80mm vs 120mm telescope for photographing planets

6 years 4 months ago #553196 by Adam Kay
Hey gang, I'm noticing there is large price jump from 80mm to 120mm refractor telescopes.  How much closer will a 120 get your cameras frame to the various planets?  If you are using crop sensor camera, will that work in your favor here?  

Thanks, I need to get some Advil!  This search is a drain.  


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6 years 4 months ago #553281 by garyrhook
Define "large"? The larger mirror is 2.25 times the area of the smaller. I would expect a significant price jump due to that alone.

Crop sensor: what is the pixel density? For example, my D750 (24MP) has exactly the same pixel density as my D5100 (16MP) had. Therefore, it would matter not at all which I used as the resulting images would be equivalent in subject size and detail.

I would think it would be very simple to compare magnification power of two models. They ought to provide that data in the specs of the telescope. In fact, when I searched for " what is the magnification power of a telescope with an 80mm mirror? " the first link that came up (DuckDuckGo) was this:

Telescope Power (Magnification) 


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6 years 4 months ago - 6 years 4 months ago #553291 by effron
It should be understood, the scope may be the least expensive component if photographs of local planets is your aim. Astrophotography can be quite costly. Even with some very fine scopes, equatorial mounts, motor drives, etc you may not get more than fuzzy dots. 
Check these sites out prior to spending a nickel...

www.cloudynights.com/

www.astropix.com/

Many more, but these are helpful
After thought: Search out and visit a star party....

Why so serious?
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6 years 4 months ago #553640 by Joves
The difference in the sizes only matter in their ability to gather light. The larger objective allows you to see fainter objects. What makes a difference in the magnification is the focal length. To get the focal length you will be familiar with you multiply the objective diameter by the f ratio number. That will give you an idea of how much difference on its magnification.


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