> Your 12" can do the job, but at those long focal lengths (even with a
> reducer), you're in for some real challenges. Best of luck.
Don't feel too badly though - almost every imager I've met has started out this way (with an SCT). And almost all of them that are still doing it would agree that it was "doing it the hard way".
Remember though that I am confining my comments to CCD'ing. If you are interested in general observing, and just "dipping your toes" into imaging, then the SCT is probably the best choice. They are very versatile instruments. They can do many, many things well, and will show you more than the short FL refractor mentioned. The mount will also be more convenient for general observing than a heavy astrophoto mount. You can also go a very long way with just treating the SCT as a big mount and piggybacking a short FL refractor on top to do your imaging.
You can always sell it later and buy other gear if you completely "catch the imaging bug".
We should probably move the discussion to TAC-Imaging (on Yahoo Groups) if we go much further with this.
Pete