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View Full Version here: : what's wrong with seben telescopes


h45e
04-03-2009, 09:18 AM
Basically,
what's wrong with seben telescopes??

ppl tell me not to buy or get etc.

chris lewis
04-03-2009, 09:25 AM
Entry level Chinese optics built to a specific price point. 'Departmental' scopes are never a good buy. They tend to sell a lot via E. bay.
Best to avoid and get an instrument with know improved optical and build qualities.

Kevnool
04-03-2009, 11:45 AM
Its up to if you want to buy , But we try to steer people away from cheap and nasty scopes.

micko
04-03-2009, 11:53 AM
I got a seben 8-24mm zoom eyepiece off ebay, and I quite like it ! It seems as good as any other I've tried with everyday use, and was about 25%the price of a vixen or williams optics zoom.

h45e
04-03-2009, 12:39 PM
I was just wondering thats all. Trying to find a cheapish 10"dob now.

chris lewis
04-03-2009, 06:33 PM
Honestly I would save more money and buy a 'know' brand name scope like GSO, Meade or Skywatcher and if you can from a reputable dealer that has a good warantee and after sales service. Second hand ones should be thouroughly checked out. The Seben Dob. comes with a spherical mirror which gives inferior images. The better quality ones have parabolic mirrors which give improved images. Avoid Seben scopes as they have inferior optics and build. It you 'Google' Seben scopes you will see they have a poor reputation.

TJD
04-03-2009, 06:46 PM
a 10'" second hand should be in prety good shape if you get it from an observatory because they respect the scope more than a person that knows nothing about astronomy but got the scope from his 60th birth day:P save up what you pay for is what you get usaly :thumbsup:

Starkler
04-03-2009, 08:15 PM
In the case of scopes from camera stores and the like, you often DONT get what you pay for. ie paying real scope prices for inferior rubbish.

GrahamL
04-03-2009, 09:24 PM
Never heard of them

Ok from there website
................................... ................................... ................................... ................................... .............................
Addition the up-to-date construction of Seben Astronomy assures, that you can get a lot of accessory quickly and easily. Here is to be mentioned particularly, that all products from Seben Astronomy are outfitted with holes for 1.25 " (31.7mm) accessories. As a result it even becomes possible to explore the popular World of Astrophotography, because getting the necessary accessory is no problem at all.

Seben's Big Boss 1400mm-150 Reflector Telescope is the unbeaten winner among Seben's Astronomy Products because of its perfect workmanship and enormous performance data.

Undreamed of possibilities become true for the ambitious user of Seben's Big Boss because of its huge 150mm aperture and the tremendous focal length of 1400mm
................................... ................................... ................................... ................................... ..............................
e bay is the best place to leave this scope :)

Nothing wrong with asking anthony .. its a pity more people don't .. a 10 " dob is a great choice btw

Omaroo
04-03-2009, 09:25 PM
Everyone feels safe in universally panning them, but has anyone honestly seen one in the flesh & actually tried it? I know of a couple of people to have bought these off the website (www.seben.com) and report that the scopes were actually quite good. Not brilliant, but no worse than entry-level Tasco that's for sure. Can anyone confirm this?



Hmm.. not too sure that it's fair that we should judge the quality of the stuff just because the German to English translation is awful, there are some that come to IIS whos English is worse.. LOL!

TJD
04-03-2009, 09:32 PM
very true but if you goto to a good dealer and a good scope :P

dpastern
05-03-2009, 01:55 PM
How about we criticise a product that we've used, rather than rely on heresay? For all we know, these optics could come out of Synta's factories. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Dave

TJD
05-03-2009, 06:27 PM
you right when some one sees it and actaly uses it the they can coment but ive never seen one so i cant say an acurate coment and im sure most people on this thread have never seen one there probley realy good better then my 12" skywatch

TJD
05-03-2009, 06:31 PM
iff you buy it from a shop than you might get warenty and if you get it brocken you might get to return it and get another one .try aviod the ebay ones

chris lewis
06-03-2009, 02:15 PM
Seben are inferior telescopes. I fix entry level Chinese scopes for a local importer of Chinese scopes here in N.Z. I have had 3x Seben reflectors - 2x 6in. versions - which I sold as they had CLEARLY inferior optics and build qualities - all on a wobbly mount - and an 8 in. Newt. which I kept. Some of the 6 in. versions and below use the internal barlow [Birds-Jones design] to double the F/L, reduce the inherent aberrations found in spherical mirrors and also enbles them to use a 'short tube' design scope. With the 8 in. I replaced the spherical mirror with a GSO parabolic version - with modifications - which made it usable. They are not Synta produced. They came from the 'Fuding Yixiong Co'. [Site below]. They produce most of the entry level scopes you see on E. bay and as sold in departmental stores. The Seben Web site - [Google it] - which is based in Germany but imports these Chinese scopes and renames them and sells them on E. Bay - also advertises model plastic R.C. cars along with its scopes !
Best to avoid.

http://www.yxgx.com/enggsjj.htm

GrahamL
06-03-2009, 09:49 PM
ok I was a bit harsh on the translation ..but they do seem to try and parrot all the things you read on the side of a dept store scope box.

