Comparison of Skywatcher Evostar 100ed pro 2 and the new Evostar 100/120ED DS

[merlinxlm]

I would like some advice regarding buying a new scope, I have been offered the Skywatcher Evostar 100ed pro 2 at a very good price, I am very tempted to buy it, its 4 months old and only used a couple of times. My question is, is the extra money for the newer Evostar 100/120ED DS, worth it. The newer 100ED DS is double the price of the second hand unit, and the 120ED DS is £600 more than the Evostar 100ed pro 2. I think that the optics are the same on all the scopes, the major difference is the Dual-Speed 11:1 2” Crayford Focuser (Backlash-Free) on the newer scopes and the Crayford Focuser (Backlash-Free) With Brushed-Aluminium grips on the older unit. Am I going to notice any major difference between the three scopes. I understand that the 120ED DS has a larger aperture than the 100's, does this make a significant difference in the performance? My plan is to set up a duel scope set up for guiding my mount through the EQMOD, so the money I can save on the second hand unit would allow me to buy the second scope and mounting bar. But if there is a major difference between the older and the newer scopes I'd rather buy one of them and save my money to buy the other parts.

Thank you for any comments.

[GazOC]

I own a ED100 and a ED120 DS (only because I bought the ED120 with the intention of selling the ED100 but can't get what I consider a decent price for it).

The ED100 has pretty much the same optics as the ED100DS, the newer model has the Schott glass advertising but theres every chance the older ED used this as well. Even if it didn't the Schott element is just the commonly avaliable (AFAIK) BK-7 glass that many companies make.

The ED120 does show a small difference over the ED100 but the biggest advantage is that, at f7.5 its a lot better suited to imaging (if thats your thing) than the f9 ED100.

If you want an ED100 I'd go down the secondhand route, you can always fit a dual speed Crayford on at later date but if you have the money the ED120 is the best alround scope out of the 3 IMHO.

[merlinxlm]

Thank you for your advice, I will be doing some imaging with the scope, so do you think that the will be a big difference between an f7.5 and f9, to justify the £600 difference.

Thank you.

[GazOC]

I'll have to leave that question to the imagers....

[merlinxlm]

If you don't mind me asking, how would you compare them both visually, e.g. clarity, magnification and overall comparison.

Thank you.

[GazOC]

I prefer the ED120, it shows most objects that bit better. Whether its worth the extra cash is debatable and somewhat of a personal decision.

[merlinxlm]

Fair enough, the chap I'm buying the OTA off, is asking about £350 delivered. That's for the complete Skywatcher Evostar 100ed pro 2 kit, including the eye pieces diagonal and finder, all less than 4 months old. What do you think of the price?

Thank you.

[GazOC]

If you want/ need the extras then I'd say its an OK price. The OTAs on their own are going for around £300 at the moment.

[johninderby]

There's an Evostar 100ED on eBay at £250.00 and it looks to be in really good order.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SKYWATCHER-100ED-100-ED-ED100-APOCHROMATIC-TELESCOPE_W0QQitemZ150344770420QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Telescopes?hash=item150344770420&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

John

[GazOC]

Nice price!!

[John]

There's an Evostar 100ED on eBay at £250.00 and it looks to be in really good order.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SKYWATCHER-100ED-100-ED-ED100-APOCHROMATIC-TELESCOPE_W0QQitemZ150344770420QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Telescopes?hash=item150344770420&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

John

I put this one in the "Heads Up" section yesterday John - I really can't understand why it has not sold yet - I used to have one of those "blue tube" ED's and it was a wonderful scope - if I did not already have my Vixen ED102 I'd have snapped it up.

John

[ollypenrice]

Hi, my thoughts on this...

Would the difference between f9 and f7.5 make much difference to imaging? Yes. It would make a lot of difference. I think one reason why the 4 inch scope only fetches a poor price second hand is because it is not an imaging instrument.

Would the 120 show more deep sky visually? Yes, a lot more, I believe.

Is the two speed focus a big advantage for imaging? Hmmm... it's a big pleasure, shall we say. A very big one. We have three scopes with two speed and one, an elderly Genesis, with single speed. This is a bit more of a hassle to focus, even with an extended lever I fitted. I would recommend this if you do go for the single speed instrument. In imaging nothing matters more than perfect focus.

So would I buy the f9 even at a very good price? Personally, honestly, no. It is too small for visual and too slow for imaging and WAY to slow for guiding. I think you'd soon want something else.

The Meade 127 Triplet is a good telescope, too, both visually and for imaging. You can see my images with it at www.flickr.com/photos/lesgranges - eg M101 in the galaxies group.

Olly

[Deneb]

I put this one in the "Heads Up" section yesterday John - I really can't understand why it has not sold yet - I used to have one of those "blue tube" ED's and it was a wonderful scope - if I did not already have my Vixen ED102 I'd have snapped it up.

John

I'm starting to get tempted, might have to sell the Skyamx

[GazOC]

Just my 2p but I think the current price that ED100s are going for makes them a real bargain secondhand if you are a visual observer. My own "line in the sand" for apeture for visual use is 80mm+ but as Olly says some may fimd 100mm to small for their tastes.