SkyWatcher Esprit 80ED Triplet

[Mikey0368]

I'm looking to get a new telescope, primarily for astro photography, and the Esprit 80ED is what I'm thinking of.  My mount is an HEQ5 with Rowan belt upgrade and my camera is a modified Canon EOS 600d.

Would that scope be a good choice? And is there anything else out there around the £1000 mark that would also be worth considering?

 

 

 

Thanks.

[London_David]

I’d have a look at the William Optics site. They have some nice refractors in that range if that’s what your looking for. I have a GT71 which I’ve been very pleased with as a grab and go scope. The finish is really nice, and they look great!

Theres a GT81 at pretty much exactly your price point:

https://williamoptics.com/products/telescope/gran-turismo/new-2018-gran-turismo-81

[Jkulin]

My sig says it all, I couldn't for the price find a better scope than the Esprit range.

The WO look very pretty but everywhere I read there seems to Consistency problems with QC, so for that reason I chose to go elsewhere.

[Skipper Billy]

Your intended outfit sounds like a match made in the celestial to me !!

That scope is a Tak rival at a fraction of the price and well suited to your mount and camera.

[Skipper Billy]

PS - I would spend the extra £75 for the pre-dispatch optical bench test - a small price for peace of mind that you are getting a really good one.  ?

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

Another vote for the Esprit, I’ve done quite a bit of research as I was in doubt between the WO and Esprit. In the end there is little between them, but I went for the Esprit 100 because it seems to rival the Taks for a fraction of the price. Let me know if you go for the Esprit 80 as I have a brand new, unused field flattener for it laying around.

[Mikey0368]

Thanks folks, that's really useful.

I was planning on getting the bench test, T ring and bahtinov mask at the same time and get the field flattener later in the year. Will bear that in mind though.

[Mikey0368]

I'm getting closer to making a move on this but having done a bit more homework there seem to be a couple of issues.

There's a discussion about balancing the scope in this review...

 

 

Does anyone have experience of balancing the scope, and if so how did you sort it? Bearing in mind my camera is a DSLR.

There also seems to be a focussing issue when using a DSLR if you don't buy the flattener as well. I was going to get that later in the year so that woman who hangs around the house would be less likely to spot that particular purchase! Anyone come across this?

I'm going to buy it from FLO and one of their reviews mentions balancing as well, so I'll also drop them a line and see how they deal with it.

[alexbb]

6 minutes ago, Mikey07 said:

I'm getting closer to making a move on this but having done a bit more homework there seem to be a couple of issues.

There's a discussion about balancing the scope in this review...

 

 

Does anyone have experience of balancing the scope, and if so how did you sort it? Bearing in mind my camera is a DSLR.

There also seems to be a focussing issue when using a DSLR if you don't buy the flattener as well. I was going to get that later in the year so that woman who hangs around the house would be less likely to spot that particular purchase! Anyone come across this?

I'm going to buy it from FLO and one of their reviews mentions balancing as well, so I'll also drop them a line and see how they deal with it.

You'll definitely need a flattener for imaging. The dedicated one does a good job.

As for balancing, you'll just need to scroll a bit and see that I attached a vixen dovetail to the mounting shoe. I needed to drill an extra hole in the vixen dovetail though in order to be able to secure it with 2 bolts.

[Mikey0368]

6 minutes ago, alexbb said:

You'll definitely need a flattener for imaging. The dedicated one does a good job.

As for balancing, you'll just need to scroll a bit and see that I attached a vixen dovetail to the mounting shoe. I needed to drill an extra hole in the vixen dovetail though in order to be able to secure it with 2 bolts.

Thanks for your reply, that's really helpful.

I'll let FLO recommend the right vixen dovetail so I don't get the wrong thing!

[alexbb]

2 minutes ago, Mikey07 said:

Thanks for your reply, that's really helpful.

I'll let FLO recommend the right vixen dovetail so I don't get the wrong thing!

You'll need to drill it anyway.

[alexbb]

In the picture you saw, mine is the medium one - 21cm: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/skywatcher-dovetail-mounting-plates.html

[alexbb]

5 minutes ago, alexbb said:

You'll need to drill it anyway.

Actually, you can get an already drilled one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/adm-vixen-style-universal-dovetail-bars.html and 2 short bolts https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/1-4-inch-socket-head-whitworth-bolts-x2-3-4-inch-long.html. But drilling a hole by yourself can save you about 40 pounds.

[Mikey0368]

6 minutes ago, alexbb said:

In the picture you saw, mine is the medium one - 21cm: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/skywatcher-dovetail-mounting-plates.html

I've just remembered that I've got a dovetail here, it came with my HEQ5 and it's 21cm. I didn't need to use it as my existing scope just dropped right on to the HEQ5.

That'll do the trick eh? (Once I've drilled it!!)

 

[alexbb]

Just now, Mikey07 said:

I've just remembered that I've got a dovetail here, it came with my HEQ5 and it's 21cm. I didn't need to use it as my existing scope just dropped right on to the HEQ5.

That'll do the trick eh? (Once I've drilled it!!)

 

That should do.

You'll need to drill a larger hole only halfway, don't go through all the dovetail. This is to allow the bolt's head to hide in the dovetail and don't get in the way when mounting the scope/dovetail on the mount.

Perhaps you need to do that on one of the holes at one end.

For the second bolt, you'll need to figure out the right distance, drill a thin hole through the dovetail and a larger one to allow the bolt's head to hide in the dovetail.

I hope I was clear enough, please ask otherwise! Though, the dovetail is long enough to practice

[Mikey0368]

Thanks.

FLO have replied to my question and they recommend the 11" version of this...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-vixen-type-v-series/adm-vixen-style-universal-dovetail-bars.html

I might just go for that as I don't have anything here that will drill through the dovetail I already have.

[Jkulin]

With my 80 I got rid of the rather inadequate mounting shoe/can't really call it a vixen rail and changed to Tube clamps, made so much of a difference, this was it perfectly balanced on my old CEM60EC which was hyper critical for balance, I just slid a spare clamp and weight onto the front of the Losmandy rail and the balance was perfect: -