My Latest Budget Astrophotography Build

I recently assembled a budget astrophotography rig to capture deep-sky objects in my backyard. While I knew this system would be very capable, I was astonished by the quality of the pictures I took with it.

Astrophotography (and photography in general) can be an expensive hobby with high-end equipment often costing thousands of dollars. While there are cheaper options available for beginners or those on a tight budget, they usually come with certain limitations in quality or functionality.

This rig offers a fully capable setup, at a more affordable price, without compromising on performance. It’s designed to capture stunning deep-sky objects while keeping costs lower than many premium alternatives, making it an ideal choice for those wanting to get serious about astrophotography without breaking the bank.

For those of you looking to build a rig on a budget, I think you are really going to enjoy this post. 

Quick Summary: Total $2,650 USD. 

• Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ-AL55i ($760 USD)
• Telescope: SVBONY SV550 ($730 USD)
• Camera: ZWO ASI585MC Pro ($599 USD)
• Control System: ZWO ASIAIR Mini ($249 USD)
• Guide Scope: William Optics 32mm guide scope ($114 USD)
• Guide Camera: ZWO ASI120MM Mini ($199 USD)

It’s important to note that “beginner” doesn’t always mean “cheap.” Many entry-level setups are designed with simplicity in mind but still have a price tag that reflects quality and performance.

Astrophotography requires precise equipment to capture clear, detailed images of distant objects, so even beginner gear can be an investment. The key is finding the right balance between affordability and capability—equipment that is approachable for beginners but powerful enough to grow with you as your skills improve.

The Budget Build

With a nearly full moon and clouds on the way, I had limited time to capture my target, so I had to move quickly. I decided to go after an emission nebula—the Monkey Head Nebula in Orion.

I’d never captured this one before, and it seemed like a great fit for the camera and telescope I was using.

I chose this target because it emits a strong signal in H-alpha, which allowed me to capture a decent image despite the bright moonlight.

My budget astrophotography build featuring the SVBONY SV550 refractor telescope. 

Galaxy season can be tough for those who shoot with a wide-field refractor telescope (or a smart telescope), as many of them appear very small using a wide field of view (500mm or less). 

However, there are a few great options in late March if you have a clear view of the western sky. 

Tracking Telescope Mount

The inspiration for this build was a new intermediate-level mount that I believe could be a big hit with the amateur astro community in 2025. 

At $760 USD, the Sky-Watcher EQ-AL55i costs about the same as the Star Adventurer GTi but can handle double the payload at 22 pounds.

While it’s not a premium strain wave mount, I was hoping it would overperform for its price range, and I kept a close eye on my guiding graph. 

This mount feels like a mini EQ6-R Pro, although it is much lighter and easier to transport. 

Sky-Watcher EQ-AL55i Specs:

• Mount type: Equatorial
• Payload capacity: 22 pounds (9.97kg)
• Saddle type: V-style
• Head size: 286mm x 241mm x 133mm
• Head weight: 8.2 pounds (3.7kg)
• Tripod Weight: 11.5 pounds
• Polar Scope: Yes, illuminated
• Tracking Modes: Sideral, Solar, Lunar

Your mount needs to be able to support the load of all your gear, including your telescope, camera, guide scope, and any additional accessories like filters or cables.

Choosing a mount with the appropriate payload capacity is one of the most important factors in ensuring smooth tracking and accurate imaging.

Other Budget Mounts:

• Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i (~$450): A highly popular option among beginner astrophotographers, the Star Adventurer 2i is a portable star tracker that offers accurate tracking for wide-field astrophotography. It has a payload capacity of 11 pounds, making it great for use with DSLRs and smaller telescopes.
• Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi (~$700): a step up from the 2i, offering GoTo capabilities with an 11-pound payload capacity. It’s a hybrid between a star tracker and a GoTo mount. It can be controlled via Wi-Fi and is ideal for beginners looking for an affordable, automated tracking option.

Related Article: The Best Astrophotography Mounts in 2025 (From Beginner to Pro)

Astrophotography Telescope

For this session, the SVBONY SV550 made its debut. This triplet apochromatic refractor has a focal length of just under 500mm and an f-ratio of F/6. You can pick one up on Amazon for about $730 USD, which includes a field flattener.

This air-spaced triplet uses FPL-51 glass to produce images with good color correction. I’ll need to wait for a full test once the moon is gone before shooting unfiltered.

The SVBONY SV550 Air-Spaced Triplet Apochromatic Refractor.

So far, I am quite impressed with the SV550’s performance. While I don’t expect the star point performance of a higher-end astrograph like the Askar SQA55, I think it’s a solid option for astrophotographers on a budget. 

Again, the real test of the SVBONY SV550’s optics will be shown when I take some unfiltered broadband images. 

SVBONY SV550 Specifications

• Aperture: 80mm
• Focal Length: 480mm
• Optical Design: Air-Spaced Triplet APO
• Focal Ratio: F/6
• Weight: 8.2 lbs (3.75 kg)

Field Flattener

If your primary interest is astrophotography with the SVBONY SV550 (not visual astronomy), I highly recommend buying the dedicated 1X field flattener with the telescope.  

While you can buy the telescope optical tube and flattener separately, I wouldn’t recommend attaching your camera to the SV550 without it. The field flattener corrects the image field for better astrophotography images. 

The SVBONY SV209 1X Field Flatenner.

It looks like SVBONY offers a 0.8X focal reducer/flattener as well, but I have not tested that particular unit myself. 

