of excitement I felt when I got my first ever DSO sub, specifically ( you guessed it! lol ) M42 Orion Nebula! Seeing that pinkish red hydrogen cloud on my DSLR screen for the first ever time was magical!! 🤩

Thanks always for another great video Cuiv! Clear Skies from Wes in Liverpool, England.

[SamsAstro]

2:35 is so true xD
Started out about 8 months ago with a dslr, cheap telescope that my dad had, and an alt-az mount, then about 2 months later, I got the heq5, then after another month, the 533 mc and some filters, and just purchased the carbonstar 150 last night! Huge thanks to you, your videos have been very helpful to me, especially on the equipment side of things! Keep up the good work!

[shadowOrgon]

Got started with this hobby beginning of 2024, not sure how I came across it tbh, but was a random video (might have been yours) about the seestar S50. Watched a bunch more videos about it, and the hobby in general. Have always been a huge space fan, but never knew how relatively easy it was to image some of these objects. Bought a seestar and its gotten me hooked. Nearly a year later, and I already got a parts list for my first actual rig.
Scope purchased (askar FMA180) and funds put together, just waiting on any potential sales on things. Got my eye on that Umi 17 lite, if it ever goes on a sale. In the mean time, trying my hand at 3D printing my own harmonic drive mount from plans I found online (Keen-one) powered by onstep. Got all the parts printed, and will start assembly soon. Here's hoping it works decently. I doubt it will beat these metal commercial ones, but I'm hoping it will be a nice alternative for a bit of time (see if harmonic drive prices drop over time). I hear for very wide field super good tracking itsnt really needed. Planning on FMA180 with an IMX585 camera.
Think you mentioned you have a 3D printer? Can't recall, but if you do, would love to hear if you ever tried 3D printing your own mount. Or, if you had the time, try printing one now and and do a video on your impressions. Since I haven't see too many videos/reviews of 3D printed mounts, harmonic or just belts/gears.

[mreddick]

You are so good about giving credit to other content creators and i love seeing it. I love your videos as well as @backyard astrophotography and @nebula photos.

[django]

Hey Cuiv, great content as always, very informative on astrophotography beginners' startup, It was you who pushed me into the rabbit hole after watching your tutorial "From DSLR to smart telescope" video, I started off with a Canon DSLR then added MSM, ALZ-GT, OrionStartBlastEQ4.5 and now I am at Dwarf2 soon the D3. I do want to have a very excellent rig something like your RedCat setup but my imagination is way ahead of my pocket lol

[WRX]

I’ve got the Skywatcher star adventurer gti with a skywatcher evolux 62ED telescope, connected with the ASIAIR plus, a great little setup. I have also the dwarf 2 smart telescope which is also great and easy to use.

[dumpydalekobservatory]

For me the real gamechanger was NINA as it helped speed up my start up time to get imaging, as much as I'd love a strainwave mount for portability I just don't have the budget right now so I'm still lugging big heavy German equatorial mounts, guess they're good for workouts though ha ha

[waynewheaton]

Cuiv, another good video. I did / tried some astrophotography back in the late 80s with a film camera. I'm getting back into the hobby. I have a cem40g, GTI, C6, Apertura ad8, ASIAir, guide scope, and a few DSLRs. Once I get proficient I'll move up to a dedicated astro camera. A Hyperstar for the C6 might be nice, or a small refractor. Of course a C9.25 would be nice. I'll be forwarding this video to a few ppl interested in the hobby.

[fievelnole]

Thanks for the vid! I can attest to the "buy once, cry once" motto. I started out with a dslr/lens with a Star Adventurer GTI. I added an Askar 71f along with an AsiAir mini and guide system. I'm still under the weight limit of the Star Adventurer, but balancing is a pain. The 2 included weights won't balance and so I have to add a little extra weight. It seems to effect my guiding a bit. I plan on just getting the AM5 and wish I woulda done that from the start.

[Jcorban]

Thank you, Cuiv, I enjoyed watching your video!! Perhaps we are living in the golden age of astrophotography with all the great options out there

[astrotennessee]

Nikon's 300mm 2.8 af-s ii is an outstanding lens for astro. It is sharp across the frame wide open and has no CA or LoCA. It can be found used now for under $1k in good condition. It has aperture control, is lighter than the later VR models, but has the same optical formula. You can use it with a Nikon, Sony, or Canon DSLR, or with a dedicated astro camera like a 2600MC Pro. I can't think of a better beginner optic for astrophotography. As an added advantage, you then have a great lens for daylight use.

[mulgabill]

YOU. ARE. A. GENIUS. Absolutely LOVE your channel. And your enthusiasm! You are the best resource for beginners. Especially super dumb ones, like me!!
We thank you!