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William Optics ZS66 - any good for astrophotography?

blinky

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blinky

blinky

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OK I seem to be answering my own questions :)

Magnification is focul LENGTH divided by EP Focul Length correct :)

So this will give me a wider FoV Than my 8" Newt :D

Come on folks help me decide! Is this worth the money? Will it give a nice wide FoV with my ToUCam or should I save me had earned dosh for something else? Like a real astro cam?

Help me :) :) :D

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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OK I seem to be answering my own questions :D

Magnification is focul LENGTH divided by EP Focul Length correct :)

correct.

So this will give me a wider FoV Than my 8" Newt :)

correct. The ZS66 has a focal length of only 388mm. So your "6mm" Toucam will give a magnification of just 65x, rather than 167x with your newt.

OK I seem to be answering my own questions :D

Magnification is focul LENGTH divided by EP Focul Length correct :)

So this will give me a wider FoV Than my 8" Newt :)

Come on folks help me decide! Is this worth the money? Will it give a nice wide FoV with my ToUCam or should I save me had earned dosh for something else? Like a real astro cam?

Help me :) :) :)

I would personally say go for it. It's got a tiny aperture, but it's very capable. You should also consider the ED80, which is very popular for astrophotography. And it's the focal RATIO (f/5.9 with the 66) that counts more than aperture when it comes to astrophotography, so I've heard.

If you want to spend £200 odd on a lovely little frac that you can take out on a whim, definitely go for it.

Andrew

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GordonCopestake

GordonCopestake

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Make sure you get the FD version if you can afford it. Or at least the SD version. The Petzvaal version will give you a nice flat field but will show you some false colour. The Synta ED80 has better optics than the SD and will cost you about the same. The ED80 is physically much larger though and doesn't have as nice a focuser. Depends on what is more import to you. Optics or build quality. The FD version has both.

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blinky

blinky

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Here is what the ad says:

William Optics ZS66 Apo, Cased as new!

You know the beastie - Perfect in every way, and supplied in it's own Ali flightcase.

This one is the lovely blue colour - Asking just £199 + P&P of your choice.

Is it worth the asking price? How do I know what version it is?

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GordonCopestake

GordonCopestake

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Ahh the ZS66 that Andy Stentiford is selling is practically brand new. They are £250 new http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_product.php?id=481

so you are saving yourself 50 quid. Nice 'scope and massivly superiour optics to the Skywatcher 120 which is an achro. The aperture is much less though so it depends on what you want. For photography I would go with the ZS66 as it will show little or no false colour compared to the achro and have no difraction spikes like a newt would.

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Kaptain Klevtsov

Kaptain Klevtsov

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Blinky, the focal length of the 120mm f/5 achro is 600mm (and so is the ED80) so the image scale will not be massively different to the Newt with the FR in. The ZS66 at 388mm would be much more of a widefield view with your webcam. Didn't you get a 400mm camera lens to play with recently? Should be very similar to what you can expect with the ZS66 regarding the FOV. My estimate is that you could just about get the whole moon on the chip at that focal length.

Captain Chaos

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Kai

Kai

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I dont know about a modded toucam,but with my 66/350D combo you need to get a extension to be able to focus,obviously if you are using a diagonal then you might get away with it.

If you look at the eclipse photos that i took recently,they were taken on the above combination so you should get some idea of scale.

Also i have some Dso pictures taken with my Atik 16 and 66

HTH

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blinky

blinky

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I did get a 200mm lens but the lens seems to suffer from a lot of coma (I think thats the term? gulls wings?) anyway I think the ZS66 is more aperature than the 200mm lens and from the replies and from CC 'specially regarding the FoV I think it best to stick with it.

BTW is the ZS66 an APO or something and what does that mean?

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blinky

blinky

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I dont know about a modded toucam,but with my 66/350D combo you need to get a extension to be able to focus,obviously if you are using a diagonal then you might get away with it.

If you look at the eclipse photos that i took recently,they were taken on the above combination so you should get some idea of scale.

Also i have some Dso pictures taken with my Atik 16 and 66

HTH

It's never easy this is it! So.....I might need to get an extension tube. I dont think it comes with a diagonal is that correct?

Am I better getting an extension tube or a diagonal?

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Helen

Helen

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I think you could use this Rigel SCT to 2" Adaptor instead of the WO one (only £15.99!) http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_products.php?category=98&offset=10&offset=20 (check with Ian King) and because its quite long you might not need an extension tube as well. Best bet is to ring and talk through with Ian - he really knows his stuff and is always helpful.

Helen

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