Is a Skywatcher Esprit 80 for imaging a good choice?

[bluesilver]

Hi,  I am hoping to get a bit of advice on which way i should possibly be going here.

I am looking for a scope for imaging.

I currently am using a large Skywatcher Evostar 150ED,  it is a great scope but just a little too big when i am trying to take images of the larger nebulas like Orion.

For instance,  with the Evostar 150ED, when i am imaging Orion,  i get pretty much all the entire Orion Nebular.

I would like a smaller scope so that i can get the running man Nebular in the same frame,  ( i hope that makes sense )

The 80mm looks like to be a good size scope for these larger Nebulars.

I am imaging with a Cannon 600D DLSR camera.

Mount is a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6

Guide scope is an Orion 60mm guide scope.

So after all that,  i was just interested to here what everyone's advise is on going for a Skywatcher Esprit 80 or look at a Williams scope.

I have read that the Skywatcher Esprit already has a flattener installed in the design,  where the Williams line you need to get one separate.

I am leaning more to the Skywatcher as it is what i already have,  just need a larger dove tail to fit the AZ-EQ6 shoe.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[fifeskies]

The Esprit 80 will give the wide field views you are looking for but will still require a flattener, a dedicated one is produced.    Sky-Watcher Field Flattener for Esprit-80 | First Light Optics

 

I considered an Esprit but in the end I obtained a William Optics GT81.

astronomy.tools  is a very useful site to simulate the performance of telescope options.

This helps you make informed choices , just add the details for the telescopes you are considering, either with eyepieces or for cameras on the "imaging" tab.  Remember to click the correct flattener reducer option to get correct results.

 

An example is shown below

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by fifeskies

[AbsolutelyN]

I've just sold mine but it's an absolutely superb scope. Wide field of view, only 400mm focal length so easy on guiding and reasonably fast. I was very pleased with the images the scope produced. Make sure you get the flattener though.  You can't go too wrong with it. 

M42 with Esprit 80 and 1600MM
https://www.astrobin.com/ph1nb5/

Edited May 3, 2021 by AbsolutelyN

[bluesilver]

Thanks for the replies,  appreciated.

Yes, i have been using astronomy tools to work out how things might look with different cameras and scope.

I did look at the Williams line of scopes,  but was interested to here what people thought of the Esprit 80 as it is suppose to be a good scope.

Not to be confused with the Evostar 80

Was looking at Skywatcher mainly because this is what i currently have and been using.

I think the Esprit 80 comes with a dedicated flatter / reducer also,  could be wrong, but will check into that.

 

 

[Planitair]

Why is the Flattener so important ? I dont have an issue with the espirit 80 & ZWO ASI 533 pro, or should I get one for some reason.

eric

[vlaiv]

5 minutes ago, Planitair said:

Why is the Flattener so important ? I dont have an issue with the espirit 80 & ZWO ASI 533 pro, or should I get one for some reason.

eric

It's only important if you start suffering from field curvature.

Focal plane is really not flat plane at all. It is curved.

This means that if center of the field is in focus - edges won't be and vice verse. How much defocus there will be - depends on how large your sensor is and how strong field curvature is.

With small sensors in most cases you don't need field flattener as you can position sensor between two extremes - center stars will be slightly out of focus and corner stars will be slightly out of focus - but that out of focus blur is much smaller than for example seeing blur - and you don't see difference - stars look pin point enough both at center and at edges.

If you have large sensor - like APS-C which has 27mm diagonal (that is almost double diagonal size compared to ASI533) then it is likely that you'll notice the effect and then field flattener is required in order to correct edge stars.

[Georgino]

On 03/05/2021 at 16:40, bluesilver said:

Hi,  I am hoping to get a bit of advice on which way i should possibly be going here.

I am looking for a scope for imaging.

I currently am using a large Skywatcher Evostar 150ED,  it is a great scope but just a little too big when i am trying to take images of the larger nebulas like Orion.

For instance,  with the Evostar 150ED, when i am imaging Orion,  i get pretty much all the entire Orion Nebular.

I would like a smaller scope so that i can get the running man Nebular in the same frame,  ( i hope that makes sense )

The 80mm looks like to be a good size scope for these larger Nebulars.

I am imaging with a Cannon 600D DLSR camera.

Mount is a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6

Guide scope is an Orion 60mm guide scope.

So after all that,  i was just interested to here what everyone's advise is on going for a Skywatcher Esprit 80 or look at a Williams scope.

I have read that the Skywatcher Esprit already has a flattener installed in the design,  where the Williams line you need to get one separate.

I am leaning more to the Skywatcher as it is what i already have,  just need a larger dove tail to fit the AZ-EQ6 shoe.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Hey bluesilver,

So how did you decide? I am thinking about the same scope as you (SW Esprit 80). Just gathering some information and experiences from others. Thanks