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Bresser vs. Celestron


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Hullo,

is there anybody who would be able to help a newbie?

as a novice I am looking for a reasonably priced telescope (300-400). I am pretty keen on a refractor (my understanding is they have various advantages over reflectors, e.g. maintenance , planet observation etc.) . Scanning the abundance of offers I wondered whether someone can give me advice on/has experience with:

a) Bresser -Messier R102?

:lol: Celestron C4-R ?

-How do they differ?

-Would it be worthwhile to upgrade the Celestron with current offer on lenses (or is this also necessary for the Bresser)?

Any advice welcome!

:shock:

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Hell Upuaut,

The C4-R is an excellent scope for the Planets i have used a friends in the past performed very well indeed. Not sure about the Bresser but i dought it will be anywere near as good as the Celestron but someone may know differently?

With 300 to 400 quid to spend i would go for a Reflector personally much aperture for your money.

James

ps:Welcome to the forum

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Hi James,

thanks for this. Which reflector in this price bracket would you recommend?

I am particularly keen to have something easy to transport/store and good value-for-money. I will be using the scope in an area without lot of light pollution.

Having read some of the threads and articles, I also understand that reflectors come with increased maintenance (mirrors) . Given the need for portability isn't it better to go for a refractor?

Great forum!

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Hi welcome to the forum. The increased maintainence is called "collimation" which is aligning the mirrors up with each other, its a 2 minute job and no big deal but you should be aware of it.

You get more "bang for your buck" with reflectors but obviously with being bigger they are less portable. Do you know what type of objects you prefer to view, as different scopes have different strenghts/weaknesses?

All the best

Gaz

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Hi again.

My wife and I are interested in both planets and messier objects. For a reasonable price we would like to see as clear/crisp images as possible. On top of that there should be room later on to include a camera-adapter.

At the end of the day every article warns of the low cost entry telescopes. Therefore we plan to invest a little bit more (300-400 quid, maybe a little bit more) and hope to have more fun with this. Hence we came across the Bresser range, which seemed to offer more bang than the top-brands. (Yet they seem unpopular in the UK?)

A good compromise is what we are looking for.

Would it be worthwhile to check for second-hand ones?

with the current weather forecast, we seem to have time with this decision....

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Welcome to the forum upuaut. Don't be put off by descriptions of the disadvantages of reflectors. I am a beginner myself and was recently given a Tal 1 - a Russian 110mm reflector. It retails for around £160. It has superb optics and a very good heavy mount. It blew my socks off when I looked through it after using a Bresser 3" refractor. Collimation is perfectly straight forward - even I learnt how to do it and I am pretty dim when it comes to anything practical like that. There are a number of people on the forum who are into refractors and there is always a debate but for a good alround 1st scope which will do well on planets and deep sky objects such as the Messiers a reflector is the business - unless you live in a rabbit hutch. You could get a skywatcher 6" on a motorised EQ3/5 and would see lots.

This is the right place to ask. I've received lots of help so keep the questions coming.

Martin

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Well...we ARE sort of lving in a rabbit hutch. But I am sure we will find some space for the right scope! (And a good excuse to move.) What we are worried about, is a) the weight - how easy is it to carry a 20 - 25 kilo scope to the car, drive somwhere and then put it up on a field? - and :( how vulnerable are they - if you have to drive somewhere with a reflector in your boot, do you have to learn how to realign the mirrors first thing out, in total darkness?

If we go for a reflector, is 8" sort of the minimum to get a decent view?

Many thanks for all your replies - the advice and the websites are really useful!

:lol:

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On the Bresser vs Celestron issue, having looked at the specs of both instruments both are made in China, although probably by different manufacturers. The Celestron looks like a Synta clone and the Bresser looks like it's out of the same factory as the 127mm refractors sold by Skys the Limit via e.bay. Interestingly the latter factory is also supposed to make the Meade AR55 5 inch refractors as well. In the past Bresser has been a brand name that does well in continental Europe while Celestron tends to be preferred in the USA and the UK. In the past virtually identical models have been sold under both brand names. Sometimes the accessories supplied with the scopes vary so it is worth checking exactly what you get.

