First Scope: Celestron 130 SLT

[SamB]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and am after some honest thoughts / user reviews on the Celestron 130 SLT telescope? I have had my eye on it a while and am considering taking the plunge and purchasing soon. After reading a few reviews online it would be great to see what people in this community have to say...

I am interested in this scope as it appears to meet my requirements and should enable me to hopefully couple up my Canon 40D to capture images of the moon etc.

Any responses would be greatly appreciated or even suggestions of alternative options if deemed better upto the £340 price.

Sam

[DOBBY]

Hi Sam... & welcome to the forum

It will indeed enable you to capture images of the moon & planets...but, the mount is not suited for long exposures or deep space, an equatorial mount is needed.

[SamB]

Thanks Dobby for your comment; I will bear that in mind.

It would be good to hear of actual owners thoughts re the telescope overall if any are out there...I live in Portsmouth and would prefer to see this up close before purchasing but there do not appear to be any shops within 50+ miles! It is quite an expensive purchase and I am not ready to just take the plunge yet...

[Duns]

Hi Sam

I'm no expert but here are my comments on the 130 SLT

The set up and use of the Goto has in my experience been great - no problems at all - if you take care when aligning it is suprisingly accurate.

I only do visual so I can't comment on astrophotography. Optically I have found it very good on planets and DSOs - but it is only 130 aperture so clearly it will have limitations - I reckon there is more than enough out there that it can handle to keep me going for a couple of years.

I bought a 2 x Barlow and a decent 7mm EP - the supplied EP's are not that great.

So overall I'm very pleased with the scope - hope that helps

[SamB]

Hi Duns,

Thanks for the reply - I really appreciate your comments.

I am hoping to purchase this option later this week so am feeling a bit more sure it is the correct decision.

As mentioned I eventually want to use it with my camera to get some shots but this will be once I have managed to understand more and get to grips with how it functions. Fingers crossed it doesn't take too long...?!