Is a 102mm f5.5 achro refractor good for a beginner?

[atomic tapir]

my only other scope is a powerseeker 60AZ, and while people tell me i should get a dobsonian, i feel like a short refractor is better. is a 102mm f5-f6 good? Or should i get a 5-6 inch dobsonian?

[burnt kite]

Depends on what you want to do with it, reason why people say to get a dobsonsian is because they're easier to use and in general have longer focal length so you can look at planets. Dobs also don't have the same amount of chromatic aberration than a cheap achro

[atomic tapir]

can i do astrophotography on a dobsonian? cause once i move onto astrophotography and solar, i dont plan on buying a new one.

also i want a more medium-ish to short focal length, especially one that can serve as a grab and go

[winged yarrow]

Well now it becomes a budget thing, you can do astrophotography with a dob but it is kinda hard cuz its not tracked

[burnt kite]

The achro wouldn't be good either, assuming no tracking mount. Being achro would also make stars horrible

[atomic tapir]

is it because the achromatic lenses make it less crisp, due to it being a short scope?

[atomic tapir]

could you put a 5 or 6 inch dobsonian on a tracking mount?

[winged yarrow]

Yeah, a dobson is just a newtonian on a dobson mount, just make sure the dob is a solid tube and you can use tube rings with dovetail rail to mount it on a EQ mount

[atomic tapir]

alright

[winged yarrow]

So no flextube dobs :)

[atomic tapir]

i was planning on looking at an 8 or 10 inch dobsonian, but as a beginner im not really spending so much, and it wont be a grab and go, so i settled on a 5 inch dob

[winged yarrow]

Which one?

[atomic tapir]

thats another thing

so many 5 inch and 6 inch dobs out there

do you know a nicely priced one that is a grab and go? So i can always put it and a mount in the back of a car and go to the desert

[winged yarrow]

whats the budget?

5" are usually around the 250-ish, but maybe it is good to look at a 6" with a shorter focal length

[atomic tapir]

250ish dollars is around my budget yeah

i can always push a little bit higher though

[winged yarrow]

You could maybe find a used Bresser Messier 150/750

The dob ofc

[atomic tapir]

alright ill look into it thanks for the help

[burnt kite]

being achro it doesn't focus all the light in the same spot so you would get tons of fringing, the smaller aperture compared to the average dob doesn't help either

[atomic tapir]

is that why most short scopes use fluorite or ED glass?

it doesnt have colour fringin

also i found the bresser messier 5 inch dob

its only £225

thats great

[burnt kite]

yes ed helps with that

[burnt kite]

that's a good one

[signal finch]

Yo

[atomic tapir]

alright then, can it sport solar filters, light pollution filters and more?