Celestron or Skywatcher

[Radders]

Hi, I've been looking at scopes and wondered what people thought was the better scope between the Skymax 127 SynScan AZ GOTO Telescope and the Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT Maksutov Telescope? They seem quite similar to me. Is there subtle differences between them?

Can either of these be used for Astrophotography? I know that its a whole different world from just observing but would like to have go. Think my dad has a dslr so that's a start.

Thanks.

[onesmallstep]

Hi

Given that both scopes are made by the same parent company (Synta) the differences would be so marginal as not to impact on usage. Given the choice the Skywatcher has several good reviews in its corner so my own preference would be for the Skymax.

Is there an astro club local to you so that you could see for yourself before making a final decision?

HTH!

[RikM]

Both nice visual scopes and quite good for imaging the moon and planets using a webcam. They are not really a good choice for DSLR unless you mean single shots of the moon. You would need very long exposures to capture the light from faint deep sky objects.

[Chris H]

You could use them with a web cam for imaging solar system objects but if you want to take long exposure photos of DSO's the alt/az mount won't do, you really need a German Equatorial Mount (GEM) and a sturdy one at that otherwise you will get field rotation in your images.

[brantuk]

Well - dslr's are used for long exposure dso photography which you won't be able to do on an alt/az mount - you'd need an equatorial mount for that. You may be able to get reasonable results on planets though - but a webcam is the better camera for that.

The two OTA's are pretty identical - the SW handset has more objects programmed into it. They'll both be great on the planets and you'll be able to see all the brighter dso's too. Not a lot to pick between them in all honesty

[twotter]

Doesn't the Celestron have SkyAlign, making for an easier setup?

Give FLO a call when they're back from their Christmas break for the full sp.

[Radders]

Thanks for the replies. I'm quite happy just to get pics of the planets and the Moon and see how that goes. I've not yet been to my local astro club but will be going down there on their next meet. Was gonna make a journey up to Rother Valley Optics on Saturday. Does anybody know if they're open? Tried ringing them earlier today but no answer.

[Aoraki]

I would think that most places like them (small) are of until 3rd Jan

[Dunkster]

Plenty to more to see (visually!) with either of these than just the planets and the moon! As others have said, the mount will prevent you from taking any long exposure shots, but you get great shots of the moon and larger planets... the Maks supposedly give great contrast because of the corrector plate, but I'm sure someone will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong

I have the Celestron version - there was only a few £££ in it when I bought mine - but besides the handset software, I don't believe there's anything in it otherwise.