SW Evostar ED72 or RVO Horizon 60 ED?

[Swoop1]

Getting ready to take the next step with an imaging/ travel scope and have a couple of options.

SW Evostar ED72 complete with dedicated reducer/ flattener and hard case for £500

Or

RVO Horizon 60 ED imaging package (scope, guidescope, 1x flattener and hard case) for £695.

With the RVO I will need to drop another £145 for a guide camera. With the SW I will need another £220+ for a guide scope and camera.

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

 

[paulastro]

I have a SW 72ED, and it's an excellent travel or grab and go scope.  The optics are excellent, and gives pinpoint stars and nice sharp contrasty views of Moon and planets.

I'm sure a 60mm scope can be excellent for imaging doing lots of subs, but for me as a travel scope it just isn't large enough.  For visual use 60mm is not enough aperture to show enough detail for deep sky or planetary For me.

If I was going to a nice dark site, side by side there would be no comparison in my view.

[prusling]

I recently bought the TS 60mm equivalent and a major factor was the 1.5kg weight as one use will be with a DSLR on a 3.5kg rated lightweight tracker (iOptron SkyTracker).

I already had a TS 0.79x reducer which screws on in place of the 2" clamp and gives around 290mm FL - wide enough for the whole Veil or the Heart&Soul (just).

So far, after initial back focus tuning, test shots show acceptably round stars in the corners and no trailing at 30 secs.

Depending on your use case, from my limited experience to date I'd recommend it.

[Steve Clay]

I don't image but I do have the Ed 72 which I use for solar with a quark. All I can offer is that for the money it punches well above it's weight.

Steve

[Robindonne]

without having used either one I would always go for the Skywatcher.  seems like a much better purchase/investment. 

[Clarkey]

I think both are pretty good value. Personally I would go for the SW as it is going to be a slightly larger aperture for a similar FL (with reducer / flattener). I am also slightly bias in that I have an ED80 which is excellent for the money.

[Skyline]

Here's my input.

The 72ED is better value for money, you have either a Flattener or an 0.85x reducer which brings the scope down to f4.9 with a focal length of  357mm, the same as the 60ED at 360mm. Plus the slightly larger aperture of the 72.

The 72ED depending on the mount your using and dovetail will provide better balance.

Cheaper then RVO's offering, I would not get too hung up on the glass type for this size aperture. Check this site out on the quality of the optics of the ED72:

A test report with star test and Ronchi-record for a Sky Watcher EVOSTAR 72 ED DS PRO OTA ED-APO (teleskop-spezialisten.de)

Edited June 30, 2021 by Skyline