"What telescope does Rami Astro use?" 

I get this question often, so I made this blogpost including all my gear with links to buy. 

I have a few telescopes and cameras, and 3 DSLR zoom lenses. 
The reason I have a variety of lenses and cameras is because I use the high power instruments to get images of far objects like planets and galaxies, while low power instruments get me a wide angle view of the field of the images. I then use the images I get to blend them into composite images and put things together in a form like you see in my Instagram Gallery. 

If you are looking for a beginner telescope, my best recommendation is a Seestar S50. It's super user friendly and will get you the fundamentals of astrophotography in no time. Here are some photos I took with it (with longer exposures, you can definitely take better images):

I also put together a recommended beginner telescopes links on Amazon here. 

 

Here’s a breakdown of my gear: 

My Telescopes: 

Meade Instruments S6000 5” refractor telescope (DISCONTINUED BY MANUFACTURER). I use this telescope 90% of the time to capture the Moon and the planets. My telescope is discontinued by the manufacturer, this ZWO 130 mm petzval refractor is an extremely excellent alternative.
Here are some photos I took with my refractor:

 

 

Celestron 11” Edge HD telescope. I use this telescope to capture the planets and the Moon. It has a focal length of 2700 mm, which gives it a great zoom power. I also use this telescope to capture deep sky objects (DSOs). This telescope is 28 lb. It requires calibration (collimation) occasionally due to the thermal expansion/contraction of the material. If this calibration is not done, the quality of the images will be blurry. I use Bob's Knobs to collimate this telescope, it makes the collimation way easier. Here are some images I took with this telescope:

 

 

SVBONY SV503 105 ED F7 ED Achromatic Telescope, this is a great compact refractor telescope. I use this telescope for travel and for live Moon broadcasts. I recently did the solar eclipse live broadcast from this telescope in April 2024 from Indiana. 

 

 

 

Sky-Watcher 16" Flextube SynScan 400P GoTo Collapsible Dobsonian Telescope. I use this telescope to capture the planets, track satellites, and capture the Moon. I did some ISS lunar transits with this telesscope, like this one.
Here is another example of capturing Saturn. This system has it's own mount (dual axis tracking motors) that helps you point the telescope at celestial objects. Additionally, this tracking is pretty accurate.
As you notice, I built a dolly to carry this telescope because it's very heavy (about 200 lb fully assembled). I recommend the Skywatcher 10" Flextube, as it still give stunning view and it's way lighter (about 65 lb fully assembled). Here's a Saturn image captured by this scope from 2023 when the rings were more visible

 

My Zoom Lenses: 

Canon 100-400 IS II telephoto zoom lens. I use this lens to capture a wider views of the Moon and some Moon time-lapses. Here are some photos I took with this lens (please note, these are HDR compositions of the Moon, they are not a single image):

 

Canon 24-70 mark II lens. I use this lens to do wide view astrophotography and for behind the scenes

 

Sony E-mount FE 24mm F1.4 GM Full Frame Wide-angle Prime Lens. I use this lens with my new Sony camera to capture wide angle views of the night sky and the milky way. It’s a prime lens, which means it has only one zoom setting, however this makes it super sharp. Additionally, the aperture is F1.4, which means it’s a fast lens that captures more light in a shorter time! 

My Cameras

My DSLR Cameras: 

Canon 90D. I use this camera 90% of the time to capture the Moon and the planets. 

  

Canon 5D Mark IV. I use this camera for wide view Moon shots and wide angle astrophotography.  

 

Sony α7R IV Full-frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera. I use this  camera to capture wide angle shots of the night sky and time lapses of the Milky Way. I also use it with my F/1.4 GM prime lens to capture behind the scenes videos. 

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Canon EOS R5: I use this camera to take 120 fps videos or 8K videos of the ISS lunar or solar transits. Remember you will need a CF express card with this type of camera 

My Astronomy Cameras:

ZWO ASI183MC Planetary Color Camera. This is a specialized camera to capture the planets. It performs better than DSLR cameras in this field because of the higher video frame rate and improved sensor sensitivity to details. Planetary imaging is usually done via video acquisition of the planet then stacking the best frames captured from the video.