Other Budget Telescopes:

• Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED: This is a popular choice for beginners in astrophotography.  It’s a doublet apochromatic refractor with a focal length of 420mm and an f-ratio of F/5.8. While it delivers good optical quality for under $500, you’ll want to pick up the field flattener as well. 
• William Optics Zenithstar 73 APO: Another apochromatic refractor, this telescope comes with a 430mm focal length and f-ratio of F/5.9. Priced around $700, it is a highly regarded scope in the astrophotography community for its optical quality and build.

Astrophotography Camera 

I attached one of the most affordable, cooled, dedicated astronomy cameras on the market: the ZWO ASI585MC Pro. This is a popular choice for those entering the world of dedicated astronomy cameras in place of a DSLR.

Although I was tempted to use the slightly larger ZWO ASI533MC Pro for this build, I stuck to the tight budget idea, and this camera holds the top spot in that category. Of course, you could use an old DSLR instead, but it wouldn’t be cooled or modified for astrophotography.

One quirk of the ASI585MC Pro is its long, narrow sensor, so I had to keep that in mind when framing my target. However, it was a great match for the telescope in terms of image scale at 1.2 arc-seconds per pixel.

ZWO ASI585MC Pro Specs

• Sensor: 1/1.2″ CMOS Sony-IMX585AAQJ1-C
• Resolution: 3840 x 2160
• ADC: 12bit
• FPS: 46.9fps
• Full well: 40Ke
• Cooling temperature: 50℃
• QE: 91%
• Pixel Size: 2.9µm

The ZWO ASI585MC Pro one-shot-color dedicated astronomy camera.

Controlling the Telescope

There are many ways to run an imaging session, but none are easier than using the ASIAIR and a tablet. For this session, I used the ASIAIR Mini, the most affordable model in the lineup at $249 USD.

This is the perfect solution if you have very limited clear sky time, like I did, and need to maximize every minute. The ASIAIR Mini handled everything, from polar alignment to autoguiding and taking the pictures.

Using station mode, I had a strong connection on my tablet, so I could keep tabs on the session while I was downstairs.

To control the Sky-Watcher EQ-AL55i mount, I used an EQMOD cable (shown below). This plugs into the hand controller port of the telescope mount and allows you to utilize plate-solving with the ASIAIR.

This is the cable you need to connect the Sky-Watcher mount to the ASIAIR for telescope control. 

The SkyAtlas on the ASIAIR allows me to choose an object, and the mount will find and center it. 

Autoguiding Combo

For autoguiding, I kept things bare-bones. I mounted a William Optics 32mm guide scope from a RedCat to the top of the SV550, paired with an ASI120mm Mini—a monochrome planetary/guide camera that has never let me down.

This combo added almost no weight and allowed me to shoot longer exposures, up to five minutes. I like the 32mm UniGuide model, but there are many alternatives, including the ZWO 30mm version. 

The ZWO ASI120MM Mini is a fantastic little guide camera for the price. 

I suggest using whichever guide scope you already have. A simple 50mm guide scope with a 200mm focal length will work fine. If you don’t own one yet, the mini guide scope I mentioned works great on a wide-field rig. 

Here is a look at my guiding graph using the Sky-Watcher EQ-AL55i mount on the Monkey Head Nebula. With passing clouds, I experienced a total RMS error of 1.17″ – but this improved to below 0.8″ later on. 

My guiding graph using the Sky-Watcher EQ-AL55i mount. 

Light Pollution Filter

I regularly use light pollution filters to capture better images from my backyard in the city. They help me produce images with better contrast and a healthy signal-to-noise ratio. 

For this project, I chose the Optolong L-Extreme filter. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere with less light pollution (I’m in a Bortle 6), you could skip the filter, but moonlight is still something you’d have to deal with.

The Optolong L-Extreme, priced at around $300, is my go-to for nights like this. It’s a duo-narrowband filter that captures a healthy signal-to-noise ratio, even with a bright moon.

There are cheaper alternatives, like the SVBONY Dual-Band OSC filter, though I haven’t tried that one yet.

The SVBONY Dual-Band OSC filter is a cheaper alternative to the Optolong L-eXtreme filter.

Astrophotography Results

Based on the time of year and moon phase, I chose to capture the Monkey Head Nebula. The Orion constellation is on its way out for the year, but this target lies just above the hunter, on the border of Gemini.

This nebula is often overlooked because of its proximity to all-star objects like the Orion Nebula and the Horsehead Nebula. So, if you want something different to capture in March, try NGC 2175.

My final image of the Monkey Head Nebula (60 x 4-minutes).

My final image included a total of 4 hours of exposure time, which was enough to process it the way I wanted. Emission nebulae captured with dual-narrowband filters have the benefit of tight stars and punchy details.

For this image, I separated the nebulous regions from the stars to process them independently from one another. This nebula contains a lot of hydrogen gas, giving it a red appearance in a natural RGB palette.

Recommended Accessories

You can use your smartphone to control the ASIAIR, but a larger tablet makes it much more fun. This lets you see the image previews in a much larger format and keep your astrophotography session (and WiFi connection) separate from your phone. 

I currently use a Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 (2022 version), which has been discontinued. A suitable replacement is the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 (11″), shown below. This model can handle the ASIAIR mobile app with ease, and can be used for many other tasks as well. 

Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 11″ Tablet.

To extend the range of your signal, make sure you utilize the Station Mode feature on the ASIAIR WiFi connection options. For it to work properly, connect to the 2.5 GHz band. 

Conclusion

Trevor Jones is an astrophotographer and a valued member of the RASC. His passion is inspiring others to start their astrophotography journey on YouTube so they can appreciate the night sky as much as he does. His images have been featured in astronomy books & online publications, including the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD).

Related Content:

• SVBONY SV555 Telescope Review
• The Best Smart Telescopes in 2025
• Building a Deep Sky Astrophotography Kit