Stellamyra 80mm fl10 v TS 100mm fl7

[Chris]

32 minutes ago, Carl Au said:

Well as luck would have it I bought one of these today: https://www.altairastro.com/starwave-102ed-r-fpl53-refractor-459-p.asp and added a rather nice padded case to go with it. Since you lotchose my scope for me I thought I might pick the last bits myself, slast night I ordered a 2 inch WO star diagonal and a WO red dot finder. It seems I should be back in buisness very soon. 

Very good choice, well done on a great purchase! @FLO pretty please try and stock something similar to this at some point. A StellaLyra or Myra 4" f/7 ED doublet would be magic, and there is a gap now the WO 103 ED doesn't seem to be available.  

Edited January 19, 2021 by Lockie

[FLO]

2 hours ago, Lockie said:

@FLO pretty please try and stock something similar to this at some point. 

New models are in the pipeline but cannot share details at this point 😎

Steve 

[Chris]

53 minutes ago, FLO said:

New models are in the pipeline but cannot share details at this point 😎

Steve 

Excellent, my StellaLyra RC8 is getting lonely 😁  Very much Looking forward to hearing more when you can divulge  

[Carl Au]

DHL have just been in touch, it's and coming tomorrow. I am now officially excited.

 

[RobertI]

10 hours ago, Carl Au said:

Well as luck would have it I bought one of these today: https://www.altairastro.com/starwave-102ed-r-fpl53-refractor-459-p.asp and added a rather nice padded case to go with it. Since you lotchose my scope for me I thought I might pick the last bits myself, slast night I ordered a 2 inch WO star diagonal and a WO red dot finder. It seems I should be back in buisness very soon. 

Welcome to the club! Great choice. 

[HollyHound]

On 16/01/2021 at 17:40, Carl Au said:

The other thing which concerns me a little is it seems hardly anyone has bought one, two people as far as I can tell. FLO have 8 with r&p and 10 with a Crayford. I guess that tells it's own story about the limitations of a 80 mm visual scope? It's very pretty thou isn't it. 

Bit late to this, but being one of a relatively small number of owners of the StellaMira 80mm f/10, I can confirm that it is quite a specialist scope... however, what it does do, it does supremely well, that being lunar, planetary and double stars. It's also still quite portable and functions as a grab and go (just). My Mak 127 doesn't beat it on those targets except it gives a little brighter view, but the view is (this phrase has been used before) "scruffier", whereas the StellaMira has a cleaner image. 

However I wouldn't want it to be my only scope... the aperture does limit it's capability and I would suggest a quality 100mm if that was the criteria. I've not owned one, so can't comment on quality, but the StellaMira does have exceptional optics... it is my most flawless scope. I have considered replacing it a few times, but won't do that now unless I can retain the quality whilst increasing the aperture. A potential upgrade for me is likely a Takahashi 100mm (DC or DZ), but these are not cheap. I'm sure other 100mm APOs can provide decent quality too at somewhere between the price of these and mine 👍

I don't think that FLO have sold too many of these, and although recently re-stocked, they are not flying off the shelves at the moment... I think this reflects the specialist nature rather than the quality of these scopes. Certainly mine will be staying until replaced by the afore mentioned Takahashi, but even then I may still keep this around, as it's also an incredibly lovely thing... daft I know, but it is... inserting obligatory photo 🤣

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by HollyHound
Added photo

[GazOC]

It's an amazing looking scope, Holly but a little pricey for me to consider. I'd definitely be interested in a cheaper "bare bones" version that had the same optical specs with less of the extra trimmings. Obviously that wouldn't fit in with the premium StellaMira badging but maybe it could be done under a different label?

[HollyHound]

6 minutes ago, GazOC said:

It's an amazing looking scope, Holly but a little pricey for me to consider. I'd definitely be interested in a cheaper "bare bones" version that had the same optical specs with less of the extra trimmings. Obviously that wouldn't fit in with the premium StellaMira badging but maybe it could be done under a different label?

Agreed, they are pricey.... Certainly worth mentioning those thoughts to @FLO 👍

Cheers

Gary

[johninderby]

The StelaMira 80 is in the William Optics class of build quality, fit and finish and as good as if not better optical quality than any WO doublet which helps put the price into perspective. 

[GazOC]

8 minutes ago, johninderby said:

The StelaMira 80 is in the William Optics class of build quality, fit and finish and as good as if not better optical quality than any WO doublet which helps put the price into perspective. 

