Sky-Watcher SKYMAX Maksutov-Cassegrains.

[tenbyfifty]

Can anybody vouch for the quality of Sky-Watcher SKYMAX Maksutov-Cassegrains?

Here are a few q's I have about them:

Does their long focal length allow high magnifications for planetary use?

Can they really be used effectively on a camera tripod or is an eq mount preferable?

Is there much difference in a 90mm and a 100mm as there is an £80 price difference on the site I am looking at?

Hope you can help.

TenbyFifty

[OXO]

Having owned one i can honestly say it was superb (127 version) very light and portable, gave excellent results on the planets both visually and with the webcam (See my planetry images taken with the Mak in the Planetry section of this Forum). I personally would mount it on an Eq mount you maybe able to get away with mounting it on a photo tripod but i think you may run into problems. All the skymax Pro scopes come with an in built mounting bar affixed to the underside of the scope. As to taking Magnifcation yes they do an excellent job . It's more of a Lunar Planetry scope than DSO's but i think you can get a reducer for it?

There's one for sale in the buy n sell section of the forum thats the same version i had well worth the money i reakon.

James

[PrivateWiddle]

They are made in China (I think)and are the same as the Orion USA maks, and ,I've been told some of the Celestrons. (Celestron are now chinese owned)

I have the 4""/102mm version. If you shop around you might be able to beat that 80 quid difference.

The optics are better than you would expect for the price. Its a bit upsetting to see the same scopes so much cheaper in the states. These are really very good for the money. their focal length makes them ideal for planetary and lunar use. Also great for double stars and tight formations like globular clusters. They exibit very little/ no false colour.

Chinese optics have improved markedly in the last few years, while they won't match a Orion optics mak, they certainly punch above their weight.

I have mine mounted on a Microstar mount, coupled to standard tube rings and a dovetail. I stick that on my photo tripod with no problems. The 5inch is very similar/same as a Celestron C5 apart from cosmetics and will also go on a photo tripod as long as its a 2.5kg or more.

You could also check out Lomo Maksutovs (Italian?). I can certainly recommend the Skywatcher 4" as a very portable planetary/lunar system.

[GazOC]

I had the 127mm Mak/Cass and can't speak to highly of it. Its an amazing planetary/lunar/binary star scope.