OPTICSTAR REFRACTORS, what does anyone know about them?

[bomberbaz]

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_1_1_225

Seem like decnt people over the phone but not sure about this OTA. The price is OK however as we all know price isnt everything. I was thinking about a few options for an alternative scope and this came up. Has anyone got any experience with these?

TIA

Steve

[Earl]

No personal experiance, however from what I have read they are a good achro for the price, at F6.6 there is going to be some colour fringing, but at that price it would be expected. Its a good price by the looks of it too.

Edit: Personally speaking ig go for the longer focal lenght version at F9.8 the colour correction will be better.

[nicoscy]

Bought their 80mm f5 achro last year. No problems whatsoever - really friendly people.

Price is very good for the aperture and accessories it comes with. Not a planetary scope due to colour fringing but should perform well in low to mid magnifications for DSO. 

Lunar is one area you can use it with a cheap #8 yellow filter to beat chromatic aberrations and to sharpen up the image.

Hopefully the lens assembly will be a decent one.

[happy-kat]

I read a detailed review on the 80 compared to the st80. Interesting findings.

[John]

Some folks have had some problems with the optical quality 80mm F/5 Optistar refractors. I think happy-kat might be referring to the Neil English report.

The one in the link looks from a different manufacturer though and is very, very similar to the Bresser range of achromat refractors which seem to get good feedback on here. I'll bet its from the same source as the Bresser ones.

[happy-kat]

Yes it was that report by NE.

[nightfisher]

I had a Starsky 90mm f5 a while back, and i have to say i kinda regret selling it, it was there older model and a good performer

[bomberbaz]

The one in the link is F6.6 so how much is colour fringing likely to affect it and what would you expect to get out of it magnification wise. And would a fringe killer not help combat the problem

[John]

It's going to show about as much false colour as one of the 150mm F/8 achromats I reckon Steve. Some folks find they like to use a filter with those and some don't bother.

[philhas]

I have the 90mm F5.5 Opticstar, very good build quality for the money and optically pretty good. Not sure about the new range but should be okay

[lensman57]

I have the Ascension 80 Tripet Apo from them which is exactly the same scope as a Meade series 5000 and the quality is excellent. This one is the same as the Bresser and these will be fine for the money but CA will be there, you  can use a Semi Apo filter to get rid of the fringing and it will be fine for observing and even basic imaging. 

A.G

[bomberbaz]

cheers felas, their showroom is fairly close to me and I am in the area on Tuesday so I will pay them a visit and see whats what.

steve

[lensman57]

cheers felas, their showroom is fairly close to me and I am in the area on Tuesday so I will pay them a visit and see whats what.

steve

Hi Steve,

Both Peter and George are very helpful. Good luck.

A.G

[ronb]

Hi Steve.

You had better give them a call first. I was talking to Peter last week and he said that, since becoming the UK Meade distributor, they have had to close the showrooms - see also their website. For the foreseeable future they will only be available for online or telephone sales. I doubt very much that, other than no longer being able to see things in the flesh, this will affect their excellent service.

[bomberbaz]

cheers ron but I emailed first as i saw the website and they are still open to public for next 2 weeks, nicely timed I think

[edjrgibbs]

Owned one of their 80mm achromatics for a while, nice build quality. I've always had excellent service from them.

[Seafury]

they look like the Bresser scopes

[kenny k]

Can't comment on scope but as said before Peter & George are very helpful & friendly.

I've bought all my upgraded kit from them and find their prices very competitive.

Kenny

[Mark at Beaufort]

I bought the 80mm f5 Achro a few months back and although the build quality is very good I regret that optically its poor. I cannot use a mag higher than 40x without it being very soft. I have improved the views by making 50mm and 60mm masks. I also bought a S/H  Baader Contrast Boaster which improved things but only slightly.

I now only use this scope as a finderscope when I use the Skywatcher 180mm Mak/Cass both mounted on the SkyTee 2 with the 80mm having a 24mm 68 degree EP giving a 5 degree FOV.

I may take it away as a travel scope but only for wide field bright DSO viewing.