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Jeremy Phillips FRAS: If I could afford one, so could millions of others. We would probably run into some very severe drought problems. |
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My first "big " purchase was a 600€ skywatcher refractor for visual use. Nowadays, 600€ is the price I'm willing to pay for some fancy CNC parts for one of the remotely hosted setups. That should tell you everyting you need. |
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Given the almost permanent cloud cover in Southern Finland now, and the lack of astronomical darkness in summer, far too much to justify the expenditure / return But then, when I think about it, most of my gear was acquired whilst working in Saudi, on a tax free income and no sales taxes until recently, so i should regard it as free  I feel better now. I'd estimate 10k easily, in a relatively short period of time. Which is small potatoes compared to most here. It isn't a cheap hobby. Luckily I'm at a point where i have realised that I'm better off spending TIME improving my processing than spending MONEY to aquire bigger and better. |
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| I’m probably right around $10,000 in 3 years. |
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Having gotten into this at the age of 14, I can conservatively say everything. But in ways that go past money, I can say this investment has certainly returned itself! |
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So far, I've spent: $1630 Celestron AVX and C8-N combo $200 ASIair Mini $150 ASI 120mm mini $150 Orion deluxe 50mm guidescope $1200 Telescope dolly $100 Telescope dolly straps $20 ASIair connection cables $100 AC adaptor $3400 Canon EOS R5 $2100 Canon RF24-70 $380 Peak Design travel tripod $200 Photoshop plugins $20/month for Photoshop and Lightroom Total without tax: $9,630 + $20/month With sales tax: $10,328.17 + $20/month That does not include my photography-specific equipment |
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Over the years I've done a lot of buying and selling of gear - I guess it's an always evolving number. Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6 Pro Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Losmandy GM-8 (492 digital drive) - used Losmandy G11 (492 digital drive) - used Current: Losmandy G11 Gemini - used Scopes: Skywatcher 8" F/5 newt. Saxon 152/7 Achro Orion ST80 William Optics Megrez 102 Celestron C11 XLT William Optics ZS66 William Optics Megrez 90 William Optics ZS71 GSO 8" CF RC TMB/LOMO 80/480 Intes 7" Mak Cass Current: Askar 65PHQ Cameras: Nikon D300 QHY5 QHY8 Orion Star shoot pro QHY9 SBIG ST8XME SBIG ST10XE SBIG ST2000C SBIG ST8300M Current: SBIG ST8300M - Yep... Sold one, then bought another about 10 years later... Current: ASI 120mm mini Filterwheels: SBIG CFW8 SBIG CFW8 FLI 5-7 (for the first ST8300M) Current: SBIG FW8-8300 (for the 2nd ST8300M) Filters: Astronomik L/R/G/B/H/S/O 1.25" Astrodon LRGB (type 2) 50mm unmounted Astrodon 3nm H/S/O 50mm unmounted Current: Baader L/R/G/B 36mm unmounted Current: Antlia 3nm H/S/O 36mm unmounted Cables/Adapters/Converters etc: Don't even want to begin to think about it. Software: Photoshop MaximDL CCDSoft TheSkyX RBAstro tools Its safe to say I've spent a lot... but I can tell you this, I have never come close to what I would spend if I was reckless. The dream list: Home setup: Permanent Pier AP 1100GTO AP 155 FLI 16803 Astrodon filters 50mm square Travel/Dark Sky Setup: Tak FSQ85 ZWO ASI6200MC Pro Losmandy G11 Gemini |
2.15
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| $7000 CAD since I started 5 months ago. |
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Some great replies here. Don’t forget to budget for the time too. OpEx always exceeds CapEx. Since I started, I would have done about 2000 hours in observing/preparation and at least another 1000 hours in processing. (Not counting when I am asleep). At a skilled tradespersons rates (USD40/hour?) thats around USD120000 in opportunity costs. Even with the cost of building an observatory, this is probably 4x what I have spend on gear. |
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Dale Penkala: I am in the same situation (time wise - my costs are, of course, different). I started doing the hobby in about 1992-93 so have also got 30 years under my belt. During that time I have owned 7 different mounts and around 15 different scopes. I now have 4 scopes and two mounts in two different locations. Since I have bought and sold things over the years (including two remote observatory interests), keeping track of dollar amounts would be futile and as long as hobby costs do not represent a significant part of one's net worth, probably not important. I would have to say that the total at any given time is less than, to use a "normal person" example, a good but not exotic motor home. Plus astronomy equipment (unlike motor homes) is not typically bought with a loan, so real expense is even less. When I feel bad about what I have spent, that is what I look at, those poor saps with giant motor homes and the loans to match.  That comparison first occurred to me when driving to a remote site and stuck behind one of those traffic plugs. Fortunately, my wife has been great about it all, as long as it is not above the aforementioned significant part of our net worth. |
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Actually, I don't know, I have to ask my wife how much I (we) have spent in this hobby, she takes care of our budget, and we have been married for 36 years. A very happy marriage if you ask me, I hope she thinks the same way. Her hobby has to do with gardening and, I don't ask her for the cost of the tools and gadgets she use.  So, she produces even some food and I provide some nice images and, from time to time she comes into the observatory to have a look at the moon and planets. It is a kind of win - win situation.
