Skywatcher 100 ED Pro Esprit - Great Performance

[RayD]

That top one must be pretty old mate.  I've had mine quite a while, and it's one of the 'older' models, but mine has the bottom case, so I guess all the newer ones will.

[souls33k3r]

4 minutes ago, RayD said:

That top one must be pretty old mate.  I've had mine quite a while, and it's one of the 'older' models, but mine has the bottom case, so I guess all the newer ones will.

Ah, nice one mate. Yeah i saw this image on Modern Astronomy website so thought maybe it came with the older model or maybe this new design is a regional thing so asked 

Also what about provisioning for mounting a 2" filter inside the adapter/FF, is that true that Esprit 100 is the only Esprit size which doesn't have it?

Edited September 26, 2018 by souls33k3r

[RayD]

4 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

Also what about provisioning for mounting a 2" filter inside the adapter/FF, is that true that Esprit 100 is the only Esprit size which doesn't have it?

Ah, not sure if it is the only one, but you certainly can't fit a 2" filter on the FF as it is M66.

[souls33k3r]

1 minute ago, RayD said:

Ah, not sure if it is the only one, but you certainly can't fit a 2" filter on the FF as it is M66.

Shitzer   was hoping that some day i might stick a LP filter in it and start using the LRGB filters ... oh well, you win some, you lose some ... Cheers for clearing that up matey. Muchas gracias

 

[RayD]

1 minute ago, souls33k3r said:

Shitzer   was hoping that some day i might stick a LP filter in it and start using the LRGB filters ... oh well, you win some, you lose some ... Cheers for clearing that up matey. Muchas gracias

 

You could probably come up with some form of solution to build one in to the imaging train, but not directly on to the FF.  I suspect it would need a bit of a custom adaptor.

[souls33k3r]

Just now, RayD said:

You could probably come up with some form of solution to build one in to the imaging train, but not directly on to the FF.  I suspect it would need a bit of a custom adaptor.

Yeah i suppose. OR maybe have it 3D printed  i'm always reluctant on using LRGB filters from my back garden. I do have them but i'm finding an excuse to use them at some point.

[Jkulin]

On 26/09/2018 at 17:54, souls33k3r said:

Shitzer   was hoping that some day i might stick a LP filter in it and start using the LRGB filters ... oh well, you win some, you lose some ... Cheers for clearing that up matey. Muchas gracias

 

I use a IDAS P2 LP filter on the front of my FW when using LRGB and it only adds 0.7mm to the back focus, so give that a go.

Edited September 28, 2018 by Jkulin

[souls33k3r]

On 28/08/2018 at 10:37, Jkulin said:

I have the 100 and the 80 Esprits, both of them I simply love the quality and images.

The dew shield unscrews IIRC.

The standard focuser is good so order from Ian King a Lakeside Motor and controllers, dead easy to fit and works superbly.

I have the Moonlite on my 100 and the lakeside on the 80, both are now controlled by my Pegasus's control boxes which are brilliant.

If you notice your stars a little odd shaped then make sure your back focus is correct, @RayD helped me out tremendously to ensure that I got the correct back focus of 55mm which made an immense difference to my star shapes.

Yep I can't see my changing either of these scopes as they are just superb within my abilities.

Enjoy and good luck.

Mind if i can pick yours and @RayD's brain on the back focus?

Tonight i was trying to piece through this puzzle of BF. I have found a few spacers in the house which came with either the ASI1600MM-C camera or the EFW but i have a few questions. 

1) Is the FF (camera end) a male thread or a female thread?

2) How critical is it to achieve 55mm exact?

3) Can i be out by 0.5mm (My NB are 1mm thick filters putting the BF to 55.5mm) or 1.5mm (My LRGB filters are 2mm thick putting the BF to 56.5mm)? What's the most likely issue i might face?