ZWO ASI2600MC Duo APS-C Cooled Color Astronomy Camera. This is a colored camera (Not monochrome), which means it takes photos in color. Even in my light polluted area (Bortle 6/7), I was able to take decent photos with it. For galaxies, you do not need a filter with this camera. To take photos of nebulas, I use the Optolong L-Ultimate Dual Bandpass Light Pollution Reduction Imaging Filter. The camera has a an additional sensor to be used for guiding, which is extremely useful. I was able to use it for my Skywatcher and it worked, however I think I have issues with my mount and I couldn't get subs longer than 3 minutes with the guider from this camera. Maybe I didn't know how to get my settings right. 

 

 

You will need a 54mm filter drawer for this filter, which gets attached to the camera. Please remember, you will need a 55mm or 56 mm back focus for best results. For my Celestron Edge HD, I use a 48 mm T-adapter, which is a must to have if you want to attach this camera to this telescope. Here are some photos I captured with this camera, the red/orange nebulas are taken with the Optolong filter installed.

 

My BTS Night Vision Camera:

SIONYX Aurora Black I True-Color Digital Night Vision Camera. This is a great night vision camera that I use for my BTS videos. It works great in low light. I use it to capture meteor showers too. It doesn't work very well in very dark sites. I was able to show the Andromeda galaxy using this camera once. Definitely worth the investment. 

 

Tripods and Mounts

Skywatcher EQ6 R Pro mount: this carries the 11” Celestron Edge HD. The weight capacity of this mount is 44lb. I've been using it for almost 8 years now (since 2016) with no issues at all. I do planetary, Moon, and deep sky photography using this mount. I've been able to take 5 minute exposures (guided) for deep sky objects.
I plan to do an upgrade soon, though! Will be posting the new mount here as well. 

 

 

Meade Instruments LX 85 mount: this carries the Meade 5” refractor telescope. It's super light weight and does the job perfectly. 

Meade Instruments LX 70 mount: this carries the iOptron Photron RC 150 and the 5” refractor as well (This has been discontinued for unknown reasons)  

 

 

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack. This is probably the best investment you'd ever make. It helps you track celestial objects for a setup that weighs up to 11 lbs. I used this setup when I started using the iOptron Skyguider Pro which got old after 7 years of service, so I recently got the star adventurer and it has been amazing. This tool is a must to have for any astrophotographer. Of course you will need a heavy duty tripod with it (recommendation below)

 

       

 

Manfrotto 055 3-Section Aluminum Tripod with XPRO Ball Head, this carries the cameras and the zoom lenses. 

 

Auto-guiding

An autoguider is an essential tool that allows you to do long exposures without risking of having star trails in your image. The autoguider has a guiding scope and a camera that can be mounted on top of your telescope. The camera is usually connected to a computer. The computer is connected to your mount in returns. A software, usually PhD2, is usually connected to both, the camera and the mount. This tells the mount to move according to the star on pixel in the image, locking the star in position and giving a consistent tracking.

My autoguider set up is actually a camera and a guiding scope from Orion. 

 

Other Accessories:

Power supply: Celestron - PowerTank Lithium Pro Telescope Battery - To power the mount

 

 

ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256GB Wi-Fi Smart Camera Controller: I use this device to control many aspects of my setup, like the camera, the mount, the auto-guiding. It can also control the rotator, the focuser, and the filter wheel. All can be done through a mobile app. It also supplies power to the camera and other items.  This device is a must to have! 

 

The end!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at my email (contact@rami-astro.com) or via Instagram DM.  I can not reply to your comments on this blogpost because of how my website is programmed. Thanks for understanding.

The links in the blogpost are my affiliate links, which means you can buy using them at no extra cost to you, I will make a small commission if you click them and make a qualifying purchase.