Who knows a bit obout telescopes?

I'd recommend checking out a local astronomy group to get a good idea of what you want.

Once you get into photography you generally need some pretty beefy equipment, particularly if you get into "deep sky" photography.

If you just want to take very short exposures of the moon and planets, you can get away with a small refracting telescope or maybe a small long-focal length (large f ratio) dobsonian. Photography really is much easier with an equatorial mount over an alt-az mount like the dobsonian, though, particularly at high magnification's like what is required for good views of planets.

I've linked a page with some photos I've taken, feel free to browse around that site and see what equipment people have for whatever shot. My equipment is very modest and I only recently acquired a small web camera for doing planetary work.

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Seeing your added responses, I've decided to add a bit to my answer. :)

Since your main goal is to do photography, I'll give you this bit of advice. The most important aspect of your setup is going to be your MOUNT. Not your actual telescope or the optics or anything, JUST THE MOUNT. If you take your current camera, put it on a good mount and do a good polar alignment, you can put a decent zoom camera lens on it and take some fantastic shots. But if you take the most expensive telescope available and put it on a crappy mount, you're going to take bad pictures no matter what.

I've done a lot of photography with my Canon Digital Rebel XT / 350D using the stock lens at 55mm to get really wide shots that look fantastic. I've taken exposures on my mount that are 15 minutes long, but when I use my other lens (my 10" newtonian telescope) at 1125mm I'm limited to about 30 seconds of exposure due to the inaccuracies in the mount. Obviously the more you are zoomed in the more accurate your mount needs to be.

So then comes your next decision... Do you want to do wide field photography or deep field photography? If you want to stay less than say 400mm, then you can pretty much stick with a decent mount and a telephoto lens. Celestron makes the CG-5 and Meade makes the LXD75 and LXD750 which would both be good starter mounts that are beefy enough for any telephoto lens. You can get away with a small refracting telescope on these as well, maybe something like the Orion 80ED (600mm focal length), but you might be stretching the mount accuracy a bit, depending on your camera's pixel size.

If you want to go deeper (600mm+) I'd recommend going up a level if you can afford it though, Losmandy makes (in my opinion) the best mounts for the money. Obviously with a super long focal length you'll have to have a larger aperture telescope to gather enough light to be useful, which is why the beefier mounts are necessary. The particular telescope design is really up to you and your tastes. Lots of people like the compact designs of Schmidt Cassegrains such as the Meade LX200 series, but I personally love the price and flexibility of newtonians. :)

If you'd like some more specific information, feel free to contact me and send me a message, but I think I've given you a pretty good overview. :)

I was with you all the way up to "...something that will be easy to hook up my digital camera to." As soon as you throw photography into the mixture, telescopes become very expensive and very complicated very fast. My advice is to forget about photography with your telescope until after you've learned your way around the sky, and don't try to buy a first telescope with photography in mind.

The best all around telescope for a beginner is a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as the ones on these pages:

http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~categor...

http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product....

Many beginners think it's best to start with a small telescope, but in fact a beginner needs all the help they can get, and that means getting a scope with the largest mirror they can afford or transport. A 6" mirror is a minimum; 8" or 10" will be better. You won't find telescopes like this at the local mall; you should only buy from a store which specializes in telescopes, either locally or online. The others sell scopes which are either junk or toys (or both).

I suggest that you join a local astronomical society or astronomy club first, BEFORE you buy a scope. Most clubs have loaner scopes that you can borrow plus lots of books and videos too. You can go to their star parties and try out a wide variety of scopes to get a better idea of what is best for you. NO TWO EYEBALLS are the same so what is the best scope for me is not necessarily the best scope for you. By joining the club you will meet a lot of great new friends who can help you make your choice and also help you to get the most out of your new scope when you get it.

For astrophotography the most important thing is the mount and the tracking ability that it has. If you are new at this I suggest that you put the astrophotography on hold for a while until you learn your way around the night skies and get a comfortable zone with your new scope first. Astrophotography can be very frustrating especially in the beginning and I would hate to see that put a damper on your astronomy aspirations.

THE MAIN THING TO REMEMBER IS PATIENCE. Dont try to learn everything all at once in the same night or you will be overwhelmed and get frustrated. Try to learn just a few new things every time you go out so that you remember them for a lifetime.

http://www.oriontelescopes.com/

Orion is the very best place to buy scopes if you consider the value, quality, and excellent customer service. They are the only place that I will purchase from anymore. When you do go to purchase a scope, be sure to check out their site first. They have a wide variety of camera adapters available for their scopes too.

Another thing to remember is to check the weight and dimentions of the scope that you choose. You must be able to lift it and transport it in your vehicle. If you cant, it will sit in your closet and gather dust. That is sad.

NEVER EVER buy a scope from a discount department store like Costco, walmart, target, camera stores or anyplace like that. They are usually junk and plastic and very cheaply made and you will hate it.

Enjoy your new venture! I wish you well.

Al_moskowitz is right. If you have little or no experience you need to get realistic expectations of what you can expect to see. And forget the astrophotography for the time being. It's expensive and frustrating. You need to appreciate what you're seeing first.

Find a club and look through their scopes. They'll be VERY happy to help you. Most of them were in your position at some time.

EDIT: Mate or sister, you can give all the thumbs-downs you want. But that's usually what reality-challenged teenagers do when someone takes issue with their view of horoscopes or alien visits. These people, including me, are giving you good advice based on years of experience. Nobody said you can't do it, and nobody's doubting your professionalism with a camera. But many said don't do it until you know something (or better still, a lot) of astronomy. That's the important part.

No, mainly because I don't know you... :) But, here is an alternative.

Find a local astronomy club and go to one of their observation outings... Make sure you look through a variety of scopes and don't be shy about asking questions. Most (if not all) of the people in clubs LOVE to talk about astronomy, telescopes and everything else...

Don't be afraid to ask the price either - that's what you're there to learn as well..

Have fun and clear skies...

Maybe a "Russentonne" ( Maksutov Tele Objektiv 1300mm )

Moon craters are easy going. Buy what you like.

No interest in deep field? With a good Camera already in place, i would consider a good mounting and a tracking-system first.

BTW: I got a new Meade 5" for 50€. Not from the bay. Join a "astro-community" ;) .

Cos' of your update: Buy a good mounting first. And a modified Maksutov. In the long run u will pay more for Filters, Mounting, Tracking, as you do, for a mirror in a tin tube, at first.

You need a "fast" telescope. http://www.televue.com/engine/page.asp?ID=140

http://www.telescope-service.com/OrionUSA/maks/mak...

Sorry, I don't known the English expression. So please take a look at this link:

http://www.teleskop-service.de/AstroTS/Russentonne...

http://www.telescope-service.com/maksutovs/MTO/MTO...

And if you think equipment is expensive, seen the price in Europe. ;(

CS, Mark.

I would recommend the Kuiper 61" Observatory in southern Arizona. If it were fitted with an AO system it would be quite excellent. Actually I'm just kidding. I don't know much about amatuer telescopes.

Hey if you find any info on a meade 125-PE tell me