Thanks in advance

[Jkulin]

I'm not the expert, but if I may quote from some sound advice from @RayD when I was sorting star shapes out with my Esprits: -

 

Quote

Basically any glass in the light path effectively straightens it, and the nett effect is approximately 1/3 the thickness of the glass.  For example, the glass on Baader filters is 2mm, so you add 0.7mm to the distance needed (55.7 needed). However, Astrodons are 3mm, so you need to add 1mm (56mm needed).

Really sound advice from Ray that helped me immensely to get my stars in shape.

Edited September 28, 2018 by Jkulin

[Jkulin]

42 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

1) Is the FF (camera end) a male thread or a female thread? 

2) How critical is it to achieve 55mm exact?

Sorry never answered your question, I always get my knickers in a twist when working out which is male and which is female and will probably answer wrong, but I try to work on if it sticks out then its male and if something screws into it it's female, that's the best analogy I can work on lol, so to answer you question I think it's male ?

With regards to accuracy it depends how critical you are, I have some tilt in my RC that is irritating me and I will fix, but I know it isn't down to my back focus causing odd shaped stars, it's just another thing that you can tick, as you know yourself when that rare night is so clear you can dance amongst the stars and then you process the images and instead of being Fred Astiare you were Noddy Holder! ?

Edited September 28, 2018 by Jkulin

[souls33k3r]

9 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

I'm not the expert, but if I may quote from some sound advice from @RayD when I was sorting star shapes out with my Esprits: -

 

Really sound advice from Ray that helped me immensely to get my stars in shape.

Legend. Cheers mate. This is most certainly going to help loads

I know what my filter thickness is and i was effectively adding the complete 1mm & 2mm thickness in the mix.

So now i'm at :

1. 54.8 out of 56mm required for my LRGB filters 
2.  55.17 out of 55.7mm required for my NB filters

I can add a 1mm delrin bringing the numbers to 

1. 55.8 out of 56mm required for my LRGB filters
2. 56.17 out of 55.7mm required for my NB filters.

Is this going to be good/close enough?

6 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

Sorry never answered your question, I always get my knickers in a twist when working out which is male and which is female and will probably answer wrong, but I try to work on if it sticks out then its male and if something screws into it it's female, that's the best analogy an work on lol, so to answer you question I think it's male ?

With regards to accuracy it depends how critical you are, I have some tilt in my RC that is irritating me and I will fix, but I know it isn't down to my back focus causing odd shaped stars, it's just another thing that you can tick, as you know yourself when that rare night is so clear you can dance amongst the stars and then you process the images and instead of being Fred Astiare you were Noddy Holder! ?

Hahahaha that whole reply made me chuckle

no worries mate, you got that completely right about the male and female thread ?.

I am very critical about my stars. Well when i say critical, i would like them round ... i promise i won't be a pixel peeper any more

[Jkulin]

3 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

So now i'm at :

1. 54.8 out of 56mm required for my LRGB filters 
2.  55.17 out of 55.7mm required for my NB filters 

I think that is rather good and have a play, if you think a 1mm delrin will help then add it.

Glad I can help but as I say it was down to the professor who helped me out when I was doing my calcs.

[souls33k3r]

6 hours ago, Jkulin said:

I think that is rather good and have a play, if you think a 1mm delrin will help then add it.

Glad I can help but as I say it was down to the professor who helped me out when I was doing my calcs.

You truly were a great help here mate. Much appreciated. The professor is a prince amongst men

I suppose I can add another 0.5mm one to get even more closer to these numbers rather than go over. I've never used Delrins before (up until 2 weeks ago I thought they were made out of metal ) so not sure it's a good idea to add more?

[RayD]

6 hours ago, souls33k3r said:

So now i'm at :

1. 54.8 out of 56mm required for my LRGB filters 
2.  55.17 out of 55.7mm required for my NB filters

I can add a 1mm delrin bringing the numbers to 

1. 55.8 out of 56mm required for my LRGB filters
2. 56.17 out of 55.7mm required for my NB filters.

