Which £500 ED80 apo/semi apo?

[Stu]

The good thing about the Pronto is its bombproof construction, which is an asset in a travel scope. It is heavy per unit aperture, though. Personally I wouldn't be too fussed about the planets on a dark site trip because you can see them in dreadful LP. (I watched a shadow transit of Jupiter from under a streetlight on a town pavement once.) I seem to think I paid about £250 for my second hand Pronto. The bank would love that! It's an all purpose scope and resides in our sitting room so folks can grab it and dash outside if interesting wildlife appears. We keep an erecting prism in it by default but it is great with a 2 inch diagonal. Perfect for seeing the entire Veil, for instance. And last week we rattled off a quick moon shot in it. I have to say, I do like it - but I like the ED80 as well.

Olly

Where's the CA in that image then Olly? [emoji38]

[mikeDnight]

Definitely the ED 80 Pro or its slightly shorter sibling the Equinox 80. Both are truly stunning optically and CA is virtually nonexistent, also both will take powers of 100x per inch on a good night. Very impressive scopes!

Mike

[Highburymark]

If weight is a factor I would bring it down a bit.  It could murder the pro's of a fine instrument if it's shaking like Tony Blair at a TU convention!  Would recommend this;

Altair Astro Starwave 70ED F6.  Comes complete with accessories right out of the box.  I have a friend who has one and its a great ED with cracking image results etc.  Failing that you could look at the Lightwave 72ED F6.  Doesn't come with some of the accessories but the optics are tip top.  I took a shot a M45 with this scope and it was a fantastic result.

These look like nice instruments. And really good value, if the quality is good. Are the optics comparable between the two?

[Stratis]

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned William Optics.

I have three small WO semi-Apo/Apo refractors (ZenithStar 66SD, Megrez 72, GT-81) and have found them to all be completely wonderful in their own way. 

I wouldn't recommend the 66 to you because it's too cheap and has a very small aperture, but I would recommend the Megrez 72 or its stablemate the new ZenithStar 71. There's also Altair Astro versions of these scopes with very impressive Rack and Pinion focusers, as the 66 and 72ED-R. They are very cheap, very light, and offer good views.

If you have your heart set on 80mm, I would recommend looking for something closer to f/6 than the f/7.5 ED80; yes it is a fine scope and suppresses CA very well, but those additional f-stops are adding to your tube length, tube weight and diminishing your 'rich field' potential. F/6 is also an easier animal for astrophotography if you have any future aspiration to that black art, dropping to below f/5 with a decent reducer.

ED80s have a lot of fans, but for me, f/7.5 is just too slow in a small scope when I can drop a 6" SCT down to f/6.3 and achieve good visual performance.

Consider the WO Megrez 90 at a measly 3.3kg for a fluorite doublet at f/6, or the WO GT-81 which is heavier but is an outstanding f/6 FPL-53 triplet which I guarantee you will produce the whitest, purest star colours you'll see this side of a Takahashi TOA. There's also the  ZS-71 which is a better travel scope than the other two. I realise this may graze your budget slightly but I have learned from many failed purchases and disappointments that if something truly extraordinary is only ~15% more than my budget, always spend the extra. You'll save long-term.

[Highburymark]

Always liked the look of WO scopes - and a quick check of the website shows that the newish Star 71 has an OTA weight of just 2kg. Sadly it's out of my price range at the moment. But the Zenithstar looks like a decent and cheaper alternative. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Highburymark]

Think I may have found a real contender - the Orion Ed80 CT triplet F6, carbon fibre, so only 2.5kg, and though more than I wanted to pay, pretty good value at the widescreen centre.

[Stratis]

Always liked the look of WO scopes - and a quick check of the website shows that the newish Star 71 has an OTA weight of just 2kg. Sadly it's out of my price range at the moment. But the Zenithstar looks like a decent and cheaper alternative. Thanks for the suggestions.

