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Help me choose an APO Scope Please

Deneb

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Deneb

Deneb

Posted
Posted

Hi

Im looking to buy a Widefield Scope sometime next week, my Budget is around £350 - £400 max. I want to mount it on my existing EQ5 Synscan mount. Mainly going to use for some Visual Work but mainly Widefield Imaging with my 450D.

Now here's the tricky part: I've looking around at the following scopes:

  1. WO Zenithstar 66SD

  2. Skywatcher Equinox 66 APO Pro OTA

  3. WO Megrez 72 FD APO
  4. Revelation 66mm F400 Apo refractor
  5. Astrograph 80mm OTA w/ FPL53-ED @ Telescope House

How much difference is there between FPL53 & FPL51 optics regarding imaging. Im confused & I don't know which one to go for ? Please help me decide.

Best Regards

Nadeem.

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Darren B

Darren B

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For visual viewing go for the 80mm, aperture rules. Although I'm stumped to choose which one for imaging as they are all good. It might be the case of choosing which one you like the look of or which one is sold in your nearest telescope shop which has good customer service.

With these small telescopes I would not worry about the difference between Fpl51 & Fpl53.

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Greg

Greg

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I can only comment on what I use ..

I have a WO Z66 and love it for imaging and sitting alongside it is a SW ED80 Pro (New type) Which I also love ..

The SW shares the same FLP53 glass..

I took this the other night with a Canon D60 and the WO66 no flattner and unguided to give you an idea of image size on a similar Canon chip.

Please ignore the bloaty stars..:icon_salut:

post-12746-133877375619_thumb.jpg

post-12746-133877375627_thumb.jpg

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Posted

Hi,

I agree that the only thing that matters here for visual use is aperture, so 80mm. First Light Optics were doing a Celestron version of the 80ED at an incredible price of about £215.

But now to think about imaging...

I think the big issue regarding your choice concerns flatness of field for imaging. A DSLR has a big chip and will put you scope's field curvature and even-ness of illumination under EXTREME pressure. I don't know the astrograph you mention but all the other scopes will need a field flattener to give really good stars at the edge of the chip. My own ZS66 with dedicated flattener gives acceptable (to me) stars at the edge of a chip that's 15mm square. They are certainly not perfect in the corners, though. That's shorter than the long axis of your chip. Flat fields are also essential to achieve an even illumination of the final image.

Others will no doubt comment on their choice of focal reducer-flattener for the other scopes.

Another detail; a 2 speed focusser is a big, big plus for imaging though not important for visual. If you do go for a single speed you can always attach a lever to the focus knob so as to have a finer control. I do that on our old but nice TeleVue Genesis.

Have fun,

Olly

PS Just had a look at the 'astrograph.' Hmmm, I suspect a bit of marketing speak here. A doublet astrograph? Not very convinced. What do others think?

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GazOC

GazOC

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Posted
Hi,

PS Just had a look at the 'astrograph.' Hmmm, I suspect a bit of marketing speak here. A doublet astrograph? Not very convinced. What do others think?

I agree, it just seems like (yet!) another 80mm FPL-53 doublet to me.

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Milamber

Milamber

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Do you really need a refractor??

Mainly going to use for some Visual Work but mainly Widefield Imaging with my 450D.

Bit of a conundrum there... but whilst aperture is important, using a dSLR then flat field becomes more important. you might have a100mm scope but if your usable image size is only 25% of your sensor then you are wasting money.

Arthur

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Deneb

Deneb

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mmm, im still a bit confused & still need convincing - I think the WO 66SD, SW Equinox 66 Pro or the Megrez 72 might be a better choice, we can forget about the Astrograph then, either way I would still have to buy a Focal Reducer. For best bang for buck the Celestron 80ED would have been a strong contender as well minus the 2x speed focuser, but it sounds like I have missed out on that offer, as I cannot find them selling no more. As you say Olly having a dual speed focuser is a big plus for imaging thats why I have taken a liking to the WO & SW OTA's, but between the three of them don't know which to go for !

Regards

Nadeem

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Marmite

Marmite

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Hi. I can't help re the 66mm and 72mm models (never seen them), but any of the Synta-made 80mm will do the job very well, especially if you add a WO II ff/fr for imaging.

So any from Sky-Watcher, Orion, Celestron etc. Almost impossible to beat the value the 80-120mm ED 'scopes from those companies represent.

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oceanheadted

oceanheadted

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There have been quite a few second hand ED80s come up recently on stargazers lounge. I think the weakness of the C80ED is the focuser which is more tricky to upgrade than the skywatcher. The skywatcher ED80 Pro comes with a dual speed crayford which almost makes up for the bargain price the C80ED was being offered for recently at FLO.

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Aza

Aza

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Posted

I have a WO72.

Its a lovely scope, but even with the FF/FR the stars are not perfect around the edges of my DSLR FOV.

Its not too much of a problem, unless you are imaging the same target over multiple nights.

Personally I wished I had saved up for a scope with a flat field. Something like a Pentax or Borg. But then you are getting up and over £500.

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Ant

Ant

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I've just bought an ED100. I imaged M57 the other night and came up with the following image.

OK it's a crop - all my images are cropped square for my site (I'll try and dig out the full frame if it's of any use).

This was taken with a 300D. I was quite please with the stars even at the edges!

ant-albums-dso-s-picture1841-m57-30-05-09-95-x-90-seconds-ed100-300d.jpg

Ant

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Deneb

Deneb

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Thanks Ant, a full size frame would be idea,just to a rough idea on how the stars would look, as I said previously in my other post, keeping in budget the WO 66SD or Megrez 72 are looking good to me.

FLO has expectional customer service :icon_salut:, has anyone Experienced customer service from Ian King Imaging ?

Regards

Nadeem.

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