My Astrophotography Equipment

Astrophotography is a discipline where patience meets precision engineering. Over the years, I have built and upgraded several telescope setups, each tailored for a specific type of celestial objects. From wide-field refractors perfect for sweeping nebulae, to long-focal-length instruments designed for pulling distant galaxies out of the dark sky.

Below, you will find a detailed description of the gear I currently use to capture the visions of deep space. Every component—from the mount to the guiding camera—plays a crucial role in maintaining tracking accuracy and gathering precious photons. For each item, I've also included a link to its manufacturer or official retailer.

Over time, I’ve also tweaked these setups and added new components. I’ve already replaced (sold) some of the original setups with others that better suit my needs and experience. Below are the 5 basic setups that I currently (Q2 2026) use most often for photographing individual objects based on their parameters, particularly diameter and focal length, as well as the filters used, which I try to change as infrequently as possible. Some of the older photos in the gallery were taken with telescopes that I no longer own or use; it is also possible that in the future I will switch to different setups, which I will update here.

Below, just for illustration, I’ve included a few photos of some of my gear and setups. Not all of my setups or all of my accessories and equipment are shown here—just a small sample.

This is my setup using TS SD-APO doublet refractor containing FPL53/Lanthanum glass. I use it mainly with Dualband Ha+O3 filter for shooting nebulae and/or star clusters. With a focal length of 714 mm, reduced to 571 mm using a field flattener/reducer, it is well-suited for wider shots. However, thanks to the use of FPL53/Lanthanum glass in the lens, its chromatic aberration is minimal, and it also provides very sharp and detailed images of smaller DSO objects.

My second refractor is from Svbony; it is an APO SV550 triplet with a diameter of 122 mm and a focal length of 854 mm (f/7). Although, given its low price, it is equipped only with FPL51 glass, the fact that it is a triplet means its chromatic aberration is minimal, providing a very high-contrast and sharp image. Svbony offers a pair of SV209 flatteners for it: one is a simple field flattener that does not change the telescope’s focal length, and the other also serves as a 0.8x reducer. I have both available, but I use the flattener-only version much more often, which gives the telescope a focal length of 854 mm. With the telescope, I primarily use an S2+O3 dualband filter to capture these two emissions, and since the camera in all three of my nebula-photography setups is oriented the same way, I often combine images from these three setups into a final color palette. The telescope is equipped with a ZWO DUO camera with an integrated sensor for guiding, so there is no guidescope or separate guide camera mounted on the telescope.

My third setup for photographing nebulae and star clusters consists of a Sky-Watcher 150PDS Newtonian reflector. It is a reflector with a mirror diameter of 150 mm and a focal length of 750 mm. However, I use an Explore Scientific HR 2 coma corrector with it, which extends the focal length by 6%, resulting in a total focal length of 800 mm for this telescope. I have significantly modified the original telescope; I flocked the inside of the telescope tube with a special black matte surface to prevent reflections and stray light and to increase contrast. I placed a maks on the primary mirror and replaced the original spider and secondary mirror holder with a solid CNC machined one to ensure greater stability; thanks to this, the telescope does not need to be collimated as often, and the resulting modifications also have a positive effect on the diffraction patterns of stars. In the end, I also replaced the original focuser with a much sturdier and more robust model featuring a rack-and-pinion focusing mechanism, which offers better stability and a higher load capacity. I use the ZWO ASI2600MC DUO camera with the telescope again, so there is no need for an additional guidescope or guide camera. The most commonly used filter in the telescope is the Antlia RGB Triband filter, which is a very versatile filter for photographing nebulae, stars, star clusters, and galaxies. Because the stars have much more natural shapes and colors than when using a dual-band filter, I often use the stars from this telescope when processing and combining photos from all three telescopes. Personally, I also like the sharp and prominent diffraction rings of stars in the photos, which are produced by the Newtonian-type telescope.

My last telescope for photographing deep-sky objects is the large SW 250PDS reflector, a larger version of the previous 150PDS. The telescope has the following basic specifications: primary mirror diameter 250 mm, focal length 1200 mm. However, thanks to the use of the Explore Scientific HR 2 coma corrector, the focal length is extended to 1270 mm. Just like with the smaller 150PDS, I modified this telescope—the inside of the tube is flocked with a black matte surface, a mask is mounted on the primary mirror, and the secondary mirror spider and holder has been replaced with a sturdier, more robust CNC-machined part. Unlike the smaller 150PDS, however, I have kept the original focuser for now; on the other hand, I replaced the original secondary mirror with a minor axis diameter of 50 mm with a larger one with a diameter of 70 mm, because of using the telescope with a camera having an APS-C-sized sensor. I use the telescope primarily for photographing smaller DSO objects, namely galaxies and star clusters, but also smaller planetary nebulae or details of larger nebulae. For photographing galaxies, star clusters, and as a basis for nebula photography, I use an Antlia RGB Triband filter in the telescope; when photographing emission nebulae, I switch to a Scorpio Ha+O3 dual-band filter and an S2+O3 filter (Scorpio or Askar D2) so that I can create a full color palette from the captured data. In this case as well, I use stars photographed with the Triband filter in the final image.

In addition to photographing deep-sky objects at night, I have recently become interested in imaging the Sun and its phenomena, particularly its chromosphere, sunspots, active regions and solar prominences. A variety of techniques and equipment can be used to image the Sun, ranging from the simplest and cheapest, such as solar foils, through special Herschel wedges and mirrors, to so-called etalons, which are precisely tuned to capture radiation of only selected wavelengths (elements), particularly hydrogen (H), and special solar telescopes that are “all-in-one” and allow for photographing the Sun and its details. A separate category is the so-called heliographs, which operate on a completely different principle. Since I had an unused SV550 80mm APO Triplet telescope from Svbony at home, I decided to purchase one of the H etalons for it and convert it into a solar telescope. Instead of complicated tinkering and hunting for special etalons, I purchased the Quark Chromosphere version from Daystar. This is an “all-in-one” system and is essentially a temperature-tunable H-filter that contains everything within itself and only needs to be placed in a suitable telescope. Once powered on, the filter thermally stabilizes, and you can then start imaging the Sun and the phenomena on it. To limit the amount of solar energy reaching the Quark, you need to screw either a special blocking (so-called ERF) filter or a UV/IR cut filter onto its input. You can then use the telescope to take photos just as you would when photographing a standard DSO object. Since I only recently managed to put the entire setup together, I don’t yet have any experience using it or any photos to show. However, I hope to change that soon, and the first photos taken with this setup will appear in the “Sun” section of my gallery.