Is this going to be good/close enough?

Hi mate, if you get the overall figure to 56mm you should be good enough.  I found with my Esprit that 0.3mm was about the critical limit that it was noticeable, so if you are inside this, then you should be fine.  However, that was being very critical, so you may find that it will work for you at a slightly higher figure.  Much depends on your sensor size also, and this was with the APS-H, so you may have a little more flexibility.  You also need to consider manufacturing tolerances in spacers and even the sensor position, so you often need to do a little fettling to get it spot on.

Spacing can be very confusing as there are 2 things which tend to get thrown in the pot together, but they are actually totally different; one is optical length, the other is physical length.  Camera and telescope manufacturers tend to talk in optical length, but we want to know how many spacers to add, so we talk in physical length.  

If you imagine a DSLR on a FF with 55mm requirement, and then add a filter.  If some advice you get, where you remove space as you have reduced the optical length is correct, it would be impossible to do this, and you could never have a DSLR on a system with a filter.  In fact, you add 1mm (if using an Astrodon filter).

Don't forget with delrins you can put them at both ends of a spacer.  This also helps prevent it welding, but it won't cause any other issues as it is quite a hard material.

[souls33k3r]

2 hours ago, RayD said:

Hi mate, if you get the overall figure to 56mm you should be good enough.  I found with my Esprit that 0.3mm was about the critical limit that it was noticeable, so if you are inside this, then you should be fine.  However, that was being very critical, so you may find that it will work for you at a slightly higher figure.  Much depends on your sensor size also, and this was with the APS-H, so you may have a little more flexibility.  You also need to consider manufacturing tolerances in spacers and even the sensor position, so you often need to do a little fettling to get it spot on.

Spacing can be very confusing as there are 2 things which tend to get thrown in the pot together, but they are actually totally different; one is optical length, the other is physical length.  Camera and telescope manufacturers tend to talk in optical length, but we want to know how many spacers to add, so we talk in physical length.  

If you imagine a DSLR on a FF with 55mm requirement, and then add a filter.  If some advice you get, where you remove space as you have reduced the optical length is correct, it would be impossible to do this, and you could never have a DSLR on a system with a filter.  In fact, you add 1mm (if using an Astrodon filter).

Don't forget with delrins you can put them at both ends of a spacer.  This also helps prevent it welding, but it won't cause any other issues as it is quite a hard material.

Hi mate, that's very well explained. Totally understand the process now.

You're right, mine is a 4/3" sensor so puney as compared to your APS-H size.

Last night i had to scratch my head over the fact on how to get the delrins on but finally managed to. 

A bit off topic, last night when i was trying to hunt for spacers at home something really weird and funny happened. I found one 11mm T2 extender that came with the camera and one 2mm male to male spacer that was attached to my EdgeHD 8 train. I know my achievable back focus on that is 105mm but turns out (and i don't know how i could've i've done it) my back focus was at 116mm lol. This pixel peeper didn't notice any issue in the images

[Nikolas74]

On 26/09/2018 at 19:29, souls33k3r said:

 

I just bought the newer version then , from what i see the newer version box is more safe and secure for the telescope.

The dedicated FF has an M48 thread adapter to connect it to the camera , so you can attach there permanently a 2" filter i believe...

Nikolas.

 

[souls33k3r]

1 hour ago, Nikolas74 said:

I just bought the newer version then , from what i see the newer version box is more safe and secure for the telescope.

The dedicated FF has an M48 thread adapter to connect it to the camera , so you can attach there permanently a 2" filter i believe...

Nikolas.

 

Hi Nikolas,

Cheers for checking mate, much appreciated

Regards,

Ahmed

[Selborne]

Hi Souls,

Your first statement is correct, you cannot mount filters inside the adapter,

Interesting that the new box is smaller !

