Celestron C90

[blind pew]

Is the standard 32mm lense that comes with the C90 a good one or should I change it.If so can anyone recommend a good quality lense that dosnt cost the earth.Are the lenses that come in the celestron kit of better quality as they seem to be good value for the money.Thanks in advance for your help.I must add that I have not bought a C90 yet but I am about to.

[E621Keith]

I have never used the C90, but here is a review for it

Celestron C90 Maksutov-Cassegrain - Review

I am not sure what eyepiece comes with the scope. The review seemed to suggest plossl, which are decent, but most scopes in the sub £200 price range comes with MA, Huygens, or Ramsden eyepiece which are very poor. However, a 32mm eyepiece won't be too bad.

The Celestron eyepiece kit is nice, but the Revelation kit is a bit cheaper.

First Light Optics - Eyepiece Sets

The C90 is a spotting scope, so I'll assume you buy it for terrestrial or dual use for terrestrial and astro. If are are after a scope for astronomy only, you should also consider a Skywatcher 130p or 150p dob.

[blind pew]

Thanks for the reply.I know nothing about scopes or astronomy which is I am asking for advice. I want to use it for astronomy and it is the ease of portability that attracted me plus if I wanted to upgrade I could sell it as a spotting scope.

[E621Keith]

If you are just starting out in Astronomy, I'd recommend getting a pair of 10x50 binoculars first.

e.g.

First Light Optics - Celestron Nature 10x50 Porro

First Light Optics - Opticron Aspheric WA ZWCF GA 8x40

You can buy a telescope once you are more familiar with the hobby. The C90 does not appear to come with a tripod or any support. It will cost you an additional £80 or more to buy a tripod solid enough for astronomy. A 130p dob is cheaper (£135) and come with everything you need except eyepieces. (The 130p kit eyepieces are poor). The only drawback is the 130p cannot be used for terrestrial viewing. Other alternatives include Skywatcher 102 (£165 OTA - i.e. no tripod or accessories), 150p (£197), Vixen VMC110L (£195 OTA)

[nicnac]

The C90 is pretty much the same as my mak90, a slow telescope that will be fine for lunar, some planets and doubles, with it being a slow scope, eyepieces dont have to be the bees knees.

Dont bother with eyepieces less than 10mm, i find they give way too much mag to be useful, a 12mm 18mm 25mm and 32mm should do you very well.

as was said in an earlier post, look at dobs if/when the astro bug bites

[johninderby]

The latest version of the C90 has the same optics as the SkyWatcher 90 Mak but in a nicer tube. The eyepiece that comes with it is actually a nice eyepiece, much better quality than the eyepieces that come with SkyWatcher scopes. The finder is poor but at least the scope has the standard Synta type dovetail shoe and it does come with a backpack. I'd replace the diagonal with a proper 90 degree star diagonal though.

I used one, and it was a very nice little scope, but I replaced it with a bigger Mak.

John

[blind pew]

I have taken the advice from E621KEITH and ordered a pair of pentax 10x50 bins.I also have a decent tripod for them.I have never seen a C90 so I dont know if the tripod would be man enough for it but I doubt it.Would a skywatcher star travel 120 be a better scope to start with.It seems more sensible to buy a scope with a tripod.

[E621Keith]

Glad to hear you chose the Pentax. The Pentax PCF 10x50 is said to be one of the best 10x50 binocular for astronomy. The only reason I didn't recommend it initially was the price. A number of bright DSO such as the Andromeda galaxy and Pleiades are really well place at this time of the year, and will make excellent first targets for your new binoculars.

The star travel 120 is a fast (F5) achromatic refractor, so chromatic aberration will be a problem. It is designed as a rich field refractor, but your new binocular will cover that nicely. Also, I think a ST120 is heavier than a C90, so it will perform worse if mounted to a light weight tripod. If your budget is below £300, I'll keep to Newtonian reflectors (e.g. 150p) or Maks (skymax 127).