Flattener for a WO ZS66

[pilkinn]

I got excited the other night when I noticed that Green-Witch looked to have the WO Flattener II in stock. I assume this is the one best suited for my little ZS66. However I thought it was too good to be true and it was - out of stock and discontinued. So my question is which other flattener could I use for best results? The guy at Green-Witch has told me that the WO Flattener III has a SCT thread so it could connect directly to the back of the ZS66 but I'm worried about whether I could get the optimal spacing. Does anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks. Neil.

[brantuk]

I have the SW flatenner which is very good for the price - 4th one down the page:

Reducers/Flatteners

Might be suitable for the ZS66.

[ollypenrice]

Hang on, the ZS66 had its own dedicated reducer flattener. I have one of these and it is marked 0.8 flattener 11 for 66 apo. The chip distance from the back of this is 56mm.

The 66 has an SCT fit drawtube to which the reducer fits, but it won't come to focus for my CCD setup without an additional SCT fit extension tube. This is in keeping with the WO tradition of being arbtrarily complicated and using ridiculously short main tubes so that two thirds of the optical path is made up of drawtubes and extensions.

Olly

[pilkinn]

Olly - yes that is the dedicated one and the one I was hoping Green-Witch had in stock. I'll buy it off you!. They're like hen's teeth, everyone who's got a ZS66 and the flattner is keeping hold of it like grim death as WO don't make them anymore.

The SW looks like it might do the trick as the ZS66 is f/5.9 so is within the range quoted... and it's not too pricey either (compared to the WO Flat III).