william optics 66 zenithstar for imaging

[Daniel-K]

just been offerd one to get started in imaging has any one get anything to say about these and what type of stuff i can expext to image

[Greg]

Great scope.. I have one, took this with it at Lucksall...

Portable..

Rotatable focuser

Just great..

Taken with an Atik Titan.. Guided on an HEQ5

[Daniel-K]

wow thats sweet but i will be using a dslr will this get widefield shots?

[Greg]

You'll get widefield with the dslr....

I took a load with my Canon and the WO66, just trying to find them, I used my ED80 with the dslr, but I remember taking widefield using the 66.

If i find them i'll post them for you to see..

Greg

[Daniel-K]

thanks greg

[Glen]

I can't advise on the 66 but WO build quality is fantastic, realy nice to use, look at, and look through.

The one thing I find, is a field flattener helps when imaging.

[ollypenrice]

I started imaging with one of these. Pretty decent though in my view the focuser is a bit lightweight, certainly for CCD, and won't carry big CCDs. You have to keep it tight and well adjusted.

I have the dedicated 66 reducer/flattener which is no longer available but there are others that work. You will certainly need one.

If you don't already have a 66 there is an alternative that comes up second hand quite often, the TeleVue Pronto. I have one of these as well and in terms of quality the Pronto is miles ahead with a focuser that would lift a small tank. For some reason they go for less than the 66 despite having cost about a thousand pounds in the nineties. (!!!) Worth considering. Mine was 200 pounds.

But they both make a great scope for widefield imaging. This is a narrowband from the 66 on an Atik 16HR. The haloes are not from the scope but the Astronomik Ha filter, now replaced.

Olly

[Daniel-K]

thanks olly but i was woundering what i can expect from say a 350d

[ollypenrice]

thanks olly but i was woundering what i can expect from say a 350d

With the big chip you will need the flattener for sure but you'd get similar reults.

Olly

[Daniel-K]

hi olly i picked up the william optics zs 66 ed petzval today its great it came in its original case with 2" diagonal and the original field flattner going to have first light tonight just waitg on the dslr now and im good to go

[Catanonia]

Look at my super mosiac in the Deep Sky section. This is done using the same scope.

[Whippy]

hi olly i picked up the william optics zs 66 ed petzval today its great it came in its original case with 2" diagonal and the original field flattner going to have first light tonight just waitg on the dslr now and im good to go

Are you sure you have the Petzval? IIRC, that didn't have the same level of colour correction as the SD APO models so it's not ideal for imaging.

Tony..