Having owned 2 types of 4 inch refractors in the past - a Bresser 102mm (then made in Japan by Vixen) and more recently a TAL 100R (russian) I can vouch that they make good beginners scopes and provide great views of planets, double stars and the moon. Views of deep sky objects (ie: Messiers etc) are nice but ultimately 4 inches of apeture will limit the detail that can be seen. All the instruments talked about so far have a focal ratio of f10. Shorter focal ratio 4 inch refractors (in this budget range) will not be so good on the planets and double stars. One warning I would give to a prospective owner of an f10 4 inch refrator is to get one with a tall tripod. When looking at objects overhead it's not uncommon for the eyepiece to be only a couple of feet above the ground which can mean some gymnastics to get a decent view !. Also a 4 inch f10 refractor in an equatorial mount is still quite a heavy telescope.

It is for these last reasons (having back problems I can't manage the gymnastics) that I have recently sold my refractor and moved on to a 5 inch Schmidt Cassegrain on a fork mounting - in my case the Celestron Nexstar 5. I have been delighted with this scope as i) it's very portable ii) it provides noticably better images than my 4 inch refactors did on both planets and deep sky objects and iii) the eyepiece height is always convenient. All in all I can highly recommend these - it cost me £300 in excellent used condition - this was a particularly good deal though. Schmidt Cassegrains do need collimation (adjusting mirror alignment) from time to time as well like other mirror-based designs.

John,

North Somerset.

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Thanks - I think I will need to take the numerous catalogues which are littered around our flat now and look up your suggestions. Will come back to you soon!

This forum is a great place for novices. Talk to you later.

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Hullo,

apologies for the incommunicando. I had the chance of checking a German astronomy forum re the Bresser issue. A couple of issues came up that might be of interest:

a) bresser seemingly is (only) a dealership brand

:lol: bresser is similar (same factory?) specification-wise as the German TS brand (does this make sense?).

c) There was the suggestion that the sky-watcher specs are similar as well (Bresser 102 = Sky-watcher 102)

Well, don't know whether this info speaks for the German forum, but fuelled by the mixed messages about this I revisited the Celestron catalogue. It seems one gets more value from the Reflectors anyway. Does somebody have experience with the C8-N?

Is it worthwhile to spend the extra 100 quid on this (in comparison to the Nextsar 114 or the C4-R)?

Anyway, thanks for all your support/feedback.

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:lol: bresser is similar (same factory?) specification-wise as the German TS brand (does this make sense?).

That's right, they are the same scope as the TS refractors. And as already pointed out, the Meade AR5 is also made at the same factory.

I think the Nexstar 5 is very good suggestion. And if you are not fussed about GOTO, then a brand new Skywatcher Skymax 127 on an EQ3 would also be in your budget. Both are very compact and lightweight. Both will perform very well on the planets but also okay for deepsky.

Russ

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  • 13 years later...

I have owned Celestron, Skywatcher and now own a Bresser Messier nt 203 reflectors and can safely say the Bresser knocks the other two out of the park in quality,  mine is on an exos 2 goto mount and of course I wouldn't say easily portable.

The Bresser to me holds collimation extremely well. Is a joy to use and just looks and feels better quality all round. Just my 2 pennies worth.

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I too was very impressed with the Bresser Messier design and feel it's the best of those from China/Taiwan.  

I gather that one review of an early 8 inch Messier said that the rocker box wasn't tall enough and this might limit the weight of eyepieces that could be used.

Does anyone know if this has been sorted since?

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And after the Meade bankruptcy fallout, Bresser appears to be JOC/Explore Scientific associated (owned?) while Celestron is owned by Synta and Meade is owned by Ningbo Sunny.  Thus, this 14 year old discussion might not mean much in today's marketplace.

Regardless, I think this thread would best be put back to rest:

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  • Haha 3
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