Refractor quality?

[lardy]

If I were to go with a refractor, what is the best quality per inch of glass?  Astro-physics?  Takahashi?  Televue?  William-optics?  Something else? 

Cooooo  opening up a can of worms there!!!!   

[Earl]

That depends on what you want to do with it.

[John]

It does depend what you want to do with it but the names that stand out in my mind are Takahashi, TEC, Astro Physics and Tele Vue. The only one on your list that I've actually owned is William Optics (a Megrez 90) and it was nice but not I think in the top drawer. The APM LZOS ones that you own seem to get great reviews too.

I have a feeling that there are going to be a limited number of members who have had the pleasure of comparing these exotic things though.

Edit: I ought to add that Istar are making some great objective lenses now and, in terms of pure optical quality, Vixen are pretty good too.

[swag72]

I can't help thinking that you're going to get mostly opinion and hearsay here as there's probably only a few folks who have compared all of the above and are so able to make a comparison per se.

I have a Takahashi and for me it's the best of the bunch, but then I've got no other experience and also use it solely for imaging. Are you also thinking about a comparison for visual? I'm sure there are others who will rate another scope above the Tak based on their personal experiences - Boy this is subjective!!

[ChrisLX200]

Unless you are blessed with excellent seeing then visual comparison between top end refractors is difficult, the improvements over more modest APOs are small. Of more interest is the actual configuration - a short f-ratio is more difficult to make (and get perfect) which is where the premium glass comes into it's own. I have a TV NP127is operating at f/5.2 (native) that will work equally well at f/4.16 with the 0.8x reducer. There aren't many refractors that will do that well and also provide a large flat image circle suitable for imaging with. The smaller Tak FSQ106 is the obvious comparison but there aren't many others. So it's the application that is important at this price range, there are plenty of refractors operating around f/7 native that will equal or even exceed the NP127is on pure image quality - but at f/5.2? I don't know.

ChrisH

[steppenwolf]

So much depends on the application you have in mind and as Sara says 'opinion and hearsay' will feature in any replies that you receive so you will have to filter out the answers very carefully. For example, I have had a bad experience with a Takahashi refractor and returned it for a refund and now I continue to use my original William Optics refractor instead. However, (and here's the start of the 'filtering' process), one had a native focal ratio of f5.3 and the other one has a native focal ratio of f6.3 - not a fair comparison without taking into consideration this and other aspects of their design differences.

Would I buy another Takahashi? No! Are Takahashi refractors poor quality? I don't think so! So, why would I return what many would consider a dream instrument? Because it didn't perform well enough for my proposed application.

There will be some great responses to your question, I have no doubt but apply that filter carefully!

[ronin]

I don't think Lardy is asking the question.

The first line is a question from another post.

If I am wrong then I apologise and it is odd that there are 2 identical questions, that are I think identical in the wording.

[Alien 13]

I chose my refractor for a specific purpose i could have gone down the ED80 clone route but it wouldnt have worked i needed something much faster that could also be used as a camera lens and had to be compact.

The WO is the best scope for me but its not better than the alternatives its just a different mix of strenghths/weaknesses.

Alan