W.O Megrez 72 FD review.

[PeterN]

Last night was the first clearish night I've had since the WO 72 arrived so I spent about 2 hours outside with it. Here's a first review of this little scope.

It was supplied by Ian King and arrived is a WO cardboard box well padded with nicely cut impact foam. (I opted not to get the optional back pack and as yet there is no alloy case for it, which is a shame.) I did get the 1.25 Carbon Fibre dielectric diagonal as this was on offer with the scope.

The scope is very well made, the tube is machined alloy and finished in the Megrez white and up to the usual WO standards. It comes with a short mounting bar, which can be removed, and has two standard camera mounting threads tapped in the bar so it can be fitted to a standard tripod if needed. There is a slide out dew shield and a very well made end cap trimmed in gold anodising. The lens cell contains a doublet fluoride lens assemble with nice coating. Focal length is 432mm with an aperture, as the name suggests, of 72mm. which adds up to f6. Total length of the tube assembly with the dew shield retracted and focuser in is 310 mm. tube diameter is 87 mm (approx.) Weight approx. 3KG.

The focuser is a dream. smooth and precise. This is the Megrez assembly which is more solid than the ZS series and seems to have less flex in it. the total travel on the graduated scale is 80 mm. the whole focuser is fully rotatable through 360 degrees and can be locked in any position. The drive is very positive and I don't see there being any problem when loaded with a DSLR or other imaging gear. It comes as standard with a 2 inch barrel and a 1.25 inch reducer both with compression fittings. All in all a very well made scope.

I mounted it on my HEQ5 and allowed a cool down of about 30 mins. , as it had been kept in the warm for the last few weeks. I swung it onto Sirius at mag -1.47 was about the brightest star around to check for colour. I could detect no excess false colour and it produced a nice clear crisp image.Very good contrast. Very pleasing. Next on the list was Orion and M42 and it framed it just nice with my Meade 26 mm EP. As expected it produce excellent results with nebula clearly visible and superb views of the back ground stars. Next onto Mars and again a very nice view,all be it small as you would expect at 432mm focal length but still the colour was good.( I had no barlow with me so more detailed examination was possible). Then onto the Pleiades and again a very nice field of view with no distortion and images clear and Sharp up to the edge of the field of views. I then swung it on to Comet Tuttle, which, by this time was getting low in the sky but again gave a very nice view and I was glad to have seen it as the skies have been bad since it really came into view.

All in all a very nice two hours visual viewing and now I just need to set it up to do some imaging. I can recommend it to any one who wants a small portable scope which will last for ever and has excellent build quality. At the current price of £299 it's good value for money and for that wide field imaging it should prove a winner. My only gripe would be that it needs a case but that may of course raise the price.

I hope this has been of some use and will let you know how it goes when imaging.(All the above is personal views and I must admit I am no expert in testing optics, but I'm happy.)

BR Peter.

[Tiny]

Sounds like another WO winner.

We keep ours in cardboard boxes with padding inside so they are all ready to use - just take the lid off, lift out scope and attach to mount.

[Neon]

Nice review Peter.

I imagine that there are a number of visitors to SGL who'd be considering just this scope, so personal experience of using one is always interesting. Although, to be honest, I'd be surprised if anyone was less than impressed with a WO 'scope, particularly a Megrez, but it's good to hear about the kind of performance you experienced whilst using it in anger. First hand knowledge on such things are aways in demand.

Any idea what the maximum magnification you could squeeze out of it would be? I'm sure it could handle 150x quite easily.

[tom3949]

In relation to a case for the Megrez 72 - I have come across a post elsewhere which stated that the Peli 1450 is a perfect fit for the scope. However that is someone elses comment and not my personal experience.

Tom

[MortonH]

Yes, the Peli 1450 is supposed to be perfect. My own preference is for soft cases with a shoulder strap, and apparently a ZS66 case would be a good fit with maybe some reworking of the foam. I may even consider one of the 80mm cases to give me extra room for accessories. This assumes of course that I can actually get my hands on the scope in the first place!

Morton

[lunator]

Peter

looks and sounds a great scope.

WO do make excellent scopes. I do intend to own one one day

Cheers

Ian

[philsail1]

Nice review PeterN. Looks like a quality telescope, which is portable too! It certainly is worth saving and buying a quality instrument which will give a lifetimes pleasurable use.

regards,

philsail1

[tom3949]

If anyone is interested in a recommended case for the Megrez 72, I purchased a Tamrac Expedition 5 (back pack) for mine - and it is a perfect fit. You can pick them up for between 60.00 - 70.00 quid.

Tom

[mcut]

just for information latest S@N magazine has head to head of:-

Telescope House 80mm FL53 ED vs William Optics Megrez 72 FD

there is also a group test of sub £700 Cats.

[tom3949]

And their recommendation went to the WO corner!

[rawhead]

They both got 92% for value for money.

Not sure how they worked that one out?

The 72 won every category and is a good few quid cheaper? :?

[tom3949]

Similar price though when you factor in a case for the 72.