C6/C8 portability

[enigma]

I own a C8 and I am thinking to get a smaller 5" or 6" optical tube. Would it make sense to buy a C6 if portability is my priority? Is there much a difference compared withe a C8?

[ronin]

You are effectively halving the light gather, so if you go hunting those dim bits then it will.

For portability not really sure, the weight goes down and the OTA is a bit shorter and narrower, but the mount would be unchanged. So if the mount is 2/3 of the weight then not really a great change.

[hobsey]

If portability is a priority then you can't really go wrong with a 127 MAK.

Massive fan base on here, but as said above you wont see a lot of the fainter stuff.

[rowan46]

the c6 is only 2" shorter and 2lbs lighter  so its not a huge saving if you are looking for something to carry a fair distance. the c5 however is a lot more portable but you do lose a lot of light grasp. I wouldn't go down to a c6 from a c8 if i was looking for portability there really isn't that much in it.

[ollypenrice]

If you intend to keep the 8 inch I would take the opportunity to get a totally different kind of instrument capable of giving you a different experience rather just a moderately inferior but portable one! So I'd go for a portable refractor, probably on an al az mount for visual. WIth a short focal length this would give you widefeild views not possible in the very long focal lengths of the catadioptrics.

For a long time I had an 8 then 10 inch SCT and an old 4 inch F5 Genesis. They complemented each other perfectly. The Genesis could open out to a 4 degree FOV. Fabulous.

It seems a shame, to me, to have a small scope of long focal length because the thing that small scopes do best, and only small scopes can do at all, is widefield. But, to do it, they must have a short focal length.

Olly

[hobsey]

If you intend to keep the 8 inch I would take the opportunity to get a totally different kind of instrument capable of giving you a different experience.

This is the reason I got the ST80 as a portable DSO grab and go.

[enigma]

As I have a 4" scope do you think the 6" could still fill the gap to the 8" or should I look for something different?

[Herbig]

I've got a C8 and my son a C6, I got him the 6 to take with him to Uni, yes it is more portable but still a bit bulky. To be honest though I get more use from my WOZ 66 and Equinox 80 refractors.

[Donkeiller]

I have both the 6SE and 8SE and I think there is a HUGE difference in portability.

6SE is MUCH more convenient- cools down alot quicker too.

As a result I rarely use my 8SE.