celestron nexstar 4se

[vphotographic]

What about the 127 mount being less sturdy than the 4se

Paul

[GeorgeB]

What about the 127 mount being less sturdy than the 4se

Paul

What are you planning to do with your scope when you buy it; sit on it? The mount with the mak is perfectly fine.

[rowan46]

Essentially the 127 mak and the 4se mount are the same, cosmetically the 4se looks like the big nexstars but mechanically they share the same components as the 127 hence the sturdiness issues. like the 5se the 127 is a little heavier therefore it puts a little more strain on the mount but not so much. it will be fine for webcamming the planets and dslr of the moon but the mount is not designed for photographing dso's and neither the 4se or the 127 make good deep space imaging instruments it's the wrong type of scope on the wrong type of mount. The 127 has 55% more light grab than the 4se hence it makes the better visual instrument.

[vphotographic]

That's fine I don't want to do dso imaging just moon etc.

So can I buy the 127 without the mount ? Will it fit the confirmed sturdier 4se mount ?

Paul

[rowan46]

yes it will, skywatcher and celestron are the same company, just to put a spanner in the works if you have a lot of camera lenses and you fancy wide field photography have you considered this and a pair of bino's then look for a 2nd user mak to put on it

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-pro-synscan-goto.html

[vphotographic]

I think the 4se is for me thanks.

Just need to know what accessories to buy as sherwoods are sellling it with a 12mm eyepiece on offer, then a dew shield, barlow 2x and moon filter.

Paul

[M4lcs67]

Just coming in on this post quite late on. I have the Nexstar 127 SLT and find it a great scope. You say that you are leaning towards the 4" SE?

At the end of the day there are pros and cons for both the 127 SLT and the 4 SE. Firstly the 127 has a very usable extra inch of apeture which could come in very handy.

On the flip side the 4 SE has a better mount and also a vastly superior database of objects (40,000 plus over the 4/6,000 of the 127 SLT).

It can be a minefield sometimes coming to a decision. There are some very good suggestions/comments out there. Ultimately you will have to sift through them all and come to that all important decision. Judging by your last comment you have already made the decision anyway.

[vphotographic]

Minefield defo,

Yes I have made a decision on the 4se, yes I know the 127 is better but worse on the mount and I have been told the mount is more important.

So I'm getting the 4se from (shhhh) sherwoods cough cough as it is sold with a 25mm and 12mm offer and I don't think FLO has stock.

I have pushed my budget a bit now so have £100 left to buy extras.

What should I buy for the 4se ??

Paul

[rowan46]

The only must haves are a dew shield and a power tank anything else is whatever takes your fancy. enjoy your scope it is a good one.

[vphotographic]

Thanks for all the help guys,

Ill be here a lot once I have it I guess.

Dew shield ill get and maplins here I come, do you know which power box ?

[M4lcs67]

Yep. Very wise. Dewsheild and powertank. I learned to my cost when I bought my 127 slt. Put some batteries in it and they were dead in half an hour. Got the Maplin 3 in 1 powertank and connector cable from FLO and job sorted.

This is the powertank I use for my scope.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/3-in-1-portable-jumpstarter-383992

[vphotographic]

Out of stock everywhere grrrr

Wait I guess

[mikehab]

I went through *exactly* this same question/dilema myself a couple of months ago and ultimately decided on the Nexstar 4se (I got the last one from Sherwoods as it happens - ha! ;-) ). Had it about a month now and it's a great little scope, and contradictory to what some people have said in replies here - the tripod *does* come with both Alt-Az and a tilt-plate EQ Polar mount - so astro-photography should be do'able when set up the EQ Polar configuration.

I also went for the Sherwoods deal with the additional 12mm eyepiece (so came with both 25mm and 12mm).

I also bought the camera T-Ring and Celestron T-Adapter to hook my DSLR to the veiw-port on the back - and it works a treat.

I made myself a Bahtinov mask - so saved myself a few quid there.

The only 2 things I'm looking at adding now are 1) a moon filter - it's *really* bright and hurts the eye without one!, and 2) either a 7mm eyepiece for panetary observation or a 32mm (maybe 40mm?) for easier DSO viewing with a wider field of view (even then it might not be enough due to the long focal length of the scope at 1300mm).

If you do decide on the 4SE then I'm sure you won't be disappointed - it's a great little scope i.m.h.o.

Good luck!

Mike

[Ags]

I think the OP went for a skymax 127 in the end.

Mike, I have tried some astrophotography experiments with the 4SE and I have managed 2 or 3 minutes exposures at 55mm focal length (once I managed 5 minutes). At 100mm focal length I can get 1 to 1.5 minutes. Bear in mind that although the 4SE has a polar wedge, aligning it accurately with the pole star is tricky as there is no polar scope.