Hi Jerry and David, Many thanks for your input. Looks like this is not going to be a simple decision. So rather than do something spur of the moment I'm going to think about it a while and play around with using the Nikon to take images through the C-5 (with a .5 focal reducer I can get a 1.5 degree FOV). Clear skies, patrick On 31 Oct 2009, at 12:16, Jerry Foote wrote:
Hi Patrick,
As you may recall I had a 20" R-C when I lived in Salt Lake. This was at a time when CCD cameras were just coming out so I almost always used it with an eyepiece. The central obstruction isn't a problem except when the seeing is extremely good. I did shoot images with film and they came out good except for the slight field curvature due to the R-C design.
With that said, taking a camera on and off for eyepiece use still will require you to align, focus and take new flats for the camera. The difference between running your C-14 at f/5 with a focal reducer and the 8" R-C at f/8 is only a couple of inches so the FOV would be about the same.
And again with that said, a new telescope is always fun and often can't be justified on a logical basis.
Good luck on your decision.
On 31 Oct 2009, at 12:19, David Rankin wrote:
Patrick,
Here is a long discussion about a similar scope used for visual I found on CN.
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3044791/pag...
Cheers :)
David