A refractor to choose...which?

[TareqPhoto]

I am planning to put around $1000-1800 only for the refractor after maybe 5 months or nearly end of this year, next month if things are good i will spend a lot on something, so i need time to recover, i hope this year i get the refractor so i can start AP more while the weather is colder, i think even visually it is slightly better during winter in my country, no haze or no humidity.

So for above budget , i ended up with only those refractors to choose one from, and i believe all are good enough, but i have to choose one anyway, what you will say?

- StellarVue SV80ST f/6

- William Optics GT81 f/5.9

- SkyWatcher Esprit 80mm ED f/5

- Astro-Tech AT80EDT f/6 ED

- AT65EDQ 65mm f/6.5 ED

- Astro-Tech AT72EDII f/6

- Explorer Scientific 80mm f/6 ED

I don't want to spend too much budget on astronomy yet, i will not buy so expensive high end gear so i will keep myself in the intermediate or entry level if necessary, that is including the refractor as well, that budget i think it is in entry level to intermediate level, above $3000-4000 i can say it is high end or advanced maybe.

[Owmuchonomy]

If you are aiming for AP predominantly have you considered your choices from the point of view of your camera and what you wish to achieve in imaging scale from the combination.  You may also want to consider good matches with reducers/flatteners.  What mount will you be using?

[TareqPhoto]

1 hour ago, Owmuchonomy said:

If you are aiming for AP predominantly have you considered your choices from the point of view of your camera and what you wish to achieve in imaging scale from the combination.  You may also want to consider good matches with reducers/flatteners.  What mount will you be using?

Sorry i didn't make it clear.

Yes, i want it 10000% for imaging or astrophotography, not for visual.

The price or the choice will be including the reducer/flattener no doubt.

Forget about the mount, all those refractors are fine with my mount, so it is not an issue with the mount.

[MARS1960]

43 minutes ago, TareqPhoto said:

Sorry i didn't make it clear.

Yes, i want it 10000% for imaging or astrophotography, not for visual.

The price or the choice will be including the reducer/flattener no doubt.

Forget about the mount, all those refractors are fine with my mount, so it is not an issue with the mount.

For sure but as Chris above said, have you considered what camera you will be using and image scaling? this is quite important as it will have an impact on what you wish to image.

For example, use resources at the top of the page for astronomy tools and click imaging, put in one of the scopes and try adding a few different cameras, you'll soon get the idea.

[TareqPhoto]

12 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

For sure but as Chris above said, have you considered what camera you will be using and image scaling? this is quite important as it will have an impact on what you wish to image.

For example, use resources at the top of the page for astronomy tools and click imaging, put in one of the scopes and try adding a few different cameras, you'll soon get the idea.

If you asking about camera then i am definitely planning on a mono dedicated or astro camera, and that is why i said next month i have something to spend for and i meant that astro mono camera.

Mostly likely my camera choice is QHY163M, i was looking at ASI1600MM, but QHY163M has better temp controlling with heat and dew control, new version of ASI1600 had a solution but not as built in, so i just passed that ASI and i will go with QHY163M, so now you have an idea which camera i will use, how this will refine the recommendation?

[MARS1960]

1 hour ago, TareqPhoto said:

so i just passed that ASI and i will go with QHY163M, so now you have an idea which camera i will use, how this will refine the recommendation?

That resource i gave you will show you what FOV each of those cameras will give you relative to the telescope, i usually pick andromeda for something large and something like the ring nebula for something small, this will give you a good idea of what your image will show.

[TareqPhoto]

7 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

That resource i gave you will show you what FOV each of those cameras will give you relative to the telescope, i usually pick andromeda for something large and something like the ring nebula for something small, this will give you a good idea of what your image will show.

But all those refractors are in wide field, something between 70mm up to 80mm [FL 400-500mm], so it is not about FOV because this is already fixed too, if i asked about say 800mm and 100mm and 120mm then you can tell me about FOV, but i only look for something around 80mm [~400mm], and above refractors i gave in that range, also with reducer i can even go wider if necessary, so i just placed some options to choose from, i narrowed my choices, but it was my mistake that i didn't title it with something like "A 70-80mm refractor...".

[MARS1960]

32 minutes ago, TareqPhoto said:

But all those refractors are in wide field, something between 70mm up to 80mm [FL 400-500mm], so it is not about FOV because this is already fixed too, if i asked about say 800mm and 100mm and 120mm then you can tell me about FOV, but i only look for something around 80mm [~400mm], and above refractors i gave in that range, also with reducer i can even go wider if necessary, so i just placed some options to choose from, i narrowed my choices, but it was my mistake that i didn't title it with something like "A 70-80mm refractor...".

Gotcha, in that case, as it's AP you are interested in i would without doubt go for the GT81 triplet everyday, especially as it's a triplet using FPL 53 glass.

[TareqPhoto]

13 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

Gotcha, in that case, as it's AP you are interested in i would without doubt go for the GT81 triplet everyday, especially as it's a triplet using FPL 53 glass.

Well, StellarVue SV80 is also a triplet APO and using FPL-53 optic, Skywatcher Esprit too, so if i take AT out and Explorer Scientific too this will remain to 3 options only, ST, Esprit and GT81 your recommendation, so you still choose GT81 out of three? SkyWatcher is F5, GT81 if i use a reducer flattener it will put me at F5 range too, not sure about SV80ST though, and they all use FPL-53 glass.

[MARS1960]

TBH i have never had a Stellarvue or read/heard much about them, same on the Esprit, on the other hand i've had two WO scopes both doublets and thought they performed well and they are quite popular among the AP community on here, hence thats what i would choose.

I'm sure someone more experienced will be able to add something on the other two triplets.

[TareqPhoto]

3 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

TBH i have never had a Stellarvue or read/heard much about them, same on the Esprit, on the other hand i've had two WO scopes both doublets and thought they performed well and they are quite popular among the AP community on here, hence thats what i would choose.

I'm sure someone more experienced will be able to add something on the other two triplets.

Ah ok, i can understand that, i was thinking the same but with SkyWatcher because i bought their mount as first ever 2 months ago and also their scope guide ST80, so that i was thinking to stick up with SkyWatcher, but i was thinking maybe i shouldn't do that, some other options could be as good or cheaper with similar performance or even better than SW, so i try to widen my choices first, but you mentioned FPL-53 which means i can narrow even more, but i already took out other brands such as Celestron or Meade and Takahashi, i chose those above because they are almost good prices within my budget, other brands cranking up over $2000 somehow.

Thank you very much!