SW Esprit Ed80 or WO gt 81.. Which one would you recommend ?

[Craig123]

Hi all

I have the SW Ed80 on my Heq5 and have been working on dso with a Atik 314 mono. I usually takes me ages to get data for an image 😁. I was thinking of upgrading scopes and had the two above on the list. Has anyone experience of these two. I thought the Esprit would be best for me  but I know the WO is abit faster and saw an incredible horeshead done with it yesterday. Any input to help me decide much appreciated. TIA

[Adam J]

45 minutes ago, Craig123 said:

Hi all

I have the SW Ed80 on my Heq5 and have been working on dso with a Atik 314 mono. I usually takes me ages to get data for an image 😁. I was thinking of upgrading scopes and had the two above on the list. Has anyone experience of these two. I thought the Esprit would be best for me  but I know the WO is abit faster and saw an incredible horeshead done with it yesterday. Any input to help me decide much appreciated. TIA

The issue you will have is that while you will end up with a larger FOV and faster optics your going to be at 3.3' / pix with a Esprit 80 and that camera or even worse with the WO GT81. I personally think that once things get over 3'/pix stars start to look more than a little blocky with a small sensor when viewd full size. So while it will be faster to reach a given signal to noise ratio with a 80mm F5 its going to lose you image quality in terms of resolved detail. The difference between your current 2.6 and 3.3 is quite significant when you think that 2.6 is marginal anyhow. 

I would not think of your current combination as a slow system either. The main limitation in my mind is FOV and that you will find many objects wont fit in without multiple panels. 

My initial reaction is that you should upgrade the camera to a larger sensor first then go to a faster scope later. But if you really want to go with a shorter focal length then I would chose the Esprit over the WO. 

Adam

[Craig123]

Thanks for the input Adam. 

No. I wouldn't want the resolution  to suffer you are right there. I  need to work out alot more about this aspect of imaging and combining gear. 

I have often been  frustrated at the FOV but can live with that for a while longer. 

Tbh the focuser was one of the main bugbears on my current set up but I figured £150 or more for a good one was better spent on a new scope. 

Decisions.. 

[david_taurus83]

I've got the GT71 and though it's a cracking little scope, the flattener doesn't quite give a fully corrected field over a ASI1600 sensor, close but not perfect. Where I have seen plenty of images of the Esprit range where stars are round right to the corners. If I was to go back and choose between both again, I'd go for the Esprit.

[Craig123]

4 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

I've got the GT71 and though it's a cracking little scope, the flattener doesn't quite give a fully corrected field over a ASI1600 sensor, close but not perfect. Where I have seen plenty of images of the Esprit range where stars are round right to the corners. If I was to go back and choose between both again, I'd go for the Esprit.

Thanks for that David., useful info. 

That said this ha image I saw yesterday with the gt81 was mind blowing. 

So much detail. 👍

[Craig123]

On 30/10/2019 at 14:30, Adam J said:

The issue you will have is that while you will end up with a larger FOV and faster optics your going to be at 3.3' / pix with a Esprit 80 and that camera or even worse with the WO GT81. I personally think that once things get over 3'/pix stars start to look more than a little blocky with a small sensor when viewd full size. So while it will be faster to reach a given signal to noise ratio with a 80mm F5 its going to lose you image quality in terms of resolved detail. The difference between your current 2.6 and 3.3 is quite significant when you think that 2.6 is marginal anyhow. 

I would not think of your current combination as a slow system either. The main limitation in my mind is FOV and that you will find many objects wont fit in without multiple panels. 

My initial reaction is that you should upgrade the camera to a larger sensor first then go to a faster scope later. But if you really want to go with a shorter focal length then I would chose the Esprit over the WO. 

Adam

Hi Adam. I appreciate your comment here and have been looking at options to move forward with imaging. I think it would have been a mistake to go for the Esprit having found the astronomy tools calculator for optimum resolution so ended up back thinking on the zwo 1600 mono Pro. With Ed80 for now. (I nearly got one instead of the 314 a couple years ago )  I've seen a few comments on cloudy nights about reflections but it seems to be  just aimed at one particular target. There's isn't a newer model with AR coating? 

Also I have a 22mm Filter  wheel with Baader 1. 25..any idea if this will work OK for 1600 or will the vignetting be bad. I can see the ZWO  manual  wheel is only 19mm. 

Many thanks