I bought my first telescope in spring 1982 when I was in the age of 16. I had been engaged in astronomy for a couple of years before, when I read my first books on astronomy and borrowed my grandpa's Swarovsky binoculars to gaze at the milky way. Once I was ready for the decision I spent my pocket money for an equatorially mounted 114/900mm newtonian telescope. I wanted to have the best aperture for my money and the opportunity to try some long-exposure astrophotos.

One year later I made my first attempts in astrophotography. First I used my sister's Minolta XG-1 before the battery fainted at the first 15 mlnute exposure So I got myself an old Minolta SRT 303 in a second hand store and tried to improve my photographic results with my 28mm, 50mm and 135mm lenses.

Eventually I ended up with some fine pictures you can find in the "Reinhard's Classics" gallery.