Best Telescopes for Beginner Astrophotography

Beginner astrophotography is defined here as wide-field astrophotography - Milky Way, large emission nebula, and a few "nearby" galaxies. This entails small-aperture, short focal length apochromatic (APO) telescpes that most resemble large camera lenses.

Other criteria include compact size, low weight and relatively low price. Low weight is important for use with portable star tracker mounts. These scopes are portable and suitable for travel, in an airline carry-on bag and in a backpack. A scope that is easy to transport and use is a scope that is more often used, all other things being equal. The scopes listed here are simply easier to learn astrophotography with before moving on to "deep-space" astrophotography that is defined as much smaller-sized objects like planetary nebula and most galaxies.

5 Best Scopes for Wide-field Astrophotography

The beginner astro scopes here are ideal for imaging the Milky Way, large emission nebula, and large nearby galaxies.
See also Top 20 objects for wide-field astrophotography.

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Wide-field Honorable Mentions

These scopes are all good too but didn't quite make the cut in terms of low weight and/or price:

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Beginner-to-Intermediate

These fine scopes are no longer strictly "beginner" astrophotography scopes as they have longer focal lengths, are heavier, and a bit more difficult to set up and use compared to the scopes above. And they are more expensive and require a heavier, more expensive mount as well.