What Type Of Telescope Is Best For...?

What type of telescope is best for Deep Space Viewing, i am wanting to get in to astro-photography, and ive been reading some things on Mak-C scopes and im thinking that a 8" Mak is a good starting point... But i want some other opinions, i want to be able to see and photograph in pretty good quality things like andromeda, the orion nebula, seven sisters, etc... I live at a dark sky site, so transportation is not an issue.