 

many thanks

Jamie

[SteveMunro]

On 17/08/2018 at 00:32, Selborne said:

Hi Guys,

I thought I would share with you my first hand experience of the Skywatcher ED100 Pro Esprit Telescope, I have only had it a few months, but so far I am extremely happy with the results, it is so sharp and the contrast is very high.

I live in a small town, Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK, where the light pollution is not to bad, but still I have to be cautious with the direction I choose to point the telescope.   All my astrophotography is done from the back garden on my patio.

I have had a few different telescopes over the years, but I always found myself moving more and more into astrophotography, so after some research I selected the Skywatcher ED100 Pro Esprit, as many of the other users had commented on the sharpness and contrast.  As I wanted to focus on more wide field astrophotography the F5.5 speed giving 550mm seemed the right choice, I also use an ED50 Skywatcher Guide Scope with an Altair Astro ASI130mm camera for the guiding and of course PHD2 software, all mounted on my Skywatcher HEQ6 mount.

Here is a shot of the Andromeda Galaxy, 20 x 30s stills at ISO 800 on my Sony A7Rii, no filters just RAW images processed with Photoshop, Stacked Mean option.  I used the Trevor Jones video on his BackyardAstro You Tube page for processing DSO's and it seems to work very well.  What you will see from the image is just how sharp it is, something that really surprised me when I processed the images.

This has inspired me to spend more time outside in the garden to photograph more objects, plus I have recently purchased an Astronomic CLS Filter for my Sony A7Rii, so I am looking forward to using this to see if it improve the contrast.  I will keep you informed.

Also I am looking forwarded to trying my Olympus EM1 MK2 camera, yes I know it does not have the capabilities of the Sony A7Rii for light gathering, but it does have a really clever mode where it can stack the images in camera to reduce noise, so I will also let you know how this went as well.

Best Regards

Jamie

 

 

5

Hi Jamie, thanks for sharing your incredible Image. I have a quick question, if you don't mind, that is related to both scope and camera (i.e. I own A7rii and I'm wanting to buy the Skywatcher Esprit 100). What mounts are you using to attach the camera to the scope? I've been in touch with Bintel and, unfortunately this time, they are unable to give me the information I need so, as you are using both which I intend to use, can you please let me know how it all came together for you? All the best, Steve

[SteveMunro]

OK, if Jamie is not around to give the answer I need - can anyone else tell me what adapters I need to fit a SONY a7Rii to a Skywatcher Esprit 100mm Triplet Super Apo? I've tried asking the shop that sells the scope but I was being sent around in circles, and I've tried phoning SkyWatcher here in Australia and was told I'd need to wait a few days while they tried to figure it out themselves (!!WTF!!). I have my wallet ready to buy this scope but it seems no-one can let me know how I can fix my camera to it despite the scope being advertised "with the discerning astrophotographer in mind." Come on, it can't be that difficult can it?

[Jkulin]

Steve, The back focus is the critical thing so 55mm from your CCD to the face plate of the Esprit field flattener, you will need that if you buy the scope. Remember to add extra for filters etc.

You will need to see if any of the photographic retails make a Sony T2-Adapter,  if not then you'll need to obtain a Sony>Nikon or Sony>Canon adapter and then you can use a proprietary T adapter to the Esprit, but watch your back focus as you really need to identify the CCD distances of your Sony.

I had to to do similar for my Leica, with a Leica to Nikon and then a Nikon T-Adapter.

Hope that helps?

[SteveMunro]

4 hours ago, Jkulin said:

Steve, The back focus is the critical thing so 55mm from your CCD to the face plate of the Esprit field flattener, you will need that if you buy the scope. Remember to add extra for filters etc.

You will need to see if any of the photographic retails make a Sony T2-Adapter,  if not then you'll need to obtain a Sony>Nikon or Sony>Canon adapter and then you can use a proprietary T adapter to the Esprit, but watch your back focus as you really need to identify the CCD distances of your Sony.

