Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

Vixen SD 81S, William Optics GT81 or...


Recommended Posts

After many years of drooling, I got my SDX2 mount earlier this year. I adore it.  I bought it to make visual observing a joy and it's lived up to expectations. What's surprised me is how, by putting a camera at the eyepiece end of a telescope, it would yield very pleasing results.; I'm hooked. 

At the moment I'm shooting through a SW 130PDS, which is actually excellent (particularly for the money) but its 650mm focal length is a bit of a bug-bear. It's not got enough reach to get those tiny objects or enough field of view to capture nice wide nebula, so I'm in the market for a wide-field refractor. 

My heart says the Vixen SD 81S. I've always had a soft spot for Vixen stuff and it would complement my SXD2 mount nicely, although that is obviously totally unimportant. I believe these are excellent and Ed Ting agrees (assuming an SD 81S is just a refinement of an ED 81S). I don't think it comes with a dual-speed focuser (despite what FLO's page on it says) but I'm not sure that particularly matters. 

The WO GT81 is a bit more expensive but does seem to be better value by giving the dual-speed focuser, a camera rotator and more options for mounting "stuff" associated with astrophotography. 

I'd be shooting with an ASI533MC Pro and whichever scope I got I would get a flattener and probably a reducer too for the Vixen as I'd want to be around 500mm focal length. I would want whatever I got to be a capable visual instrument too so I feel this rules out the 60mm quad or quintuplet-type scopes. I know the 

Is either the Vixen or William Optics scopes objectively better than the other or is there nothing in it really and it comes down to subjective judgments? 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.