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Fun thread here and lots of relatable posts. I been into "astrophotography" since the early 90s and I would have to sit down a really think about all I have spent on this hobby. Really it is a tiered progression. As my professional work life has evolved and earned more, my "hobby" has jumped levels. So now with a big AP mount, domed observatory, etc... I really think it been a progress of my expectations of what I can do. Sure I will spend more and eventually move to a remote site (either hosted or by my own land in AZ/NM). All this said, my frequent line to the wife is...I could be at the bar at 11:30pm or sitting in the office taking pretty pictures...what do you prefer?  |
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Let’s see… ES AR 102 ES ED 102 1x and .7x flattener meade lx85 mount stepper motor belt eqmod kit for lx85 zwo am5 with counterweight, CF tripod and pier askar 65phq asi294mm pro asi120mm mini asi174mm mini wo 50mm guidescope svbony 60mm guidescope zwo 7x filter wheel with filters celestron .7x reducer edge hd8 celestron oag celestron eclipsmart A new i7 with ssd and a 4070ti oc 2tb usbc ssd asiair plus pixinsight xterminator suite various connectors and cables… OFFICAIL value is $1200 ;P |
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Sean Mc: That looks more like around $20,000 |
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| Shhh!! |
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I tried to buy as cheaply as possible , many second hand eq6 mount : €900 ts 102/714 : 250€ Zwo 1600mm + efw and lrgbsho filters : 950€ Antlia Oiii 3nm : 360€ Pegasus ppba with dew heaters : 180€ Zwo 120mm : 110€ Oag : 80€ Diy observatory with Motorized opening : 300€ computer, ipx, diy weather station : around 200€ diy Flip flat box & diy focuser : 60€ security caméras : 90 Everything is full automated and i dont have anything to do except prepare plans on Nina. doublet is not so Bad (take a look at my galery ;) ) total : 3480€ If we count what I had bought before, with the "loss" of resale, I barely reach a total of 4000 in 3 years |
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| I just started and have $5-6 thousand :-0 and i'm looking at another... my wife wants a new car sorry honey...LOL |
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| Too much and 2 relationships.....that's dedication 😂😂 |
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| I would say about 8,000 euros in 11 years, including a lot of stuff that I am not using any more. |
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Ive spent a fair bit on gear over the last 30 years but i reckon i have spent even more on travelling to proper skies. Easily 6 figures all told. Worth every penny. |
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| Years ago, I asked a friend who was deep into astrophotography if he had any advice for a relative of mine who was considering starting into the field. He said, "I've got one word for him: DON'T!" My friend said he had spent about $25,000 over the previous decade in the hobby. Since that time, about 15 years ago, I've spent nearly $20,000 -- and I am nowhere near any kind of serious practitioner. Question: "How can you get to be a millionaire in astrophotography?" Answer, "Start with ten million!" Yikes! |
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Val Germann: It's true that you wont be able to make big money with astrophotography because many people either don't know about it, pay attention to it, or care about it, and therefore your art will not be popular in any big way. But you can still sell prints and make profit; not much, but something. I would forget about online selling; you are exposing your art to thieves and will only make a few cents or couple dollars' profit per image. Another way to make good money is to offer "processing services" on a website; one guy did that and was making a clean $100 per final image while (possibly) having fun with the data. Problem with that is they probably have very few costumers, because not very many people have astrophotography equipment or can use it. I think by far the way to make the most money is to sell whole datasets over and over again to people; you can make $50 easily per dataset. I think Bray Falls is selling datasets too, like his Andromeda Arc. |
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| Enough that you lock eyes with your soulmate over a few glasses of wine at dinner and state - sooo...if something were to happen to me, um, pay off the house with the shelves of stuff you see over there. Value appreciation is crazy in this supply chain I'm hearing. Would you like more bread? Then change the subject or pour more. Maybe do both. |
2.11
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 I started as a visual observer and a 20"f5 dob with a case full of Nagler's. I now have several large dobs and too many Nagler eyepieces and filters to count. Now with the Photographic gear I started to use in 2018 it's getting a bit silly. I took out the Pool and filled the space so I could install a shed to take all of my telescopes. I then cemented half the yard so I could roll the scopes out of the shed so I could set up to shoot. I would hate to put a figure on it but all up now somewhere conservatively in the realm of 70K. I have a problem...... It's easier to take a photo than to list the items not there. The original 20" f5 (hector) being rebuilt (more $$$), the ASI2600MC camera, ASIAIR Plis and Mini, the 10"LX200 Meade, the 8" Bintel f4 astrograph, the 300P Skywatcher Quattro, the Original Star Adventurer, the 135mm Samyang f2 lens and the 300mm f2.8 Nikon lens.
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