Help Me Pick My Long-Term Telescope!

[digital onyx]

Hey folks,

I'm diving into the world of telescopes and could really use some wisdom from all of you. I've been exploring with a couple of $200 refractors, learning a ton about what I'm looking for in my next, long-term telescope. But as a newbie, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed with all the technical terms and maintenance stuff, especially with everyone's favorite Dobsonian, like collimation.

Here's what I'm hoping to find in my ideal telescope:
• It should be versatile enough for viewing planets AND deep space objects. I'm also super interested in astrophotography. I'm looking for a telescope that keeps me engaged in more than just visual astronomy.
• Tabletop designs are a no-go for me.
• I'm leaning towards a computerized tracking mount (is that what they call GoTo?) that's not crazy expensive but still does a great job with self-alignment and tracking for astrophotography. In this case, EQ mounts, I think, are far beyond my budget, right?
• Budget-wise, I've got around $500-600 to work with, including all the necessary extras.
• Portability is a plus, but I'm willing to compromise a lil bit on that aspect.
• Since I'm on the lookout for a telescope to stick with me for years, I'm hoping to find one that doesn't limit what I can do with it, though I get that there might be some natural limits in things like image quality based on its design.

In my research, the closest I've come across is the Celestron Astro Fi 130 Wireless Reflecting Telescope. It's priced around $470 on Amazon and the pro reviews look promising.

I’m totally open to your suggestions, even if it means combining different bits and pieces to get the perfect setup. Please feel free to share any advice. I'm all ears for your experiences and recommendations. Just ping me 🙂

Thanks a bunch for helping me out.

[gaunt fractal]

There’s no telescopes that are good at planets and deep sky, those require essentially the exact opposite optics. Same is true to a lesser extend for visual vs photography.

As you can’t get a decent deep sky photography setup for your budget, I’d recommend getting a USED 8” Dobsonian next; your budget should allow for that plus one or two nice eyepieces. With the Dobsonian visual is spectacular and you can do planetary photography.

(For a setup for deep sky photography, for good results, realistically you’ll need to spend at least $3k.)

Don’t buy optics on Amazon; check local Astro club or Craigslist for used dob listings; if you have to buy new use a professional astronomy dealer where you can get proper support.

[fading prism]

If you want a good setup for visual, planetary photography and deepsky photography you'd be looking at yeah around 2k€

So like 3k$ as Thomas said

[fading prism]

It's not about that

It's about the fact that he wants an all in all setup

[fading prism]

Something like a quattro 150, eq5 pro, guiding(maybe), powerbank, camera

[gaunt fractal]

You can good (not just ok) planetary for $500, and good (not just ok) deep-sky for $3,000. (Prices when you literally don’t have anything.) ¯_(ツ)_/¯