Aye! I'm certainly not knocking the optics or the fit and finish. It's just a fair bit of money for a 80mm visual scope, "too rich for my blood" as they say 

The other side to that is that on the occasions I've debated whether to buy gear that was slightly out of my price range I've never regretted it in the long run once my bank balance had recovered .

[johninderby]

I know what you mean. Was thinking about settling for 102 f/7 doublet but what I really wanted was the 125. So sell a couple of bits of kit and now getting the scope I wanted. 🙂

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

but what I really wanted was the 125

Ah, now I see what the sell off is for! What’ve you gone for? (apologies if mentioned in other threads)

[johninderby]

11 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Ah, now I see what the sell off is for! What’ve you gone for? (apologies if mentioned in other threads)

 

[Carl Au]

I ended up buying the StarView 102 ED-R fl7in the end. I am so glad I didn't buy the Stellamira. As pretty as they are, and they are very pretty it would have been a mistake I would have regretted and I kinda had sense talked into me in here. 

In the end I have kinda come home, I started out with a refractor in the 1970's with a Towa 335 and I have ended it with a 4 inch ED refractor in 2021.

It seems aperture fever got me in the end, this one is my forever scope. 

[HollyHound]

2 minutes ago, Carl Au said:

I ended up buying the StarView 102 ED-R fl7in the end. I am so glad I didn't buy the Stellamira. As pretty as they are, and they are very pretty it would have been a mistake I would have regretted and I kinda had sense talked into me in here. 

In the end I have kinda come home, I started out with a refractor in the 1970's with a Towa 335 and I have ended it with a 4 inch ED refractor in 2021.

It seems aperture fever got me in the end, this one is my forever scope. 

That's a lovely scope, nice amount of aperture and will likely be a really good "one scope"... good decision 👍

[Carl Au]

Well the condidered wisdom always used to be the best scope is the one you use the most, which why I sold both 10 inch OO dobs I owned in the past, they were such a hassle I stopped using them. I almost gave up astronomy for awhile, the seemingly endless cloud was another factor, I just got sick of heaving the huge bulk of a dog up and down the garden only to fetch it in again when the clouds came in. I simply use a refractor more, I find them to be more agile, I can often get half an hour in before my old drain pipes had even the slightest chance of cooling down in time. 

[Carl Au]

20 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Bit late to this, but being one of a relatively small number of owners of the StellaMira 80mm f/10, I can confirm that it is quite a specialist scope... however, what it does do, it does supremely well, that being lunar, planetary and double stars. It's also still quite portable and functions as a grab and go (just). My Mak 127 doesn't beat it on those targets except it gives a little brighter view, but the view is (this phrase has been used before) "scruffier", whereas the StellaMira has a cleaner image. 

However I wouldn't want it to be my only scope... the aperture does limit it's capability and I would suggest a quality 100mm if that was the criteria. I've not owned one, so can't comment on quality, but the StellaMira does have exceptional optics... it is my most flawless scope. I have considered replacing it a few times, but won't do that now unless I can retain the quality whilst increasing the aperture. A potential upgrade for me is likely a Takahashi 100mm (DC or DZ), but these are not cheap. I'm sure other 100mm APOs can provide decent quality too at somewhere between the price of these and mine 👍

I don't think that FLO have sold too many of these, and although recently re-stocked, they are not flying off the shelves at the moment... I think this reflects the specialist nature rather than the quality of these scopes. Certainly mine will be staying until replaced by the afore mentioned Takahashi, but even then I may still keep this around, as it's also an incredibly lovely thing... daft I know, but it is... inserting obligatory photo 🤣

 

 

That tripod is amazing, insainly expensive I imagine. Does it come with the head?

[HollyHound]

55 minutes ago, Carl Au said:

That tripod is amazing, insainly expensive I imagine. Does it come with the head?

It's a very good solid tripod... not quite "insanely" expensive, although not super cheap, but it's build quality is top notch... it's the Berlebach Uni 28 (EQ5 head)... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/berlebach-tripods/berlebach-uni-18-tripod-heq5-eq6.html

The mount head is also separate, and again arguably not cheap, but also very high quality and allows both smooth free movement and slow motion control simultaneously (without locking and unlocking clamps).... max payload is 7kg... it's the Scopetech Zero... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth-astronomy-mounts/scopetech-mount-zero.html

Other mounts and tripods are available of course 😀