Some of there scopes DO get a nod of sorts as do some of there eyepieces
http://www.astrochat.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30&highlight=seben
and a lot don't

chris lewis
07-03-2009, 05:45 AM
Yes I should add the Zoom gets OK reviews for the price. It is a generic E.P. sold by others.

Chris

TJD
10-03-2009, 07:47 PM
if you own a seben scope post here
:D

CoolhandJo
10-03-2009, 08:55 PM
I purchased a seben CLR filter. I was shocked to see that everything, I mean everything, was GREEN! That is, visually and ccd imaging was deep green. I was not sure if this was normal as it was my first filter, but after looking into other filters I realised that this filter was really low end. So what do you expect for $50 AUS?

Gort
10-03-2009, 10:11 PM
I recently purchased the 8-24mm Seben Zoom eyepiece from ebay.

After having read a few write ups I thought it would represent good value for a newbie like me.

It's OK (just) but not as good as I had hoped. I find it doesn't focus well on the edges and it's not as clear as my two GSO plossls (9mm and 25mm).

stephenb
14-03-2009, 08:21 AM
Thanks Chris, you experiences seem to be one of the most reliable yet. Nothing beats first hand experience, I guess.

RichardjJones
03-02-2012, 02:00 AM
I use the Seben Big Boss 1400-150 Reflector Telescope that was given to me as a gift 2 years ago. As my first scope I can not say weather it is good or bad. I have compared it to other scopes I have looked through on club observation nights & the quality stands up, club members think it is not a bad scope. I have spent many hours observing and find the scope easy to use with sharp image focus on good seeing nights.
Collimation is a issue, a club member thinks he will be able to collimate so I will keep you posted on how we go with that.
I have some astro & solar photography that I have taken with the scope that may be of interest http://immersionimagery.com/easygallery/176.html

If I was to give advise to someone who was looking to buy the scope I would tell them that it is not a bad starter scope for the price as you are getting 1400mm even if it is with an inbuilt barlow but would also suggest that they spend a little extra as cost always = quality

dazastar
25-02-2012, 07:19 AM
I'm going to have to comment here. I purchased a "big boss" a few years back. What a piece of garbage! You could not even make out Saturn as it was all distorted. They advertised it as a catadioptric and got away with it by putting a crappy barlow in the focuser (which made the image worse). The mount had heaps of play it it. I had to buy a focaser and shorten the tube to get it to focus properly without the stupid plastic barlow lense just to use it - and still it was barely passible.

I will say this though, they have zoom lense that kicks. In fact - it is the exact same lense that celestron sells for 3 times the price (with T2 camera adapter under the rubber hood). I have purchased about 5 of these zoom eyepieces as they have impressed collegues at astrofest, and my local club etc.

Bottom line:

Scopes...appauling, stay away - get a descent GSO from Andrews or Bintel.:mad2:

Accessories....Different story - Good EP's and filters etc priced fantasticly affordable.:thumbsup:

mswhin63
25-02-2012, 12:54 PM
I totally agree. My first scope and was lucky to have the patience to explore other option otherwise I would have given it away.

Shiraz
26-02-2012, 10:11 PM
some time ago, I spent some time with one of their 150/1400 Newts with internal Barlow, as mentioned by others. Corrected spherical optical system was inferior - a lot better than the naked eye, but nowhere near as good as a parabolised 150 scope (eg GSO). Regards Ray

catweazel
01-03-2012, 04:10 PM
I baught a 76x300mm seben toy before christmass.

first scope, nothing to compare it with.
spent the holidays repairing one of the uni's 8"' neutonians, used the seben EP's (the toy came with 4 EP's, 2xBarlow and 1.5 erecter).

so for the $80 i spent on the seben, i found:
I like astronomy
i want something bigger then 8"
the seben EP's turned the broken 8" into something usefull.

money well spent.
you get what you pay for.
my next scope wont be a seben.

(i then baught a set of seben filters, but they turned out to be 0.9" so can't comment on the quality)