choose one! 8"dob vs 6"mak

[mario11]

choose between these two the best one for observation from a light polluted city

which one will show better view?

[GazOC]

Unless you have portability issues or really want to get into lunar/ planetary imaging, get the Dob.

[pbyrne]

Go for the dob, it will show much more than the Mak. The Mak's narrow field of view will really restrict the view of deep sky objects. Though it's perfect for the moon and planets.

[Doc]

Dob for me as well.

[Earl]

Well a few more things to think about first.

Will you ever want to get into Astro Photography?

Do you want GOTO?

And if the LP is bad you might not see the DSO's anyhow.

[Ags]

I've got a smaller Mak and struggle with its field of view - a bigger Mak will have an even narrower field of view.

[mario11]

hard choice .......

[John]

hard choice .......

Not really - unless astrophotography is a definate interest then I'd go with the other posters and recommend the 8" F/6 dobsonian. As well as having the larger aperture and potential wide field of view it's pretty good for lunar and planetary observation as well

[toml42]

I think theres little doubt that given similar quality optics, aperture wins. That 8" dob will just eat light, i've got one, i know, lol.

However, there are a few things to consider; living in a city, portability might be important to you, in which case the mak has a big advantage.

Also, as others have said, if you want to get into astrophotography the mak would certainly be more manageable.

From what i've heard, maks do not need the sort of regular collimation that a newtonian does, but when they do need it, the process can be a bit trickier.

Due to high f ratios the mak will probably have a higher magnification for lunar or planetary work 'out the box' and will be more forgiving of poor quality eyepieces, but with the right eyepieces, the dob will be able to go higher.

This high f-ratio may be a disadvantage if you want to observe some deep sky objects, as it will be harder to fit them all in the field of view.

[mario11]

best solution would be to have both of them

[EA2007]

8inch dob.

I had / have a Celestron 8inch dobsonian Starhopper and also had a Newstar 4 SE Maksutov Cassegrain.

Go with the newtonian, the f/7 ratio (on most models) combined with the decent aperture size offers great views of most objects in the night sky. The Maksutov offers good contrast for planetary imaging but lacks widefield views and a has a slow focal ratio meaning dull objects appear.....dull. Adding a barlow makes it worse!

[Astro_Baby]

I'd go with the Dob but with some provisos -

Portability may dictate the Mak - bear in mind a Nexstar will need a portable power supply so although it will be in smaller bits there will be more of them with the Mak.

Light Pollution - I live in light pollution hell and although a Dob in thaory will see more the fact is that (a) you wont find it - cos there arent enough stars visible to navigate the sky with and ( even if you do find it the view wont be great with lots of light pollution. I could add © and say most deep sky objects arent all that wonderful no matter what if you expecting a view like hubble forget it - even with an 8" in a dark sky location most deep sky objects, with a few exceptions, are fuzzy smudges

AT the end of the day a small scope in a dark sky site will see more than a big one in a light pollution soup situation.

The navigation is also a big headache and may limit your ability to see much. My main interest is Deep Sky but I have had to resign myself to planets from home because of the light pollution. For planetary the 6" Mak wont be at a disadvantage and the fact that the mount is powered and offers tracking will be a boon for planets.

I' d suggest you get a look at the scopes in the flesh because both are perhaps bigger than you may think.