The Star-71 is a pure astrograph, it's near-impossible to use visually (although as an imager it is really quite superb). You need a proprietary WO diagonal just to reach focus, you can only use 1.25" eyepieces, and I've heard tell that some eyepiece families can't reach focus even then. 

And, after all that, it is still just a 71mm scope like any other, you may as well have gone for a ZS66 for a quarter of the price.

Think I may have found a real contender - the Orion Ed80 CT triplet F6, carbon fibre, so only 2.5kg, and though more than I wanted to pay, pretty good value at the widescreen centre.

That triplet has been reviewed both extremely well and extremely poorly in the same thread here by different SGL members who have owned them. The first guy got a good one that seems a match for any sub-£1000 scope, the second got a bad one that is utter rubbish and unusable, clearly as a result of a poorly assembled lens cell.

This isn't to put you off at all, the images from the good scope were very good indeed, just that 'budget triplets' are a known risky business due to the inherently greater difficulty in putting them together correctly. Provided you check the scope very quickly for visual anomalies (preferably with a CCD so you can pixel-peep) you can tell if you need to return it or if it's a keeper. It does appear to be an excellent scope if you get a good example. 

[Highburymark]

Thanks for all advice - I've moved quickly to contradict one of my earlier posts (thanks Andrew 63) and gone for the SW Equinox this afternoon from the Widescreen Centre. I thought if it causes weight problems then all it takes is a counterweight for my mini giro, or a more robust photo tripod. First reaction on unboxing - this is a serious piece of kit, and a seriously weighty piece of kit - truly lovely, but can't see my mount coping with it. But after a few minutes playing around and scouring the skies my Manfrotto/mini giro set up seems to handle it pretty well. My year of astro acquisitions is complete. Definitely. No need to explore options for buying a 2" diagonal and eyepieces at all.

[Stu]

Nice one Mark. Those mini giros are very capable for their size. You probably will need a counterweight to keep the movement smooth but should be fine.

[Highburymark]

Nice one Mark. Those mini giros are very capable for their size. You probably will need a counterweight to keep the movement smooth but should be fine.

Thank you sir.

[andrew63]

Looks a really nice setup - i bet that will become your most used telescope !

andrew

[Highburymark]

Looks a really nice setup - i bet that will become your most used telescope !

andrew

Thanks, and I think you could be right. The plan was always to take the Celestron Evolution for trips out of London and I've managed it a grand total of once over the past year, not having a car. Has been a learning curve, but now have a genuinely mobile option - and can't wait to try it out properly.

[Highburymark]

Definitely the ED 80 Pro or its slightly shorter sibling the Equinox 80. Both are truly stunning optically and CA is virtually nonexistent, also both will take powers of 100x per inch on a good night. Very impressive scopes!

MikeIMG_20150318_095334.jpg

Also thanks to Mike for suggestions

[Stratis]

Congrats on the new scope, if I were to buy a SkyWatcher refractor it would be an Equinox.

As for 2" scope furniture... a rich-field refractor just begs for it, does it not? The whole point is widefield views and you don't get wider than 2"....

Invest in either a Baader T2 prism (best for planets / double stars) or a dielectric mirror. A lovely and cheap introduction to 2" eyepieces would be the 32mm SWA sold under various brands, or the 38mm if you can put up with some field curvature for an enormous viewport into space for very little money indeed.

[Highburymark]

Congrats on the new scope, if I were to buy a SkyWatcher refractor it would be an Equinox.

As for 2" scope furniture... a rich-field refractor just begs for it, does it not? The whole point is widefield views and you don't get wider than 2"....

Invest in either a Baader T2 prism (best for planets / double stars) or a dielectric mirror. A lovely and cheap introduction to 2" eyepieces would be the 32mm SWA sold under various brands, or the 38mm if you can put up with some field curvature for an enormous viewport into space for very little money indeed.

Thank you Stratis. A whole new wider sky awaits.

And my best chance for (relatively) decent skies is near you - my mother lives just to the west of Oxford (in Cumnor) - so it will be there where I get to do some less light polluted stargazing over the next few months.