I had to to do similar for my Leica, with a Leica to Nikon and then a Nikon T-Adapter.

Hope that helps?

Thanks John; I'm a cinematographer so understand the importance of back focus. My issue is that the store advertises a Sony E-Mount as well as an M-48 adapter so, despite the e-mount being listed as specifically for my camera, the guy I spoke to said it "wasn't but [I'd] need something to sort out the back focus" which of course I know but he couldn't tell me what I needed to do it! So, I understand and thank you for your reply John but, I can't be the only person that has wanted to put this camera on a scope so what, specifically, do I need to do it? Is there anyone out there that has done this, e.g. this thread's creator? Many thanks, Steve.

[Jkulin]

1 hour ago, SteveMunro said:

Thanks John; I'm a cinematographer so understand the importance of back focus. My issue is that the store advertises a Sony E-Mount as well as an M-48 adapter so, despite the e-mount being listed as specifically for my camera, the guy I spoke to said it "wasn't but [I'd] need something to sort out the back focus" which of course I know but he couldn't tell me what I needed to do it! So, I understand and thank you for your reply John but, I can't be the only person that has wanted to put this camera on a scope so what, specifically, do I need to do it? Is there anyone out there that has done this, e.g. this thread's creator? Many thanks, Steve.

Steve send @peter shah a message as he shoots widefield with a Sony and might be able to help you.

[Saganite]

On 09/09/2018 at 16:13, Stu1smartcookie said:

Certainly an impressive review , Jamie . I am kicking myself . I bought a flex tube 250 Sky-Watcher dob only 10 days ago and I’m already regretting that I didn’t go for another refractor . Don’t get me wrong , the dob is great , but it’s huge and to be honest I was swayed by the large aperture. In reality I want to get into astrophotography and I should have bought either the model you have or even the 80 mm version . My wife’s gonna kill me when she knows i want to change lol. A great image too , of the Andromeda galaxy . 

Clear skies . 

Keep the Dob and get the frac as well !

Might as well die happy 

 

[Saganite]

On 16/08/2018 at 15:32, Selborne said:

Hi Guys,

I thought I would share with you my first hand experience of the Skywatcher ED100 Pro Esprit Telescope, I have only had it a few months, but so far I am extremely happy with the results, it is so sharp and the contrast is very high.

I live in a small town, Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK, where the light pollution is not to bad, but still I have to be cautious with the direction I choose to point the telescope.   All my astrophotography is done from the back garden on my patio.

I have had a few different telescopes over the years, but I always found myself moving more and more into astrophotography, so after some research I selected the Skywatcher ED100 Pro Esprit, as many of the other users had commented on the sharpness and contrast.  As I wanted to focus on more wide field astrophotography the F5.5 speed giving 550mm seemed the right choice, I also use an ED50 Skywatcher Guide Scope with an Altair Astro ASI130mm camera for the guiding and of course PHD2 software, all mounted on my Skywatcher HEQ6 mount.

Here is a shot of the Andromeda Galaxy, 20 x 30s stills at ISO 800 on my Sony A7Rii, no filters just RAW images processed with Photoshop, Stacked Mean option.  I used the Trevor Jones video on his BackyardAstro You Tube page for processing DSO's and it seems to work very well.  What you will see from the image is just how sharp it is, something that really surprised me when I processed the images.

This has inspired me to spend more time outside in the garden to photograph more objects, plus I have recently purchased an Astronomic CLS Filter for my Sony A7Rii, so I am looking forward to using this to see if it improve the contrast.  I will keep you informed.

Also I am looking forwarded to trying my Olympus EM1 MK2 camera, yes I know it does not have the capabilities of the Sony A7Rii for light gathering, but it does have a really clever mode where it can stack the images in camera to reduce noise, so I will also let you know how this went as well.

Best Regards

Jamie

 

Great scope Jamie, but superb image. Well done !